NEW ORLEANS - Comcast Sports Southeast, a regional cable sports network, is the first affiliate to sign-on to the Sun Belt Conference-ESPN Regional Television football television network, the league announced Thursday.
Comcast Sports Southeast (CSS) serves 3.1 million cable television households in nine southeastern states, including Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina. CSS, based in Atlanta, is a joint venture between Comcast Corporation, the nation's third-largest cable television provider, and Charter Communications, the fourth-largest cable company in the U.S.
Comcast will carry all six Sun Belt-ERT games live, as well as Arkansas State's Aug. 25 game at Virginia Tech in the Hispanic Fund Classic. The Sun Belt-ERT games include UAB at Louisiana-Lafayette on Sept. 21; Louisiana-Lafayette at Middle Tennessee on Oct. 19; New Mexico State at Arkansas State on Oct. 26; Idaho at North Texas on Nov. 9; Louisiana-Monroe at Middle Tennessee on Nov. 16; and North Texas at Middle Tennessee on Nov. 23.
"We are very excited that CSS has joined our football television network," Sun Belt Commissioner Wright Waters said. "We appreciate the interest Comcast has shown in the Sun Belt Conference, and we look forward to a great future together as CSS continues to grow."
Last week, the Sun Belt announced a six-year agreement with ESPN Regional Television (ERT), which features regular-season broadcasts of football and men's and women's basketball. The deal, which begins during the 2002-03 academic year and continues through 2007-08, features a combination of regional telecasts of football and basketball produced by ERT, as well as national football exposures on ESPN and ESPN2 beginning with the 2003 season.
In addition to CSS, clearances in additional markets are currently being negotiated, and it is expected that the Sun Belt games will be shown in each league market. Also, select games will be available on ESPN GamePlan, ESPN's out-of-market college football pay-per-view package.
2002 Sun Belt Conference-ERT Football Schedule on Comcast Sports Southeast
(as of 7/29/02)
DATE, GAME:
8/25, Arkansas State at Virginia Tech (Bonus coverage/not part of Sun Belt package), 1:30 p.m.
9/21, UAB at UL Lafayette, 6 p.m.
10/19, *UL Lafayette at Middle Tennessee, 11 a.m.
10/26, *New Mexico State at Arkansas State, 6 p.m.
11/9, *Idaho at North Texas, 6 p.m.
11/16, *UL Monroe at Middle Tennessee, 2:30 p.m.
11/23, *North Texas at Middle Tennessee, 2:30 p.m.
*Sun Belt Conference game
ALL TIMES CENTRAL; CHECK LOCAL LISTINGS
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