Cox to add SNY

Manchester, CT – Cox Communications has just announced that it will SportsNet New York (SNY) throughout its service area in Connecticut, just in time for SNY's first televised University of Connecticut football game Saturday, September 11 at noon vs. Texas Southern.
SNY is the new home for UConn football and men's basketball. SNY will be on its expanded service tier, channel 62.

Full post at http://jiblogs.com/jsilvers_uconn_football_blog/?p=1809

UConn Football on TV in 2010

Cross posted at http://jiblogs.com/jsilvers_uconn_football_blog/?p=1638

Had a nice long conversation with our TV writer Matt Buckler and we went over the SNY deal.  The Huskies get a ton of original programming and branding, but as far as men's basketball, all the local games were on SNY anyway but blacked out locally. So, the amount of additional games for football and men's basketball won't increase by much.

This helps UConn immensely with original programming and the branding and breaking into the NYC market like this is a coup for UConn. In sheer number of people watching a local game, it will actually decrease the number of sets coming off a broadcast network. Now, the exposure is much greater -- they became a feature team -- but for live games, less people will actually be watching (no free TV will show the game). 


In the Manchester, Conn. and Enfield areas the dominant cable provider is Cox, and right now there is no deal. So, what could UConn fans miss on the football side if Cox doesn't carry SNY?

09/04/10     at Michigan TV     Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, Mich.     3:30 p.m. ET
09/11/10     vs. Texas Southern TV     Rentschler Field, East Hartford, Conn.     12:00 p.m. ET
09/18/10     at Temple TV     Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pa.     12:00 p.m. ET
09/25/10     vs. Buffalo     Rentschler Field, East Hartford, Conn.     TBA
10/02/10     vs. Vanderbilt     Rentschler Field, East Hartford, Conn.     TBA
10/08/10     at Rutgers * TV     Rutgers Stadium, New Brunswick, N.J.     7:30 p.m. ET
10/23/10     at Louisville *     Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. Louisville, Kent.     TBA
10/29/10     vs. West Virginia * TV     Rentschler Field, East Hartford, Conn.     8:00 p.m. ET
11/11/10     vs. Pittsburgh * TV     Rentschler Field, East Hartford, Conn.     7:30 p.m. ET
11/20/10     at Syracuse *     Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.     TBA
11/27/10     vs. Cincinnati *     Rentschler Field, East Hartford, Conn.     TBA
12/04/10     at USF * TV     Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Fla.     TBA

Two games are locked into SNY -- Texas Southern and Temple. There are 4 other potential games on the schedule that could be on SNY.
Now, this decision will be made 12 days before the telecast. ESPN has the option to take any of these games and put them on ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNU. I am not sure of ESPN3 internet broadcasting.

Sept. 25 against Buffalo likely isn't going to be picked up as an ESPN, 2/U game. This one is a good candidate for BE Game of the Week which would put it on SNY.

Oct. 2 against Vanderbilt could also be on SNY. But, the SEC/Big East matchup makes me think we will see this one on ESPNU at a minimum.


Oct. 23 against Louisville looks like another ESPNU game.

Nov. 20 against Syracuse. This game has traditionally been a BE game of the Week, and I would think unless both teams are contenders (not expecting Cuse to be there) that this one would be on SNY as a Game of the Week. 

Nov. 27 Cincinnati. I imagine this one will be on ESPNU at a minimum.
So, if your cable outlet has ESPNU and SNY, you are going to be in heaven.

If you are in a Cox household you might want to start calling the company. The JIs office is in Manchester and we don't get SNY here. Jeff Hathaway has Cox Cable at home, and he doesn't get SNY either.

As my friend Matt Buckler  -- best TV writer in the state -- has pointed out these are going to be contentious hearings. First off, in Enfield's Cox system, they don't carry the YES Network that has made Yankee fans irate. So, now, Cox is going to offer Mets game, but not Yankees games?
If Cox says no, and won't put SNY on a expanded basic (doubt SNY would accept being in the sports tier), then it looks like UConn fans in these areas could be shutout of a maximum of 6 UConn games, and asurredly already 2.

Basketball season would be a disaster for these communities as 13 games would be unavailable.  Can Cox Communications really shut out the Manchester and Enfield areas from UConn men's basketball and football games?

It could happen. If Cablevision can take Yankees out of NYC, then anything can happen. Perhaps, people should start looking into ATT U-Verse or a dish.

NYC UConn's town?

Cross posted at http://jiblogs.com/jsilvers_uconn_football_blog/?p=1626


The SNY deal is huge exposure for the Huskies. Virtually the entire area that has cable gets SNY. UConn is going to be the featured college team on SNY and will have premium access into New York, New Jersey and Eastern Pa. UConn's local package will be 12 million homes, which is 3 times population of the State of Connecticut.

Why UConn? While there are plenty of teams in the NYC area, SNY felt UConn was a unique program.

"When you think of the excellence of football and basketball, who else is there?," SNY president Steve Raab said. "It became an obvious fit for us. UConn is unique in it's football, basketball and fan support than a lot of the schools in our region."

Edsall finally has something to fight with on the recruiting trail now as he battles other teams.

"When you take look at schools we compete against, we have more exposure in the Metropolitan area than any other school we have to compete against," Edsall said. "That's something we will use in recruiting."

So then I asked the loaded question...is NYC now UConn's town?'

Edsall laughed:

"I will say this, we get the most exposure of any team."

Huskies-SNY ...mainlining into NYC

Cross posted at http://jiblogs.com/jsilvers_uconn_football_blog/?p=1623


I don't think we can underestimate the partnership that UConn and SNY just announced. SNY is now essentially the home of the UConn Huskies.
That's Sports New York, with a reach of 8.8 million people in the Tri-State area.  This is a LOCAL package, meaning local non-network games. UConn's local package will have a reach of 12 million people through SNY nationally. Jeff Hathaway said this was one of the most significant days in UConn history.

"In our home game market, our local games will go to 9 million homes in a 3 state area. Throw in satellite and telcom (ATT U-Verse), it will go to 12 million nationally. That's a great local TV package. "

For football, the benefits are incredible. Huskies have unfiltered access into New York and New Jersey. Randy Edsall found out last Friday and couldn't contain himself.

"It covers our primary area we want to recruit," Edsall said. "We're on a 5 hour drive off your campus. The exposure we will get in that area with 4 million more homes and then nationally, you open up a bigger avenue. That wil make a huge huge difference. We can tell kids to go to SNY and watch this. We never had capability to do that."

Edsall loved the fact that UConn games on SNY will be replayed during the week. Some of them condensed. The Tuesday pressers will be televised.

For hoops, it makes virtually every UConn game that is on ESPN Regional (which are most) accessible to fans and recruits in New York, New Jersey and Eastern Pa. That's an incredible reach for the Huskies. The non-ESPN games are going to be televised to an incredibly broad area.

For football it's even more. While there are games that can't be televised (such as what happened at baylor last year), UConn football will be featured and highlighted from Connecticut, into New York, and New Jersey as well as Eastern Pa. That folks, is UConn's recruiting base right there. It's not going to take an ESPN national game to get regional exposure.

What Jeff Hathaway has done is break the Huskies out of Connecticut. This isn't access into the New York market for UConn -- it's a mainlining into NYC.

I know there are some Cox people out there. There is a lot of Cox subscribers in JI land, but I cant' see Cox holding out here. UConn is a religion on the hoops side in Vernon/Manchester. It will get on. All other Comcast outlets in CT will now have SNY including Vernon. Don't worry about Charter in Storrs. It will get on to. That's just one system, and SNY are on other Charter systems.
The exposure and reach of this is incredible.