PUBLICATIONS Inside Illinois Vol. 27, No. 4, Aug. 16, 2007

Big Ten Network debuts this month with sports and more

By Sharita Forrest, Assistant Editor
217-244-1072; slforres@uiuc.edu

The Fighting Illini football team’s home game with Western Illinois on Sept. 8 will be among the first collegiate games that will be aired by the Big Ten Network, the national cable/satellite programming service dedicated to coverage of sporting events for the UI and the 10 other universities in the Big Ten Conference.

The Chicago-based network, a joint venture between the Big Ten Conference institutions and Fox Cable Networks, will launch Aug. 30. The network will air six of the Big Ten teams’ season openers on Sept. 1, and more than 35 collegiate football games over the course of the season, including the Illini’s Nov. 3 game at Minnesota.

In addition to extensive sports coverage, the network also plans to air original programming in academics, the arts and sciences, and campus activities at the Big Ten schools.

About 16 of the Big Ten men’s basketball games, as well as unprecedented coverage of women’s sports and Olympic events, will be aired on the BTN as well, according to Kent Brown, assistant athletic director in the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics.

Under long-term agreements among the Big Ten Conference and ABC/ESPN/ESPN2 and the BTN, the networks will select their televised football games under a rotation schedule whereby ABC will get first choice and ESPN or BTN will get second pick.

As of July 25, BTN had secured distribution commitments from more than 100 local cable operators throughout the Midwest, in addition to DirecTV and AT&T.

The Fighting Illini football team will kick off its regular season with a game at Missouri on Sept. 1, which will be broadcast on ESPN2.

Fans can find out which cable and satellite TV carriers offer the Big Ten Network by visiting the BTN’s Web site, www.bigtennetwork.com/, and entering their ZIP codes in the box below “Get the Big Ten Network.” 

Promotional videos for Illinois and the other Big Ten schools are available for viewing on the network’s Web site.

More information about BTN and Illini athletics is available on the Fighting Illini’s Web site at http://fightingillini.com.

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