The Big Ten has thrown a flag on Duke's latest media deal, claiming they own the rights to one of the Blue Devils' marquee matchups set to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
Duke recently announced a partnership with Amazon Prime Video to broadcast three neutral-site games, including a highly anticipated clash against Michigan on December 21 in New York City. The other games feature UConn on November 25 in Las Vegas and Gonzaga on February 20 in Detroit.
But according to Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger, the Big Ten believes they hold the media rights to the Duke-Michigan game. This stems from a previous agreement between the Big Ten and ACC to alternate control of media rights for neutral-site games played in "shared territory," which includes New York City.
Here's where it gets interesting: Duke worked with the ACC and ESPN (the conference's primary rights partner) to get approval for the Amazon deal. As part of the arrangement, Duke has agreed to participate in ESPN-controlled non-conference events in the 2027-28 and 2028-29 seasons. However, Amazon Prime Video isn't an ACC rights partner, which seems to be at the heart of the dispute.
This isn't the first time the Big Ten has blocked a streaming deal. Last year, USC tried to sell a neutral-site football game against Notre Dame to Netflix, but the Big Ten rejected the plan because teams aren't allowed to sell individual rights to non-conference games—a move that looks very similar to what Duke is doing here.
The stakes are high, especially considering Duke and Michigan's non-conference game in Washington, D.C., last year was ESPN's most-watched college basketball game in seven years. That game aired on ESPN as part of a trade-off for a Duke-Illinois matchup on Fox the previous season.
The Big Ten's primary rights holder is Fox Sports, which sublicenses games to partners like NBC and CBS, and Fox is reportedly involved in this dispute. For now, no legal action has been taken, and the next steps remain unclear. But with a potential blockbuster matchup on the line, all eyes will be on how this plays out.