On Thursday, Duke Athletics announced a deal with Amazon for the streaming service to broadcast three Blue Devils’ games this upcoming season, including a matchup against reigning national champion Michigan.
That deal could already be in jeopardy after the Big Ten has claimed that they, not ESPN or the ACC, have rights to the game between Jon Scheyer’s squad and the Wolverines, according to CBS Sports’ Ross Dellenger. The conference notified both the network and the ACC that the game, scheduled for December 21st at Madison Square Garden, belongs to them.
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The Big Ten’s argument is that when the Blue Devils and Wolverines matched up this past season, it was ESPN and ACC that owned the broadcasting rights, meaning a rematch in a neutral-site city should belong to them.
According to Dellenger, ESPN permitted Duke to proceed with the Amazon deal, but it was the responsibility of the school to secure the opponent. Michigan evidently shares some of the blame for the snafu this matchup is running into:
“If played in “shared territory,” it is traditionally the responsibility of that opponent (in this case Michigan) to handle rights issues with its league and its rights holder,” Dellenger writes.
While the Michigan game might be lost due to the Big Ten having rights, Duke is still scheduled to play two more games (against UConn on November 25th and Gonzaga on February 20th) on Amazon.
This article originally appeared on Duke Wire: Duke’s Amazon deal up in the air due to Big Ten argument
