• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, September 7, 2007

To blunt a possible leg up by DirecTV, competitor Dish Network has reached a deal to begin offering the Big Ten Network. The deal comes as the week-old BTN carries its second round of college football Saturday, highlighted by Ohio State playing Akron.

BTN has had trouble securing distribution from major cable operators such as Comcast who've balked at the carriage fees it's seeking. But DirecTV - in a deal engineered because of News Corp.'s interests in both the satellite operator and BTN - was the first distributor to commit to carrying the network and offers it nationwide.

Unlike DirecTV, however, Dish Network will only offer it to customers in the eight states with Big Ten schools, starting early next year. But until then, customers across the country will be able to sample it on the service.

With many cable operators on the sidelines, Dish, owned by EchoStar, can join DirecTV in trying to persuade customers who are devoted fans of Big Ten schools to switch to their service.

DirecTV has some 16.3 million customers and the company says "the vast majority" have a package that includes BTN.

Dish will also offer the network dedicated to all sports played by the 11 schools in the Big Ten Conference in HD.