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12-16-04, 08:37 PM
http://www.arenafootball.com/around_the_afl/inside_the_afl/458992.html
Fox Sports Networks and the Arena Football League have reached a multi-year agreement to carry regular-season games on 11 of FSN’s owned and affiliated regional sports networks, it was announced today by AFL Commissioner David Baker and Randy Freer, COO, Fox Sports Networks. Most FSN regional telecasts will take place on Fridays and Saturdays, and are in addition to the AFL’s exclusive Sunday afternoon national window on NBC.
The agreement has FSN responsible for producing the game telecasts, and both the AFL and FSN will work together to sell advertising inventory. Once FSN is reimbursed for its production costs, the two organizations will then share ad revenue. In addition, FSN will continue producing and televising AFL WEEKLY, a weekly magazine program that premiered on the network last season. The 2005 edition of AFL WEEKLY debuts Monday, Jan. 31 at 3:30 PM local time, and continues every Monday through season’s end.
“Our goal is to be the most fan-friendly league in the world, and we’ve taken a major step towards that with this agreement with FSN,” said Baker. “Nearly 90 percent of AFL games will be broadcast either nationally or locally, which significantly increases the AFL’s exposure and reach to our fans. We have a great national television partner in NBC, and now have the perfect regional partner in FSN.”
The agreement, combined with individual team broadcasting agreements, increases the number of AFL non-NBC games on television from 39 in 2004 to more than 120 in 2005.
“The importance of a cable component in today’s sports world goes without saying,” said Chicago Rush co-owner and AFL Television Committee chairman Alan Levin. “There is no better regional partner to have than FSN, who is the innovator of regional sports television.”
“We’re very excited about our new partnership with the AFL,” added Freer. “Local sports events are the foundation upon which FSN is built, and Arena Football League was a previously untapped source of exciting, high quality local sports programming. Adding the AFL definitely strengthens FSN’s regional programming mix, and is a natural fit with our desire to increase our local programming.”
One of the fastest growing and most exciting sports in America, the AFL has 17 teams in markets from coast to coast, with 16 of them located in markets serviced by a Fox or Rainbow-owned regional sports network, making the AFL a natural local programming addition. FSN will carry over 100 telecasts this season, including eight games on Fox–owned Sunshine Network, with 15 of the 17 teams appearing a minimum of five times. All 17 teams will have at least two games televised through this agreement.
In addition to Sunshine (Orlando Predators & Tampa Bay Storm), the FSN-owned regionals boasting local AFL teams and scheduled to carry games this season are FSN Arizona (Arizona Rattlers), FSN Detroit (Grand Rapids Rampage), FSN Rocky Mountain (Colorado Crush), FSN South (Georgia Force & Nashville Kats), FSN Southwest (Austin Wranglers, Dallas Desperados & New Orleans VooDoo) and FSN West (Las Vegas Gladiators & Los Angeles Avengers), while the Rainbow-owned FSN affiliates are FSN Bay Area (San Jose SaberCats), FSN Chicago (Chicago Rush), FSN New York (New York Dragons) and FSN Ohio (Columbus Destroyers). Each region will have its own broadcast team, with the home market’s FSN network responsible for a single production which will also be fed to the visiting team’s local FSN network.
The first FSN game scheduled for Friday, Jan. 28 between the ArenaBowl XVIII runner-up Arizona Rattlers and Grand Rapids Rampage on FSN Detroit and FSN Arizona. The Dallas Desperados lead all teams with 10 games on FSN Southwest, followed by the Georgia Force with nine games on FSN South. The complete FSN regional schedule is attached.
Fox Sports Networks and the Arena Football League have reached a multi-year agreement to carry regular-season games on 11 of FSN’s owned and affiliated regional sports networks, it was announced today by AFL Commissioner David Baker and Randy Freer, COO, Fox Sports Networks. Most FSN regional telecasts will take place on Fridays and Saturdays, and are in addition to the AFL’s exclusive Sunday afternoon national window on NBC.
The agreement has FSN responsible for producing the game telecasts, and both the AFL and FSN will work together to sell advertising inventory. Once FSN is reimbursed for its production costs, the two organizations will then share ad revenue. In addition, FSN will continue producing and televising AFL WEEKLY, a weekly magazine program that premiered on the network last season. The 2005 edition of AFL WEEKLY debuts Monday, Jan. 31 at 3:30 PM local time, and continues every Monday through season’s end.
“Our goal is to be the most fan-friendly league in the world, and we’ve taken a major step towards that with this agreement with FSN,” said Baker. “Nearly 90 percent of AFL games will be broadcast either nationally or locally, which significantly increases the AFL’s exposure and reach to our fans. We have a great national television partner in NBC, and now have the perfect regional partner in FSN.”
The agreement, combined with individual team broadcasting agreements, increases the number of AFL non-NBC games on television from 39 in 2004 to more than 120 in 2005.
“The importance of a cable component in today’s sports world goes without saying,” said Chicago Rush co-owner and AFL Television Committee chairman Alan Levin. “There is no better regional partner to have than FSN, who is the innovator of regional sports television.”
“We’re very excited about our new partnership with the AFL,” added Freer. “Local sports events are the foundation upon which FSN is built, and Arena Football League was a previously untapped source of exciting, high quality local sports programming. Adding the AFL definitely strengthens FSN’s regional programming mix, and is a natural fit with our desire to increase our local programming.”
One of the fastest growing and most exciting sports in America, the AFL has 17 teams in markets from coast to coast, with 16 of them located in markets serviced by a Fox or Rainbow-owned regional sports network, making the AFL a natural local programming addition. FSN will carry over 100 telecasts this season, including eight games on Fox–owned Sunshine Network, with 15 of the 17 teams appearing a minimum of five times. All 17 teams will have at least two games televised through this agreement.
In addition to Sunshine (Orlando Predators & Tampa Bay Storm), the FSN-owned regionals boasting local AFL teams and scheduled to carry games this season are FSN Arizona (Arizona Rattlers), FSN Detroit (Grand Rapids Rampage), FSN Rocky Mountain (Colorado Crush), FSN South (Georgia Force & Nashville Kats), FSN Southwest (Austin Wranglers, Dallas Desperados & New Orleans VooDoo) and FSN West (Las Vegas Gladiators & Los Angeles Avengers), while the Rainbow-owned FSN affiliates are FSN Bay Area (San Jose SaberCats), FSN Chicago (Chicago Rush), FSN New York (New York Dragons) and FSN Ohio (Columbus Destroyers). Each region will have its own broadcast team, with the home market’s FSN network responsible for a single production which will also be fed to the visiting team’s local FSN network.
The first FSN game scheduled for Friday, Jan. 28 between the ArenaBowl XVIII runner-up Arizona Rattlers and Grand Rapids Rampage on FSN Detroit and FSN Arizona. The Dallas Desperados lead all teams with 10 games on FSN Southwest, followed by the Georgia Force with nine games on FSN South. The complete FSN regional schedule is attached.