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| Type | College sports syndicator |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Availability | Regional |
| Owner | The Walt Disney Company (80%) Hearst Corporation (20%) |
| Key people | George Bodenheimer, President, ESPN, Inc. |
| Former names | Creative Sports; Ohlmeyer Communications Corporation |
| Official website | http://www.espn-plus.com/ |
ESPN Plus is the popular name of ESPN Regional Television, which is an American television program syndicator. ERT is based (along with ESPNU) in Charlotte, North Carolina. Prior to its purchase by ESPN, this sports package's syndicator was known as Creative Sports, which in turn merged with Don Ohlmeyer's self-titled Ohlmeyer Communication Corporation (OCC).
ESPN Plus produces and syndicates the following telecasts:
- Big East Conference football and men's college basketball (Starting with the 2008 football season these game are branded as the Big East Network with SportsNet New York as the flagship station)
- Big 12 Conference basketball (under the name Big 12 Network beginning in the 2008–09 season).[1]
- Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball (under the name Jayhawk Television Network for games broadcast only on local Kansas television affiliates).[2]
- Mid-American Conference football
- Sun Belt Conference football
- University of Oregon football and basketball (select games) (under the name Oregon Sports Network)
- Western Athletic Conference football and men's basketball
- Southeastern Conference football and basketball (starting in 2009, taking over for Raycom Sports). It is branded The SEC Network. [3] [4]
Games air on broadcast stations, regional sports networks, and on ESPN GamePlan and ESPN Full Court, both of which are out of market sports packages. Beginning with the 2007–08 college football season, these games are made available at no additional charge to viewers of the ESPN360 broadband service.
Since ERT shares its' production facilities with those of ESPNU, there are some crossovers in production. Mike Gleason hosts pregame, halftime, and postgame shows on the ESPN Plus telecasts. ERT also airs Studio 66, named for Big 12 sponsor Phillips 66, as the pregame show before the basketball telecasts. During the conference tournament, it travels to the tournament site.
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Former Rights
ESPN Plus once had rights to Conference USA football and basketball, Mountain West Conference football and basketball, and Big Ten Conference football and basketball, but has since lost them as detailed below:
- Conference USA - Broadcast rights to C-USA football and basketball games not selected to air nationally on ESPN or ESPN2 are owned by CBS College Sports Network.
- Mountain West Conference - Broadcast rights to MWC football and basketball games are now owned by CBS College Sports Network and partner channel MountainWest Sports Network. Versus also has rights to MWC football and basketball.
- Big Ten Conference - Broadcast rights to Big Ten Conference football and basketball games not selected to air regionally or nationally on ABC, ESPN, or ESPN2 are owned by Big Ten Network. ESPN Plus lost the rights to the new network in August 2007.
Event organizer
In addition to the syndicated telecasts, ERT promotes a number of special events:
- It organizes the following college football bowl games, which are televised on either ESPN or ESPN2: St. Petersburg Bowl, Papajohns.com Bowl, New Mexico Bowl, Maaco Bowl Las Vegas, Bell Helicopters Armed Forces Bowl, and Sheraton Hawaiʻi Bowl. Most of these games (except the Armed Forces Bowl) are held before Christmas and until 2006 were branded under the name "Bowl Road Trip," while ESPN telecasts after Christmas were referred to as "Capital One Bowl Week." (As of the 2007 bowl season, however, Bowl Week now covers all games shown on ESPN, ESPN2, or ABC.) [5]
- It also organizes the MEAC-SWAC Challenge, a regular season game between teams representing two conferences of historically black colleges and universities in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision.
- It is also behind a number of college basketball events, including the BracketBusters mid-season event, Old Spice Classic held at Disney's Wide World of Sports in Florida, the All-College Basketball Classic in Oklahoma City, the Puerto Rico Tip-Off, the 76 Classic (formerly Anaheim Classic) in California, the Big East-SEC Challenge, and the Charleston Classic in South Carolina. All games are shown on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU at the Old Spice, Puerto Rico, and 76 tournaments. In 2009, ERT will launch the Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii.[6]
- In golf, ERT produces two versions of the Skins Game, a "regular" tournament on Thanksgiving weekend and a Champions Tour version in January. They air on ABC and ESPN2, respectively. ERT also organizes the National Golf Challenge for amateur players. (The Skins Game, however, will not be held in late 2009.)
External links
References
- ^ Big 12 Men's Basketball Television Frequently Asked Questions
- ^ KSNT-TV Becomes Jayhawk Television Network Affiliate in Topeka
- ^ ESPN Press Release July 21, 2009 ESPN Regional Television and Southeastern Conference Introduce ‘SEC Network,’ Announce Syndication Package
- ^ HDSportsGuide.com - ESPN Regional Television announces SEC Network affiliates
- ^ ESPN Plus Official Site - About ESPN Regional Television
- ^ ESPN Plus Press Release October 13, 2008 UH To Host Inaugural Diamond Head Classic Eight-Team Men's College Basketball Tournament Tips off in 2009
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