Miami joins NIU, CMU and Buffalo as the next school to complete the necessary tech upgrade as part of the new ESPN contract. The MAC has 4 years, starting last year, to get all of the schools upgraded with ESPN quality broadcast capabilities. Rumor is there will be more than 3 making the upgrade this summer, anyone have insight as to who might be next?


http://www.muredhawks.com/genrel/061115aaa.html

I dunno. I always thought some chicken-wire, a ham radio, and some aluminum foil was good enough! :)

(06-11-2015 12:14 PM)perimeterpost Wrote:  Miami joins NIU, CMU and Buffalo as the next school to complete the necessary tech upgrade as part of the new ESPN contract. The MAC has 4 years, starting last year, to get all of the schools upgraded with ESPN quality broadcast capabilities. Rumor is there will be more than 3 making the upgrade this summer, anyone have insight as to who might be next?


http://www.muredhawks.com/genrel/061115aaa.html

You mention this as some sort of requirement...but that article makes it sound like this is some voluntary program Miami is doing.

Was there a previous thread about this requirement?

(06-11-2015 12:55 PM)Redwingtom Wrote:  

(06-11-2015 12:14 PM)perimeterpost Wrote:  Miami joins NIU, CMU and Buffalo as the next school to complete the necessary tech upgrade as part of the new ESPN contract. The MAC has 4 years, starting last year, to get all of the schools upgraded with ESPN quality broadcast capabilities. Rumor is there will be more than 3 making the upgrade this summer, anyone have insight as to who might be next?


http://www.muredhawks.com/genrel/061115aaa.html

You mention this as some sort of requirement...but that article makes it sound like this is some voluntary program Miami is doing.

Was there a previous thread about this requirement?

It's a requirement as part of the new contract, per this line in the article "the RedHawks will launch.. The ESPN University Production Initiative, a component of the Mid-American Conference’s 13-year agreement with ESPN, ".

I don't have a link to a previous thread but I can summarize it for you- when ESPN decided to open up negotiations with the MAC last year with 3 years still remaining on the previous contract they offered an additional $8M/yr for the final 3yrs of the original $14M/10yr deal that would then roll into a $100M/10yr contract.

As part of the agreement the MAC agreed to upgrade its video broadcast capabilities to reach ESPN standards within 4 years so events in the bball arenas (bball, volleyball, wrestling) could be broadcast on ESPN3. Most MAC schools just use a single web cam with the radio broadcast dubbed in and little to no onscreen graphics. The upgrade calls for multiple cameras, instant replay, and on-air talent.

The plan was to upgrade 3 schools a year for 4 years, the costs could be approx $2M per school, or $24M total. It's not a coincidence that the final 3yrs of the old contract was given an extra $24M. Last year NIU, CMU and Buffalo were the first schools to make the transition. If you have access to ESPN3 check out one of their archived bball games, the quality is impressive.

The MAC has been hush-hush about the selection process for determining which schools make the upgrade and when. A few months ago the MAC said that more info regarding the next round would come out in June and there's a chance more than 3 schools will make the upgrade this summer.

This is the part of the contract renewal that gets mentioned the least but imo its the most significant. If you've ever tried to watch a web stream of MAC bball game you know how embarrassingly amateurish they are. Having all of our home games professionally broadcast and archived on ESPN3 will help the conference with recruiting and overall perception. Plus additional exposure for some non revenue sports is a big deal too.

I'm excited to see this transition completed.

Thanks...I've been watching BG football and basketball games on the 3 for a few years now.

I reported on here last winter that Miami was determined to upgrade to ESPN3 this year. I was also told then that several other schools were ready to upgrade this year. Both our President and AD were not happy with no coverage last year. My source on this is very reliable.

Athens's beat reported tweeted today that Ohio will not be upgrading this year because they aren't ready. Not happy.

I think UT will

I believe EMU has already agreed. This is from a slide from today's EMU board of regents athletic committee's agenda:

"Agreement Updates
• ESPN3 – 35 athletic events will be televised in
2015‐16 (practical experience for
Communications, Media Arts & Theater students)"

Ball State is ready and did a few last year. Western Michigan is required to update their productions as part of their NCHC hockey conference for NCHC.tv.

So that gives up Miami, EMU, Toledo, Ball State, Western Michigan implementing ESPN3 this year.


Perimeter Post claims Ohio is out this round.

Akron, Kent, BG are unknown.

If TWC SportChannel, CBS Sports Network cover the basketball games of the 4 or so schools that don't have ESPN3 set-up, then the other schools are covered and most of the MAC basketball games will be broadcast this year. Then next year the last 4 or 5 schools implement.

(06-14-2015 09:24 PM)UofToledoFans Wrote:  I think UT will

does that mean you hope or have you heard something?

(06-16-2015 03:14 PM)emu steve Wrote:  I believe EMU has already agreed. This is from a slide from today's EMU board of regents athletic committee's agenda:

"Agreement Updates
• ESPN3 – 35 athletic events will be televised in
2015‐16 (practical experience for
Communications, Media Arts & Theater students)"

Here is a paragraph from a published article (Eastern Echo):

"Agreement Updates:
Lyke also announced a new deal with ESPN3 that would televise 35 EMU athletic events in 2015-16. Lyke stated the events would have to take place in the Convocation Center due to the lack of technology to be capable of broadcasting at the baseball and softball fields and at Bowen Field House. Lyke said the teams that would be broadcast would mostly be men’s and women’s basketball but they would also get some volleyball matches and wrestling and gymnastics meets televised."

(06-17-2015 05:51 AM)emu steve Wrote:  

(06-16-2015 03:14 PM)emu steve Wrote:  I believe EMU has already agreed. This is from a slide from today's EMU board of regents athletic committee's agenda:

"Agreement Updates
• ESPN3 – 35 athletic events will be televised in
2015‐16 (practical experience for
Communications, Media Arts & Theater students)"

Here is a paragraph from a published article (Eastern Echo):

"Agreement Updates:
Lyke also announced a new deal with ESPN3 that would televise 35 EMU athletic events in 2015-16. Lyke stated the events would have to take place in the Convocation Center due to the lack of technology to be capable of broadcasting at the baseball and softball fields and at Bowen Field House. Lyke said the teams that would be broadcast would mostly be men’s and women’s basketball but they would also get some volleyball matches and wrestling and gymnastics meets televised."

This is very similar to Buffalo's setup in that they are only able to do games inside the arena.

(06-17-2015 07:05 AM)BullBoy Wrote:  

(06-17-2015 05:51 AM)emu steve Wrote:  

(06-16-2015 03:14 PM)emu steve Wrote:  I believe EMU has already agreed. This is from a slide from today's EMU board of regents athletic committee's agenda:

"Agreement Updates
• ESPN3 – 35 athletic events will be televised in
2015‐16 (practical experience for
Communications, Media Arts & Theater students)"

Here is a paragraph from a published article (Eastern Echo):

"Agreement Updates:
Lyke also announced a new deal with ESPN3 that would televise 35 EMU athletic events in 2015-16. Lyke stated the events would have to take place in the Convocation Center due to the lack of technology to be capable of broadcasting at the baseball and softball fields and at Bowen Field House. Lyke said the teams that would be broadcast would mostly be men’s and women’s basketball but they would also get some volleyball matches and wrestling and gymnastics meets televised."

This is very similar to Buffalo's setup in that they are only able to do games inside the arena.

and quite frankly, HD baseball games????

Basically, most fans are interested in HD video of FB, men and women's basketball...

Would 100 viewers watch a UB/EMU baseball game?

(06-16-2015 04:19 PM)Miami (Oh) Yeah ! Wrote:  Ball State is ready and did a few last year. Western Michigan is required to update their productions as part of their NCHC hockey conference for NCHC.tv.

So that gives up Miami, EMU, Toledo, Ball State, Western Michigan implementing ESPN3 this year.


Perimeter Post claims Ohio is out this round.

Akron, Kent, BG are unknown.

If TWC SportChannel, CBS Sports Network cover the basketball games of the 4 or so schools that don't have ESPN3 set-up, then the other schools are covered and most of the MAC basketball games will be broadcast this year. Then next year the last 4 or 5 schools implement.

If I'm following this correctly, ALL MAC West (?) schools will be doing ESPN3 men's basketball this year + 3 MAC East schools.

Correct????

IF so, then a fan of MAC West team can see 9 home conference games + 5 more road (intra-divisional) games vs. MAC West + maybe a couple MAC East road games...

This has not been confirmed by the university yet, but BG is believed to be upgrading things this year.

https://twitter.com/jwagnerblade/status/...8287228929
https://twitter.com/jwagnerblade/status/...8618969088
https://twitter.com/jwagnerblade/status/...2254245888

JMU is already producing HD broadcasts that are ready for ESPN3.

Throw us a bone.

(06-18-2015 09:57 AM)JMU2004 Wrote:  JMU is already produces HD broadcasts that are ready for ESPN3.

Throw us a bone.

You never know !!
If UMASS would get antsy at the 11th hour and go all sports in the MAC, JMU would be a great choice to get to 14.

BGSU also announced they are part of the ESPN3.com upgrade this year...so says twitter.

(06-22-2015 02:55 PM)HuskieJohn Wrote:  BGSU also announced they are part of the ESPN3.com upgrade this year...so says twitter.

So says BGSUFalcons.com

http://bgsufalcons.com/news/2015/6/22/GE...54917.aspx