CLEVELAND, Ohio – Fox Sports Net Ohio and the Cleveland Cavaliers announced today they have extended their partnership with a new, long-term agreement. Steve Liverani, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Fox Sports Net Ohio, and Len Komoroski, President, Cleveland Cavaliers/Gund Arena Company made the announcement.
Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The 2003-04 season, featuring the highly anticipated debut of LeBron James, will mark the 14th year in which the Cavaliers and Fox Sports Net have teamed up to deliver comprehensive game coverage to Ohio basketball fans. This season, Fox Sports Net will deliver 40 Cavaliers games to more than 4.5 million households in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The complete 2003-04 Cavaliers telecast schedule on Fox Sports Net will be announced shortly.
"Fox Sports Net is thrilled to build upon our long history and strong partnership with the Cavaliers," said Liverani. "This agreement is great news for Cavaliers fans, and assures them that Fox Sports Net will continue to be the place to turn for everything related to their home team."
"We've had a great partnership in the past, and we expect our future to be even better," said Len Komoroski, President Cleveland Cavaliers/Gund Arena Company. "The extension of our relationship with Fox Sports Net means more and more Cavaliers fans in Ohio, and parts of Pennsylvania and West Virginia can now count on being able to view our games and enjoy watching this young, exciting team develop into contenders."
The long-term partnership between the team and Fox Sports Net began on February 9, 1989 when the Cavaliers hosted the Indiana Pacers at the Richfield Coliseum. The game was available to 275,000 households.
Fox Sports Net Ohio reaches more than 4.5 million households in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, western Pennsylvania, western New York, and West Virginia. Fox Sports Net Ohio's programming includes the Cleveland Indians, Cincinnati Reds, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Cleveland Cavaliers, The Best Damn Sports Show Period, NASCAR and The NFL Show. Fox Sports Net Ohio is managed by Rainbow Sports Networks.
Rainbow Sports Networks is a division of Rainbow Media Holdings, Inc., a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE:CVC). Fox Sports Net reaches more than 80 million households nationwide and is a service of National Sports Partners, equally owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, Inc. and Fox Entertainment Group. Rainbow Sports Networks incorporates Rainbow's 50% ownership of Fox Sports Net and Fox Sports National Advertising and the ownership and management of Fox Sports Net regional networks in five of the nation's largest markets: Chicago, Florida, Ohio, New England and San Francisco.