CAA FOOTBALL RELEASES LANDMARK TELEVISION PACKAGE FOR INAUGURAL 2007 SEASON
BALTIMORE, Md. (July 25, 2007) - The Inaugural Season of CAA Football will feature the largest television package among the nation’s Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) conferences.
CAA Football Commissioner Tom Yeager announced a 31-game television schedule as part of the league’s Media Day Celebration, Wednesday at the ESPNZone in Baltimore, Md. The schedule is highlighted by a conference-only package of 20 games on CN8, The Comcast Network and Comcast SportsNet.
“This is truly a milestone day for CAA Football,” Yeager said. “We have assembled the largest FCS conference television package in the country thanks in part to our partnerships with CN8 and Comcast SportsNet, WABI-TV, ESPN and others.”
The 20-game conference-only package covered by Comcast features the most competitive games airing on regional networks spanning the East Coast. CN8 will air 12 match-ups throughout its Maine to Virginia footprint. Comcast SportsNet networks including Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia, Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic, CSS and SportsNet New York will cover an additional 8 games throughout the 12-week season.
The CAA Football 2007 television package kicks-off when CN8 broadcasts the league’s inaugural game, Thursday, August 30 at 7:30 p.m. as the University of Delaware takes on William & Mary. The Delaware Blue Hens travel to face the William & Mary Tribe in a contest slated at Zable Stadium in Williamsburg, Va.
All of the CAA games airing on CN8 and Comcast SportsNet regional networks will be available to Comcast Digital Cable customers ON DEMAND at no charge for up to one week following the broadcast. Additionally, all games airing on CN8 will stream online concurrently at www.CN8.tv.
“This is an ideal broadcast partnership for the first-ever CAA Football package,” Yeager said. “Comcast’s family of networks reach roughly 20 million homes in our conference’s region, which means our league’s most passionate fans will have an opportunity to tune-in to the games they want to watch most.”
In addition to live game coverage, CN8 and Comcast SportsNet networks will report on CAA news in their original sports programming throughout the season. Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic will be on-site at CAA Media Day on Wednesday, July 25 to highlight activities on “SportsNite”. CN8’s “Out of Bounds” will also cover Media Day and tape a special one-hour CAA football season preview airing Sunday, August 19 at 8 p.m., and August 25 at 9 p.m. The “Out of Bounds” show will feature interviews with CAA commissioner Tom Yeager, along with various team coaches, players and college football reporters.
The remaining 11 games on the CAA Football Inaugural Season Television package will include one non-conference game on CN8, three broadcasts on the ESPN family of networks, one on the Big Ten Network as well as a Time Warner Cable broadcast in Massachusetts. Madison Square Garden Network (MSG) has plans to broadcast one contest, Delaware will play a non-conference match-up on CSTV and WABI-TV in Maine will provide coverage of three conference games involving the Maine Black Bears.