Rutgers football visits UCF, 11-21-13
Rutgers' season opener at Washington State won't be available to Dish Network subscribers.
(John Munson/The Star-Ledger)
Rutgers fans who subscribe to the Dish Network are going to be left in the dark for the Scarlet Knights' season opener Thursday night at Washington State.
The game will air on Fox Sports 1, which is engaged in a dispute over programming fees with the Dish Network. As a result, a handful of Fox Sports 1 games on college football's opening weekend will be blacked out on the Dish Network. That includes Rutgers' game against Washington State in Seattle on Thursday, which is scheduled for a 10 p.m. Eastern kickoff.
The Dish Network has created a website to explain its side of the dispute.
"FOX agreed to pay an inflated price for certain sports events on FOX Sports 1," the site said. "Now, FOX is demanding we pay them a significant additional charge to carry these events. We are unwilling to pass these costs on to our customers."
In addition to Rutgers-Washington State, the Dish Network does not have rights to air three other Fox Sports 1 games on opening weekend: Colorado State at Colorado on Friday, North Dakota State at Iowa State on Saturday, and SMU at Baylor on Sunday.
Rutgers does not currently have any other games scheduled to air on Fox Sports 1 this season.
Aug. 28 at Washington State, 10 p.m. (FS1)
Sept. 6 vs. Howard, 12 p.m. (BTN*)
Sept. 13 vs. Penn State, 8 p.m. (BTN)
Sept. 20 at Navy, 3:30 p.m. (CBS Sports Network)
Sept. 27 vs. Tulane, TBA (TBA)
Oct. 4 vs. Michigan, 7 p.m. (BTN)
Oct. 18 at Ohio State, 3:30 p.m. (TBA)
Oct. 25 at Nebraska, TBA (TBA)
Nov. 1 vs. Wisconsin, 12 p.m. (TBA)
Nov. 15 vs. Indiana, TBA (TBA)
Nov. 22 at Michigan State, TBA (TBA)
Nov. 29 at Maryland, TBA (TBA)
*BTN=Big Ten Network
Dan Duggan may be reached at dduggan@nj.com. Follow him on Twitter @DDuggan21. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.