I was reading an article on Si.com about the BYU/FSU game not being seen on DirecTv etc...
A couple of paragraphs of note:
The Mountain West spurned ESPN prior to the 2006 season because the four-letter network planned to give away all those prime Thursday-night telecasts to BCS conferences. So instead of playing on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, the Mountain West opted to create its own network in partnership with CSTV, now known as CBS College Sports.
It was a noble thought, but it has been a spectacular failure. Clearly, ESPN is too powerful a foe to challenge. Imagine the buzz Utah might have had entering bowl season last year had people been able to watch the Utes play on a regular basis. College football fans would have tuned to ESPN in droves to watch Utah, BYU and TCU play on odd nights.
Mountain West highlights have all but disappeared off of ESPN, with a few notable exceptions such as this year's BYU-Oklahoma game, which was broadcast on ABC because Oklahoma was considered the home team and the Big 12 has a contract with ESPN/ABC. Meanwhile, the Mountain West, which might be better top-to-bottom than the Big East, lags behind the MAC in exposure. Friday, I asked Toledo coach Tim Beckman how his team's nationally televised whipping of Colorado might play with recruits, and his smile reached clear to Columbus.
The next time the Mountain West makes a television deal, officals should crawl back to ESPN. The current arrangement hurt the Utes last year, and it may wind up hurting the Cougars this year. Because if a team dominates and no one tunes in to see it, did it really dominate at all?
Agree?
A couple of paragraphs of note:
The Mountain West spurned ESPN prior to the 2006 season because the four-letter network planned to give away all those prime Thursday-night telecasts to BCS conferences. So instead of playing on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, the Mountain West opted to create its own network in partnership with CSTV, now known as CBS College Sports.
It was a noble thought, but it has been a spectacular failure. Clearly, ESPN is too powerful a foe to challenge. Imagine the buzz Utah might have had entering bowl season last year had people been able to watch the Utes play on a regular basis. College football fans would have tuned to ESPN in droves to watch Utah, BYU and TCU play on odd nights.
Mountain West highlights have all but disappeared off of ESPN, with a few notable exceptions such as this year's BYU-Oklahoma game, which was broadcast on ABC because Oklahoma was considered the home team and the Big 12 has a contract with ESPN/ABC. Meanwhile, the Mountain West, which might be better top-to-bottom than the Big East, lags behind the MAC in exposure. Friday, I asked Toledo coach Tim Beckman how his team's nationally televised whipping of Colorado might play with recruits, and his smile reached clear to Columbus.
The next time the Mountain West makes a television deal, officals should crawl back to ESPN. The current arrangement hurt the Utes last year, and it may wind up hurting the Cougars this year. Because if a team dominates and no one tunes in to see it, did it really dominate at all?
Agree?
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