BTN making splash for fans, Olympic sport coaches

Mechanical engineering junior Alex Dupay almost wanted to pull his hair out when he heard Comcast was thinking of charging viewers an additional fee if they permanently wanted the Big Ten Network.

So many Spartans games and so much coverage waited for him, yet he thought he might be locked out and uninvited to the sports party inside his TV.

“It was rather frustrating to know that should Comcast not admit the Big Ten Network into their first tier of service, the games that interest MSU students most would only be available for a price (that would) undoubtedly include various other networks and features that most would consider a waste,” he said.

But as of this past week, the Big Ten Network is signed with more than 230 cable providers across the country — including MSU’s campus network as well as Comcast, a cable service widely used in East Lansing.

“We are reaching 20 million households in the eight Big Ten states,” Big Ten Network Media Relations Manager Mike Vest said. “We are really excited about the new viewers as well as the various programming starting this fall.”

The Big Ten Network will debut a three-show package for the fall’s college football season — Big Ten Tonight, a highlights show, Big Ten Friday Night Tailgate and The Journey, where a camera crew follows a specific program for an entire year.

Big Ten Friday Night Tailgate heads to East Lansing on Sept. 19 to capture the essence of what MSU fans do in preparation for a big game at Spartan Stadium.

National coverage for hard work

Last year, the network aired 64 MSU games in 16 different sports.

MSU baseball head coach Jake Boss Jr. said exposing non-revenue MSU coaches to the rest of the sports world shows how determined the Spartans athletics program is along with how much of a powerhouse the Big Ten truly is.

“It gives other conferences the ability to see how talented the Big Ten is,” Boss said. “The channel does a great job of exposing even the smaller things to viewers all over the map.”

And MSU men’s soccer coach Joe Baum said he saw positive results in regards to the network in the first few weeks of its debut Aug. 30, 2007.

“I have friends that live in L.A., Dallas, St. Louis, Chicago, and after a Sunday Big Ten game, they e-mail me on Monday and they say, ‘Hey, we watched your game, we love Doug DeMartin, we like the way you defend,’” Baum said. “That didn’t happen in the past. Now we have fans that are like weekly followers. So that’s been wonderful.”

Obtaining Spartans from everywhere

And Big Ten Network’s vast coverage has had a direct impact on recruiting high school athletes across the nation, MSU softball coach Jacquie Joseph said.

“Since I have a large out-of-state roster, in any one year, nine of my 18 players are from California or Florida and the channel allows prospects to see us play without ever visiting campus,” Joseph said.

Something that has never been accessible before is the ability for families of players or prospects who can’t get to East Lansing to now simply turn their TV on and see their loved ones right there in the action.

“It gets into so many homes so easily while most other mediums find it hard to get directly in there,” Spartans wrestling head coach Tom Minkel said. “Television is such a pervasive medium. With the Big Ten Network operating, our recruitment has been great.”

Published on Wednesday, September 3, 2008