Versus Adds Four More Games, Ivy League To College Football Sked

By John Ourand, Staff Writer

Versus Expanding College Football Schedule, Including Ivy Leagues, Harvard-Yale Game

Entering its third season of telecasting college football games, Versus is expanding its schedule with more games and a studio show. This year's schedule of 23 games represents a 21% increase from last year's 19 games and kicks off August 30 with TCU-New Mexico. The overall schedule features eight games from the Mountain West Conference and five games each from the Pac-10, Big 12 and Ivy League conferences. "We're looking for programming that's going to move the needle with passionate followings and fan bases," said Versus Exec VP/Programming, Production & Business Operations Marc Fein. This year, Versus is planning to launch a pregame, postgame and halftime show called "Versus College Football Central," which will be hosted from the net's Stamford, Connecticut, studios by Ted Robinson and Roland Williams. Sears will sponsor the halftime show. The shows will give scores and highlights from across the country, but plan to focus mainly on the conferences that Versus telecasts. Versus started telecasting college football games in '06 with a 9-game MWC schedule and increased its schedule to 19 last year with the Big 12 and Pac-10. This year it adds the Ivy League, including the November 22 Harvard-Yale game, the 125th anniversary of that rivalry. While most of the bigger conferences' TV contracts are tied up, Fein said he is open to dealing with other nets that have too much product. Versus cut such a deal with FSN for various Big 12 and Pac-10 games. "We're looking at interesting conferences that have good names and brand recognition, like the Ivy League," Fein said. "And we're willing to partner with anybody on any deal."