Load Up The Snacks, Six-Packs: ESPN to Air 400-Plus College Football Games
By BigLeadSports
The season will begin with the fourth annual Dick’s Sporting Goods Kickoff Week Sept. 1-5, featuring 32 games in five days, concluding with Miami at Maryland in a Labor Day telecast on ESPN and ESPN3.com.
The Allstate BCS National Championship will be played Jan. 9 at the Superdome in Louisiana, broadcast on ESPN.
Regular-season coverage will conclude Saturday, Dec. 3, highlighted by the Dr Pepper ACC Championship Game on ESPN and ESPN3.com and two Big 12 intrastate showdowns: Oklahoma at Oklahoma State and Texas at Baylor, both on ABC.
Schedule highlights include (the majority of game selections will generally be made 12 or six days before the date as the season progresses):
• BCS and Bowls: ESPN outlets will present all five of the BCS games, highlighted by the Allstate BCS National Championship, as part of its schedule of 33 bowl games.
• ACC: The first year of a 12-year agreement with the Atlantic Coast Conference providing ESPN extensive rights to games for Saturday, Thursday and Labor Day telecasts across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3.com
• BYU: The first year of an eight-year agreement for exclusive rights to BYU home football games across multiple ESPN platforms.
• Prime-time action: ESPN will offer Saturday night action across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU and weekly ESPN and ESPNU Thursday prime-time telecasts.
• Reverse mirror: As many as 12 Saturday afternoon windows will offer “reverse mirror” coverage in which two games from ABC’s split national telecasts are televised regionally on ESPN or ESPN2 and ESPN3.com, providing fans with coverage of both games on one of the outlets.
• ESPN 3D: Will offer a schedule of regular-season games (schedule to be determined).
• Live games online: ESPN3.com will stream more than 400 games, a record for the broadband network, including at least 50 exclusive contests.
Additional ESPN platforms offering games include a weekly broadcast on ESPN Radio; ESPN Mobile TV simulcasts; ESPN Regional Television syndication; and an extensive schedule on ESPN GamePlan, ESPN’s outer-market pay-per-view service.