Internet broadcasts free this fall thanks to Athletics Partnership
8/25/2009 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Patriot League’s annual leader in on-line broadcasts, Lehigh Athletics has announced its 2009 fall broadcast schedule. In all, 57 events – including soccer, field hockey, volleyball, and football – will be broadcast live on Lehighsports.com this fall through industry pioneer Yahoo! College Broadcast. This season, as work continues on a new Lehigh Athletics web site which will feature an array of Internet broadcast options, the live game broadcasts will be available free of charge. Lehigh evaluated several options for distributing streaming video and decided to remain with Yahoo! which has adjusted its business model by eliminating subscriber fees and revenue sharing. The cost of producing the fall season broadcasts will be absorbed by the Lehigh Athletics Partnership, in the aim of increasing the visibility of Lehigh’s expanding multimedia programming and to avoid any further confusion regarding subscription options for Lehigh Internet broadcasts. Since 2002, live Lehigh sports broadcasts had been available through Yahoo! for a $4.95 monthly access fee, and since 2007, Patriot League basketball broadcasts have been available through the CBS College Sports All-Access package at a $9.95 monthly access fee.
“We are excited about the capabilities that will be associated with our new web site, currently in the development and programming stage, and anticipated for launch in November,” said Bill Griffin, Associate Director of Athletics for External Relations and Communications. “Our website partner, AmericanEagle.com, is responding to nearly every aspiration we have proposed, including an expanded capacity for streaming video content, ‘insider’ information, and integrated opportunities to follow and financially support Lehigh Athletics. We look forward to our launch later this fall, and to continued evaluation of a reasonable fee structure which will enable us to sustain and grow our multimedia programming.”
Jeff Tourial, who oversees and produces Lehigh’s multimedia content shared, “The decision to offer fee-free access to video streaming programming this fall was a function of our desire to expand awareness of our programming among alumni, family and friends, as well as to reduce confusion about subscription options. We are grateful for the commitment by the Athletics Partnership to cover the net costs, and hope that our numbers of partners and Partnership results will continue to grow.”
The Lehigh Athletics Partnership is an Athletics Department and Athletics Alumni and Friend organization focused on alumni relations, communications, and raising annual funds for athletics through gifts which help ensure that Lehigh remains competitive within the Patriot League and beyond. Annual gifts to the Athletics Partnership program supplement institutional funding and are used for student recruitment, staffing, student-athlete recognition programs and program-specific prioritized initiatives such as out of region scheduling or special equipment needs.
The 2009 Lehigh Athletics broadcast schedule gets underway on August 31 at 8:30 p.m., with the season premiere of the Lehigh Sports Magazine, Lehigh’s weekly half-hour television show spotlighting each of Lehigh’s Varsity teams. The first live sporting event will take place the next night, when the men’s soccer team opens its campaign vs. Stanford at 7 p.m.
For the most up-to-date broadcast information, please visit the Lehigh Broadcast home page via the link above.
