On Jan. 17, the Big Sky Conference announced it has agreed to a five-year contract with DirecTV/ROOT SPORTS to televise Big Sky Conference Games.
Below you will find information regarding the ROOT SPORTS, and what the contract means.
ROOT SPORTS Web Site
ROOT SPORTS Northwest Channel Finder
ROOT SPORTS Rocky Mountain Channel Finder
|
Channels |
DirecTV |
Dish Network |
|
ROOT SPORTS NORTHWEST |
687 |
426 |
|
ROOT SPORTS ROCKY MOUNTAIN |
683 |
414 |
Q: What is the future of Big Sky TV?
A: Big Sky TV will continue. In fact, with the addition of Southern Utah, North Dakota, and Cal Poly and UC Davis for football, we'll bring you more games than ever in 2012-13. The games that ROOT SPORTS chooses to televise, however, will not be part of the Big Sky TV package. Those games will not be video streamed. Most conferences and universities charge to view games on the Internet. The Big Sky package has been FREE for the past four seasons, and will likely continue to be free.
Q: Is ROOT SPORTS a new network?
A: No. The network rebranded itself as ROOT SPORTS on April 1, 2011. Previously, the networks were under the Fox Sports banner. You might remember Fox Rocky Mountain and Fox Northwest. Those networks are now ROOT SPORTS. If you watched the Colorado Rockies or Seattle Mariners on cable this past summer, it was likely on ROOT SPORTS. ROOT SPORTS also has a network out of Pittsburgh that shows the Pirates and NHL Penguins.
Q: Can I see these Big Sky games only on DirecTV?
A: No. ROOT SPORTS is owned by DirecTV, but ROOT SPORTS Northwest and Rocky Mountain are available through many cable providers in the Big Sky footprint. If you are in Montana, Idaho, Colorado, Utah, Oregon, Washington or parts of other Western states (South Dakota,Nevada, New Mexico, Kansas) then you most likely already get ROOT SPORTS through your provider. ROOT SPORTS is available nationally on Dish and DirecTV. If you are outside of their regional footprint, you'll need to order sports packages to get ROOT SPORTS. On Dish Network, it's called the Multi-Sports Pack. On DirecTV it's the Sports Pack. Those packages can be ordered month-to-month.
Q: How many games will ROOT SPORTS televise, and what will the production quality be?
A: ROOT SPORTS can televise up to 18 football and up to 12 men's basketball games. All games will be High Definition. DirecTV/ROOT SPORTS is investing in the Big Sky and plans to make our games marquee events.
Q: Will ROOT SPORTS require our favorite teams to play on weekdays, or at strange times?
A: ROOT SPORTS has indicated to us that they will not move games to nights such as Tuesday or Wednesday, as some conferences have done to accommodate national coverage. ROOT SPORTS plans on making our primary slot 1:30 p.m. Mountain on Saturday, with the potential for a doubleheader some weeks. If a game were to be played on a Thursday, it would have to be by mutual agreement of the two schools involved. We know that many of our schools don't want to play on Thursday because of the large fan bases that travel on the weekend to attend games.
Q: How much will the new contract affect the television coverage that Big Sky fans are used to?
A: Our contract with ROOT SPORTS will enhance our television exposure, but the network can't televise all of the games. Once ROOT SPORTS has selected its games in mid-March, the remaining games will go on the secondary market. Television partners such as Montana's News Stations, Max Media, NAU-TV, and SWX have indicated they are willing to bid on games not selected by ROOT SPORTS . We fully anticipate that all Montana and Montana State conference games will be televised, as they have in the past. We also anticipate many of those games will remain on free over-the-air TV. With Southern Utah, North Dakota, Cal Poly and UC Davis joining for football in 2012, we also anticipate working with new TV partners in those areas.
Q: What about fans who don't have cable, and are used to watching games for free on over-the-air networks like Montana's News Stations and Max Media?
A: As we wrote before, our TV partners such as Montana's News Stations and Max Media have expressed an interest in continuing to televise Big Sky games. We anticipate many games to remain on free over-the-air TV. Unfortunately, some games will not be available on those networks. A goal our conference has is to provide greater exposure to all of our teams. This contract was written with the best interest of all of our programs. There will be percentage of viewers who will miss out on games. However, we are adding millions of potential viewers.
Q: Our Big Sky team isn't in the ROOT SPORTS footprint. What will this contract do for our schools?
A: ROOT SPORTS has a wide array of relationships with regional sports channels and cable providers across the country, so it's possible Big Sky games could end up distribution on other regional sports channels in your area.
Q: Will Football Championship Subdivision Playoff games be on ROOT SPORTS?
A: No. ESPN owns the rights to the NCAA Division I Football Championship, so those games belong to ESPN. In the past ESPN chose to syndicate certain games to other networks, but did not this past season.
Q: How does the DirecTV/ROOT SPORTS contract impact the Big Sky schools financially?
A: Certainly our schools will see a financial gain because of the ROOT SPORTS contract, but it's not the type of money schools in the Pac-12, SEC or Big 12 get from their television contracts. This deal benefits all of our schools, and all of our institutions will see more money than what they currently receive in TV money. The Big Sky is unique among FCS conferences in that we make money through television. Many FCS conferences pay to have their games on TV. For us, the exposure this contract provides is vital. Our coaches and Athletics Directors are excited about this venture. It will expose our teams and universities to millions of homes.