FARGO — If there’s been one question repeated since North Dakota State’s move to the Mountain West Conference it’s been: where can I watch the Bison this year?
Game week has arrived and the questions to WDAY keep rolling in, so consider this your go-to-guide on how to watch the games this season. We took into consideration the options for most viewers these days; over-the-air TV (antenna), cable, satellite and streaming.
The first thing to know about watching Bison games is this: if you live within the state of North Dakota, western Minnesota or southern Canada, you catch all of the games on TV with the proper TV package.
The games breakdown like this: The CW Network has five games, CBS Sports Network has three, WDAY-TV has two, with ESPN and Fox Sports 1 getting a game each.
Here’s a breakdown of the channels and how to find them.
CW Network (Oct. 3 vs Wyoming, Oct. 10 at UNLV, Oct. 24 at New Mexico, Nov. 14 at Hawaii and Nov. 21 vs Northern Illinois)
The CW Network’s biggest claim to fame may be shows like “Gilmore Girls” and “Smallville,” but over the last few years they have joined the live sports space. The network has deals with the ACC, PAC-12 and now the Mountain West Conference.
The biggest misconception on the CW is that it’s a cable channel and hard to find. The CW is actually an over-the-air channel, much like FOX, CBS and ABC and readily accessible.
The network has the most number of Bison games this season, including the two most talked about games, UNLV and Hawaii.
The CW also announced that the games will also be available on ESPN Unlimited, the new pay site from ESPN, but different from ESPN Plus. If you have an ESPN Unlimited subscription, you can watch the CW games there. If you are a YouTube TV subscriber, you also can watch the games on ESPN Unlimited.
Channel listings:
DirecTV: Channel 31
Sparklight: Channel 38
MidCo: Channel 591
Dish Network: Available wherever you live
YouTube TV: Available on basic package
CBS Sports Network (Aug. 29 vs Jacksonville St, Oct. 17 vs Nevada, Nov. 27 at SJSU)
This channel may be the most known to sports fans in the region, thanks to a long-running package of University of North Dakota hockey games and a current deal with the Summit League to televise its basketball tournament.
CBS-SN has a long standing tradition of airing the Mountain West, and putting those games in late-night windows. NDSU will play in the late afternoon and early evening for its games on the network, along with a Friday game, which the network has an exclusive package with the conference.
Channel listings:
DirecTV: Channel 221
Dish Network: 158
Sparklight: 139
Midco: 314
YouTube TV: Available on basic package
WDAY-TV (Sept. 5 vs Fordham, Oct. 31 vs UTEP)
WDAY will continue airing Bison football for the sixth consecutive season, with the matchups against Fordham and Texas-El Paso.
For viewers outside of North Dakota and western Minnesota (WDAY’s viewing area), this is where Mountain West Plus will be needed. The football games will be exclusive to the conference’s new app for those games only.
and WDAY Plus cannot stream the games because of the league’s exclusive deal with its new streaming provider.
Channel listings:
DirecTV: 6
Dish Network: 6
Sparklight: 6
MidCo: 606
YouTube TV: Available on basic package (inside WDAY’s viewing area)
ESPN (Sept. 19 at Sacramento State)
The WorldWide Leader snags another Bison game in an unexpected spot, thanks to the Mid-American Conference’s deal with ESPN. For those that bought an ESPN Plus subscription to watch Missouri Valley Football, it’s still good for this week’s game. Next to the WDAY and CW games, this is the game that is most readily available to viewers across the country.
The kickoff comes at 9:30 p.m., so it will be a late night for viewers that are checking out the Bison in their first trip to California since 2007.
Channel listings:
DirecTV: 206
Dish Network: 140
Sparklight: 133
MidCo: 620
YouTube TV: Available on basic package
FOX SPORTS 1 (Sept. 12 at Air Force)
The Mountain West also has a deal with FOX Sports and NDSU will return to the channel that put them on the map for most college football fans.
It’s ironic that NDSU’s first Mountain West game is on FS1, as one of the channel’s first college football games featured the Bison. In 2013, NDSU helped break the channel in, with its historic 24-20 win over Kansas State. 585,000 viewers watched that historic game, the Bison would do well if this game gets anywhere close to that.
With another late start, this one coming at 9 p.m. central time, it may be hard pressed to beat that number, but the curiosity surrounding NDSU’s move to the Mountain West may grab more casual viewers.
Channel listings:
DirecTV: 219
Dish Network: 150
Sparklight: 146
MidCo: 632
YouTube TV: Available on basic package
DO I NEED MOUNTAIN WEST PLUS?
This is another frequent question I have received. The simple answer for Bison fans that live in North Dakota and western Minnesota is no. You can watch all the Bison games through cable, satellite and over-the-air TV.
Now you will need the Mountain West app if you live outside the WDAY viewing area to watch the Fordham and UTEP games, those games will be exclusive on that platform. WDAY is not allowed to put the games on
or ESPN Plus as we have in the past.
For fans that are looking to watch other Mountain West teams throughout the year, then it’s a must-have. Each team will have a couple of games on the app during the season, including the highly anticipated game between FCS champion Montana State at Nevada.
But if you’re interested in just watching the Bison and live in North Dakota and Western Minnesota, TV is the way to go.
That’s the best way to describe how to watch Bison football this year. I’m sure there will be calls coming to me and the station for the next few weeks.
Keep this guide handy, have fresh batteries in your remote controls and get your energy drinks ready for some late night football.