CAA ANNOUNCES MOST COMPREHENSIVE BASKETBALL TV PACKAGE
WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 25, 2006) - The Colonial Athletic Association, coming off its finest season in both men’s and women’s basketball, today unveiled its most comprehensive television schedule in the CAA’s 22-year history at its annual Basketball Media Day at the ESPN Zone in Washington, DC.
The 75-game men’s basketball composite broadcast slate features 28 appearances on the various ESPN platforms, including three regular-season games and the CAA Championship on ESPN/ESPN2, six games on ESPNU and five syndicated games on ESPN Regional Television. The largest-ever Comcast syndicated package features 30-plus games syndicated on the Comcast family of Networks (Comcast SportsNets, SportsNet New York, CSS, CN8), allowing consistent exposure in many of the nation’s largest media markets. The CAA entered last season listing a then record-high package of 39 men’s games.
The women’s basketball composite television schedule also enjoyed an increase, adding two regular season games as well as the CAA Women’s Basketball Championship semifinals. In total, 17 games will be televised throughout the CAA footprint, including Old Dominion versus Tennessee on ESPNU.
“Our overall success last year and changes in the marketplace enabled us to capitalize on the two most important factors in this business, those being our institutions commitment to enhance and promote their basketball programs and, secondly, but just as important, solid relationships with established broadcast partners in Comcast/CN8 and ESPN,” stated CAA Commissioner Tom Yeager. “We are very excited that CAA fans throughout our geographic footprint will be able to watch their teams perform on television several times during each week of the season. These multi-year arrangements greatly enhance the CAA’s television future.”
CAA TELEVISION PACKAGE HIGHLIGHTS:
- Four games guaranteed on ESPN/ESPN 2, including Wichita State at George Mason, George Mason at Duke, Hofstra at George Mason and the CAA Championship game;
- A six-game package on ESPNU as part of a new multi-year Agreement;
- A five game syndicated package on ESPN Regional, also part of a new multi-platform Agreement with ESPN;
- Over 30 games in a widely-syndicated Comcast/CN8 package, featuring a cumulative total of 60-plus CAA appearances available in the New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Washington, DC, Baltimore, Richmond, Norfolk and Atlanta television markets, reaching a potential audience of over 20 million TVHH;
- Seven games (Four Quarterfinals, two Semifinals and the Championship) of the CAA Men’s Basketball Championship available either regionally or nationally.
- An expanded Women’s Basketball package with the addition of two regionally-syndicated regular season CAA games (8 total);
- The addition of regional syndication of both CAA Women’s Basketball semifinal games to the CAA Championship game.
(click on PDF below to see the complete schedule)