Kansas Baseball Benefits from New TV Deals
LAWRENCE, Kan. – With a roster of student-athletes spanning 11 of the nation’s states, the Jayhawk baseball team will get regional and national coverage through the two new TV deals that Kansas Athletics inked with ESPN and Time Warner Cable Sports.
Last week, Kansas Athletics and ESPN agreed to a seven-year agreement, beginning with the 2013-14 academic year, under which ESPN3 will carry a minimum of 70 live events distributed nationally each year, one of the largest deals the multiscreen network has signed to date.
Additionally, Kansas Athletics and IMG College, the multimedia rights holder for KU Athletics, agreed to a long-term television partnership with Time Warner Cable Sports that includes regional distribution for more than 300 hours of original Kansas Athletics programming per year, including live games and extensive non-game programming solely focused on the Jayhawks, plus encore presentations.
Time Warner Cable Metro Sports will broadcast eight baseball games, yet to be determined, via television throughout Kansas City and the state of Kansas. Those eight games will be blacked out in Kansas and the Kansas City area on ESPN3, but will be available nation-wide to viewers on ESPN3, based on their cable subscription and internet service provider. The rest of the home slate will be broadcast in Kansas, the Kansas City area and throughout the nation on ESPN3.
In addition, Time Warner Cable Metro Sports, in partnership with Kansas Athletics, will also produce extensive first-run, non-game programming centered on KU Athletics. This programming will allow Jayhawk fans to be closer to their favorite teams than they ever have before. The programming includes pre- and post-game shows for Jayhawk football and men’s basketball games, a weekly “magazine-style” show, Hawk Talk Radio Show simulcasts, a social media-centered show driven by fans, live press conferences, a Jayhawk Rewind highlight show, a quarterly Jayhawk Legends series and quarterly University of Kansas academic specials.
Kansas Athletics will also continue to provide an audio feed of games through a revamped “Jayhawk All-Access” type product, for a nominal fee, yet to be determined.
ABOUT THE NETWORKS
ESPN3 currently reaches more than 85 million homes nationwide to fans that receive their Internet or video subscription from an affiliated provider. It is accessible online at WatchESPN.com, on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app, through ESPN on Xbox LIVE to Gold Members and on Apple TV.
Time Warner Cable Metro Sports is a 24/7 sports network based in Kansas City. The network’s Kansas Athletics non-game programming will also be available to millions of Time Warner Cable customers across the country via video on demand. The live events that Time Warner Cable Metro Sports will cover include football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, volleyball, baseball, softball, soccer and track & field events.
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