Women's Volleyball a Second Tier Sport? Naaaw

This is the first time we have been thrilled with Comcast in some time as with all cable companies they suck. But they did come out against Title IV declaring that women's volleyball is a second tier sport and that they can't be bullied into showing it on their regular packages. The network will show games that are not picked up by one of the main broadcast networks or ESPN as well as offering classic footage.

The disagreement is one that is reminiscent of the dispute that the NFL Network had with cable companies where the cable companies did not want to put the channel into base packages arguing it was a niche market. It is very similar here, but the main difference is that the Big Ten Network is only trying to be a basic channel in Big Ten states. Comcast eventually caved in due to consumers demanding the NFL Network and will be showing it on basic packages beginning in July. One would have to assume there is much less demand for college sports, especially in the North, and the Big Ten might have more trouble than the heavy handed NFL did.

Its great that someone is finally telling television networks that no one wants to see women's college volleyball on television, especially women's volleyball from Iowa. If Comcast had blatantly said women's volleyball holds no purpose they would be dead wrong. It allows the football team to offer more scholarships while keeping in compliance with Title IV rules.

We could see this causing MTV to do an Ashton Kutcher spinoff reality show from his alma mater. If Three 6 Mafia can get a Kutcher show then there is no reason that Iowa can't get one.