NEC Football Goes National, Strikes Deal With ESPN

[aceinthehole]

Not sure if these games will be also available as part as "ESPN GamePlan," but I hope so. The 5 games they picked suck! Bryant, Wagner and St. Francis gets 2 games each - but Duquesne, RMU, CCSU and SHU are featured just once. Giving SHU and SFPA home games is questionable at best.


Somerset,NJ - The Northeast Conference (NEC) has teamed up with a national carrier for its 2013 football on-air package. The Division I FCS conference and ESPN have reached an agreement to make ESPN3 the exclusive home of Northeast Conference football.

The deal features plans to carry five games this season on ESPN's live multi-screen sports network beginning with the Northeast Conference opener at defending champion Wagner on September 28. The Seahawks' bout against Bryant will be one of two appearances that the NEC preseason favorites will make on ESPN3. Wagner will also close out the conference on-air schedule on November 16 at Saint Francis.

"Collaborating with ESPN provides our NEC football institutions with a national platform of exposure through the 'worldwide leader in sports,'" said NEC Commissioner Noreen Morris. "It also connects us directly to the growing relationship that exists between the Football Championship Subdivision and ESPN in the areas of branding and production."
...
About ESPN3
ESPN3 is ESPN's live multi-screen sports network, a destination that delivers thousands of exclusive sports events annually. It is accessible online at WatchESPN.com, on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app and streamed on televisions through ESPN on Xbox LIVE to Gold members and Apple TV. The network is currently available to more than 85 million homes at no additional cost to fans who receive their high-speed Internet connection or video subscription from an affiliated service provider. The network is also available at no cost to approximately 21 million U.S. college students and U.S.-based military personnel via computers connected to on-campus educational and on-base military networks.


2013 NEC Football Television Schedule
Sept. 28 - Bryant at Wagner, 1:00 pm (ESPN3)
Oct. 5 - Saint Francis at Central Connecticut, 1:00 pm (ESPN3)
Nov. 2 - Bryant at Robert Morris, 12:00 pm (ESPN3)
Nov. 9 - Duquesne at Sacred Heart, 12:00 pm (ESPN3)
Nov. 16 - Wagner at Saint Francis, 12:00 pm (ESPN3)

http://www.northeastconference.org/news/2013/8/16/FB_0816133429.aspx

[ursus arctos horribilis]

Well ESPN3 isn't the best option (yet) but it's a great one for those of us that can get it. Good job NEC, I'll be watching.xthumbsupx

[Pard4Life]

Pretty cool... but yes, games could be better.

[IBleedYellow]

Great job NEC!! I don't mean to sound like a dick when I say this, but ESPN3 isn't huge news, but it's worthwhile to get your feet in the door.

I personally love ESPN3 because you can go back a full year and watch games, and the coverage isn't half bad.

Maybe better games next year!

[aceinthehole]

Agreed, ESPN3 is the bastard child of the ESPN networks, well below exposure of ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNU - although the quality and availability is growing.

Each NEC team will individually produce their own home games for NEC FrontRow, except for these 5 NEC-produced games for ESPN3. So it is certainly a good thing that all NEC football games will be available "nationally" for free - but if these games are no longer on regional cable (SNY, Fox Sports Pittsburgh, etc) and not available as part of a TV package like ESPN GamePlan, is that a good idea?

NEC football and basketball is certainly one of the lowest profile DI conferences, and their Internet and social media outreach is cutting edge (see Front Row, Google Hangout, et.), but is this just another indicator that the P5 conferences will "own" the airwaves for college sports and there will be no room for the "little guys" in the future?

CAA Football has the NBCSN deal, and a few other leagues may have some more extensive regional cable deals, but is FCS football going to have a hard time finding a spot to broadcast games in the future?

[Saint3333]

Same deal as the SoCon.

[813Jag]

I know a lot of people aren't enthused or are still learning about ESPN3. But I'm glad it's the option is there, much better than a tv deal that is mainly tape delay games.

[chargeradio]

More people have ESPN3 than the CBS Sports Network.

[Twentysix]

More people have ESPN3 than the CBS Sports Network.

Of those people, more know how to get to CbsSN. ;)

I love Espn3 when I can get a work around allowing me to use it. It is far superior to a Televised option, I wish everything was multicast on ESPN3.

[danefan]

Agreed, ESPN3 is the bastard child of the ESPN networks, well below exposure of ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNU - although the quality and availability is growing.

Each NEC team will individually produce their own home games for NEC FrontRow, except for these 5 NEC-produced games for ESPN3. So it is certainly a good thing that all NEC football games will be available "nationally" for free - but if these games are no longer on regional cable (SNY, Fox Sports Pittsburgh, etc) and not available as part of a TV package like ESPN GamePlan, is that a good idea?

NEC football and basketball is certainly one of the lowest profile DI conferences, and their Internet and social media outreach is cutting edge (see Front Row, Google Hangout, et.), but is this just another indicator that the P5 conferences will "own" the airwaves for college sports and there will be no room for the "little guys" in the future?

CAA Football has the NBCSN deal, and a few other leagues may have some more extensive regional cable deals, but is FCS football going to have a hard time finding a spot to broadcast games in the future?

Broadcast itself is going to have a hard time in the future. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

ESPN3 is a good deal for the NEC.

[ursus arctos horribilis]

CAA Football has the NBCSN deal, and a few other leagues may have some more extensive regional cable deals, but is FCS football going to have a hard time finding a spot to broadcast games in the future?

Well if you are talking about traditional broadcasting I think it will stay fairly similar for a while. There are options outside of ESPN that are likely to gain some traction broadcasting the smaller stuff as ESPN did in it's infancy.

But at some point fairly soon everything will be available on the net anyway. It may be ESPN3 or it's competitors or even individual conferences on their own You can see what all the networks and services like HBO etc. are doing for just their general programming and see this coming...soon.