over the next three years
CLEVELAND – FSN Ohio and the Mid-American Conference announced today a multi-year agreement beginning with the '04-'05 season. The partnership could bring nearly 100 conference athletic events to the network over the next three years. Steve Liverani, Senior Vice President and General Manager, FSN Ohio, made the announcement.
FSN Ohio will televise a minimum of 30 MAC athletic events each year, including four college football games, 5 weekend men's basketball games, 5 mid-week men's basketball games, and 8 women's basketball games – including regular season, tourney semi's and finals. Olympic Championship Events, such as women's volleyball, soccer and softball, and men's baseball will also be televised.
"FSN Ohio has a long-standing and successful relationship with the MAC," said Liverani. "The Mid-American Conference is a tremendous product that continues to be an important part of our programming line-up. We're thrilled to deliver the best the MAC has to offer to all of its fans across our region."
"This announcement represents another significant step in the growth of the MAC," said MAC Commissioner Rick Chryst. "The multi-year commitment by FSN Ohio to showcase the complete spectrum of MAC sports — football, men's and women's basketball, Olympic Sport championship events — recognizes the overall competitiveness of our programs and the strong public interest in our schools. FSN Ohio is the home for all of the events that sports fans in this state want to see, and we are thrilled to be a long-term part of that family.'
FSN Ohio reaches more than four million households in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, western Pennsylvania, western New York, and West Virginia. FSN Ohio's programming includes the Cleveland Indians, Cincinnati Reds, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Cleveland Cavaliers, The Best Damn Sports Show Period, I Max, The Sports List, NASCAR and Totally NFL. FSN Ohio is managed by Rainbow Sports Networks.
Rainbow Sports Networks is a division of Rainbow Media Holdings LLC, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE:CVC). FSN reaches more than 80 million households nationwide and is a service of National Sports Partners, equally owned by Rainbow Media Holdings LLC and Fox Entertainment Group. Rainbow Sports Networks incorporates Rainbow's 50% ownership of FSN Ohio and Fox Sports National Advertising and the ownership and management of FSN regional networks in five of the nation's largest markets: Chicago, Florida, Ohio, New England and San Francisco.