Daily Exclusive: Broadband Expands Availability Of College Games
The ESPN/ABC family of networks, CBS College Sports, Fox College Sports, The Big Ten Network, NBC, and Versus will offer a record number of college football telecasts in the ’08-09 season. However, the real story from now to December is the power of choice given to fans by broadband, allowing them to select their own personal college football “Game of the Week.”
The webcasting of football has gained tremendous importance for all schools, but particularly those who are in non-BCS Conferences. For these academic institutions, broadband is a means of gaining recognition in the national press as well as marketing themselves to future recruits, all the while reaching out to their fans and graduates who now expect to be able to follow the action of their teams.
Univ. of Hawaii Associate AD for External Affairs John McNamara said, “Broadband has been a huge part the success of our (football) program. The fact that we can offer all of our games on our Web site has allowed us to reach our alumni worldwide, including Baghdad, where we are proud that we have a large military following. Through the global access to our games we have elevated our status nationally as a quality football program.”
Fresno State Associate AD for External Relations & Broadcasting Paul Ladwig added, “The goal is really simple. We need to have every game either on network TV, or local TV, which we then offer to ESPN for their Game Plan for national distribution. That way a fan can access all of our games on broadband either through our Web site or ESPN360. We feel strongly that as a non-BCS school, our fans need to see our team. Furthermore we also want to market Fresno State to the nation.”
Having games on TV is also important for smaller schools like the ones that make up the Patriot League. Conference Media Relations Dir Matthew Dougherty: “There is no doubt that our broadband component has helped enhance the Patriot League’s visibility. The fact that fans and alumni can watch all of our member schools’ football games on broadband has been a huge plus for us. We have seen a strong growth every season as our broadband audience keeps getting bigger every year. ”
Over the course of the upcoming season, ESPN360 will webcast approximately 350 college football games to fans all over the world, free of charge. CBS College Sports, through their CBS College Sports Network All-Access Platform package, will offer over 600 games via computer as a $14.95 per month subscription service. In addition, many Division II and III colleges provide their games on their own Web sites. Some of these schools offer the football for free; some charge, so check your favorite college or university athletic department Web site for further details.
The line between broadband and broadcast blurs more each day as ESPN’s “SportsCenter,” RSNs and local broadcast stations are airing highlights that they captured from webcasts.
One of the great moments from last season came during a webcast produced by Trinity Univ. in San Antonio. The Division III School beat Millsaps College, 28-24, by using 16 laterals to run down the field for a game-ending touchdown. The video of this play was seen on virtually every sports report in the country and to this day remains one of the most-searched items on YouTube.
To paraphrase former Speaker of the House Thomas "Tip" O’Neill, all politics and college football are local. Never before has there been more opportunity to view college football than there will be this season. Broadband is the tool that brings this access to fans of college football.
Jim Williams is a seven-time Sports Emmy Award-winning TV producer, director and writer who lives in Baltimore. He will be reviewing sports programming occasionally for SportsBusiness Daily and SportsBusiness Journal. He can be reached at jameswilliams360@comcast.net.
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