Jan. 5, 2011
="" alt="Knight Head" border="0" class="imported"> Read John Denton's Knights Insider | ="" alt="Twitter Logo" border="0" class="imported">Follow us on Twitter | ="" alt="Facebook Logo" border="0" class="imported">Get social with the Knights on Facebook
By John Denton
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - A new multi-year agreement for national television rights between Conference USA and FOX Sports Media Group, beginning with the 2011 football season, will mean more national exposure and a greater financial package for UCF.
C-USA and FOX Sports Networks inked a six-year deal on Wednesday that will put the league's football and men's and women's basketball programs at the forefront of content for the networks. C-USA's contract with ESPN recently expired, and Fox was quick to act with a financial package that will provide a significant increase in revenue for the schools. And because C-USA will continue to work in conjunction with CBS College Sports Network, there will be an increase in the number of events distributed and the overall exposure for the conference.
``For Conference USA to be in a position to increase its national exposure, as well as individual broadcast opportunities for its schools, in this next television agreement is a tremendous outcome for our league,'' UCF Athletics Director Keith Tribble said. ``Conference USA is moving in a very positive direction with FOX Sports and we're very pleased to have this opportunity to showcase our athletics program on their family of networks.''
The deal was finalized late last week through a conference call with the school presidents and athletics directors and was announced on Wednesday.
``This is a huge step forward for our Conference and we are pleased to have the opportunity to work with FOX,'' C-USA Commissioner Britton Banowsky said. ``Our interests are aligned and we are very excited about the potential of this partnership.''
Sun Sports and FS Florida are both broadcast in Orlando and throughout Central Florida and could be home to several Knights football and basketball games starting next fall.
According to terms of the agreement, FSN will showcase a minimum of 20 regular-season football games per season, a minimum of 10 regular-season men's and five women's basketball games, and a variety of Olympic sports events. The C-USA football championship game will also be carried on FSN, FX or the FOX Network. FSN programming is distributed nationally to more than 85 million homes through more than two dozen owned and affiliated regional sports networks.
Provisions of the new agreement also allow Fox to televise select Conference USA events on FOX Sports, which reaches over 115 million households nationwide, and on FX, FOX's flagship general entertainment cable network available in over 98 million homes.
That national visibility should help the branding of a program on the rise, such as UCF's men's basketball team. The Knights headed into Wednesday night's C-USA opener at 13-0 and ranked No. 18 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll and No. 19 in the Associated Press poll. New Knights coach Donnie Jones is making a concerted push to recruit more nationally, so the added TV exposure should aid the program, Jones said.
``We are very excited about the new partnership with Fox Sports. The exposure that our program will receive in Florida on FS Florida and Sun Sports, and throughout the country as well, is invaluable,'' Jones said. ``The partnership not only helps with recruiting, but allows UCF's fans and alumni more opportunities to follow the Knights.''
=====
Click here to receive the Knights Insider via email
John Denton's Knights Insider appears on UCFAthletics.com several times a week. E-mail John at jdenton@athletics.ucf.edu.