Comcast wants to see the channel included as part of a sports and entertainment package, while Big Ten Network asks that it is made a part of expanded basic cable.

While East Lansing residents may find themselves on the losing end of the stalled negotiations, local bars are seeing a boost in business.

The network has reached deals with the satellite providers DirecTV and Dish Network, allowing bars like Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar, 360 Albert Ave., to air the MSU football games against Bowling Green, Northwestern and the upcoming matchup against Indiana.

Aaron Weiner, Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar general manager, said he expects the bar to fill to capacity when the Spartan football team first plays an away game that isn’t picked up by a national network.

“If people’s only choice is to come to the bar to see the game, then we’ll definitely see a major increase,” Weiner said.

Mike Vest, a Big Ten Network spokesman, said in September that negotiations with Comcast had broken down, and that the network did not anticipate a deal anytime soon.

“We know there are a lot of MSU fans that have Comcast and want to see the Spartans, and we’d love to be able to bring that to them,” he said.

Vest said the network is willing to negotiate price and every other aspect of the deal, but that it insists the channel is part of the expanded basic cable. The network expects to broadcast at least three MSU football games and about 13 MSU basketball games this upcoming season.

Patrick Paterno, a spokesman for Comcast in Michigan, said a sports and entertainment package would be the best place to put the network because not all customers are interested in the channel, which is an affiliate of Fox Cable Networks.

“The overwhelming majority of our customers do not want to pay Fox and Big Ten Network the hundreds of millions of dollars they’re demanding,” Paterno said in September. “For our customers who don’t want (the channel), we don’t want them to have to pay extra.”

Helen Widener, a manager of Reno’s East Side Sportsbar & Grill, 1310 Abbot Road, said the bar has seen obvious benefits from the channel having been unavailable to most East Lansing residents, but its owners are rooting for a deal to be reached.

“We are reaping some benefits of this, but we’re busy on game days, regardless,” Widener said. “It has helped us, but we’re not going to say we want our guests to be unhappy.”