ESPNU and Gateway FC Sign 5 Year Deal

[FlyYtown]

ESPN-U Will broadcast AT LEAST ONE Game a year.

This year it will be Southern Illinois v. Western Kentucky

Any other I-AA Conferences sign a deal with ESPNU?

LINK FROM GFC WEBSITE (http://www.gatewayfootball.org/webapps/release?id=2950)

[galojay]

I think I read this is the first I-AA game an ESPN network has shown since the mid 80s.

[Retro]

ESPN has shown several I-AA Playoff games each year the past several years and has been showing some I-AA games even tonight. They just haven't shown many big name I-AA teams outside of the playoffs and none on their ESPN or ESPN2 outlets..

Southland Conference Reaches Agreement with ESPN
ESPNU To Commence Five-Year Deal With 2005 Football Coverage


Aug. 15, 2005

PLANO, Texas - ESPN, Inc. has reached a five-year agreement (through 2010) with the Southland Conference for coverage of football and men's basketball, in addition to the right to televise coverage of the conference's Olympic sports. Driven by its increased commitment to intercollegiate conferences, ESPNU, the new college sports network, will televise the first Southland events as part of the new deal.

The Southland and ESPN at a glance:

• In its inaugural season of live football coverage, ESPNU will televise two Thursday night games featuring Southland teams; Alcorn State vs. Southeastern Louisiana on Thursday, Sept. 8 (7:30 p.m. ET) and Stephen F. Austin vs. Northwestern State on Thursday, Nov. 17 (7:30 p.m.). • ESPN will televise the men's basketball championship game on ESPN or ESPN2 through 2009-2010 season. • Each Southland school will be eligible to participate in ESPN's Bracket Buster through the 2009-2010 season.

"ESPNU looks forward to bringing the nation the great competition and traditions of Southland athletics," said Burke Magnus, vice president and general manager, ESPNU. "This agreement is a model of our commitment to offer a unique assortment of quality programming to college sports enthusiasts, while also maximizing exposure for conferences, institutions and student-athletes."

"We are absolutely thrilled to continue and expand our longstanding relationship with ESPN, and look forward to both our football telecasts on ESPNU this fall," Southland Conference commissioner Tom Burnett said. "We appreciate the interest in the Southland Conference shown by ESPN, and this agreement is a tribute to the collective success of the league and our member institutions."

The new pact also includes distribution rights for Southland Conference programming across multiple ESPN platforms, including ESPN Mobile, ESPN Interactive, ESPN360 (formerly ESPN Broadband), ESPN.com, ESPN Pay-Per-View, ESPN Video-on-Demand, ESPN HD, ESPN2 HD, ESPN Deportes and more.

ESPNU

[Baldy]

I think I read this is the first I-AA game an ESPN network has shown since the mid 80s.

The very first ESPN Thursday night game was Georgia Southern vs MTSU in the infamous Hugo Bowl in 1989.

[galojay]

i stand corrected, first GATEWAY CONF game since 1986 to be on ESPN.

[FlyYtown]

galojay..

If you consider YSU being Gateway before they were you can count them to..

YSU vs. Alcorn State LIVE AT YSU. Mainly because of Steve McNair and HEISMAN picture.

That was 1994-1995?

YSU Fans can help me on year

[mainejeff]

The A-10 is waiting for the CAA to take over in 2007 before we strike a TV deal :rolleyes: . There should be a lot of available slots by then :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: .

[JMU2004]

if ESPN had any idea about I-AA, they would sign the CAA/A-10 to a deal....... its better ball than the CUSA, MAC, et all

[TexasTerror]

if ESPN had any idea about I-AA, they would sign the CAA/A-10 to a deal....... its better ball than the CUSA, MAC, et all

I don't know. That C-USA game between UTEP and Houston was classic last night! Sloppy game, but it was exciting and went 2 OT after the kicker botched a short FG after nailing from much longer. Then, he got redemption and won the game :)

[blueballs]

Meanwhile the SoCon, or is it "SlowCon," and GSU in particular, has their games shown on such cable juggarnauts as Comcast Charter Sports, which of course, 75% of their fans can't get. SMFH...

[SpiritCymbal]

blueballs,

don't forget the blockbuster deal with SCSTV or something like that which was only broadcast in the Carolina's. Oh wait, that company has now gone under!

Nevermind!