The Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout "will return to national television" after a five-year absence, as CBS Sports Network has signed a contract to televise the event "for three years with options to renew," according to Jeremy Peters of the ANCHORAGE DAILY NEWS. The Shootout is the "longest running regular-season tournament in men's college basketball." Univ. of Alaska-Anchorage AD Steve Cobb announced that CBS Sports will "start by carrying seven games from this fall's Shootout -- three first-round match ups, both semifinals, the third place game and championship game." Peters noted the broadcast will be "produced locally and distributed nationally, with UAA and CBSSN splitting commercial time 50-50 and no advanced fees being paid by either party." Cobb said that when ESPN last televised the event in '07, the net "paid UAA around $100,000." Peters wrote the "biggest advantage to the current deal is gaining national exposure, which Cobb expects will attract higher level teams for a tournament field that has lacked star power in recent years." Cobb: "It's just extraordinarily important when trying to schedule national teams. When teams know they are going to be on TV, it makes the field that much stronger" (ANCHORAGE DAILY NEWS, 5/9).
