The ESPN-FCS Playoffs SNAFU

Saw this little tidbit in the Daily Interlake today about the upcoming Montana and Montana State playoff games...

MISSOULA - The University of Montana and Montana State football teams are headed to the postseason, but many fans in the state might not be able to watch the games on television.

ESPN has the rights to the games and plans to only show the first and second round games as well as some of the quarterfinal contests on ESPN 3, an internet-based channel many Montanans can't access. MSU Athletic Director Peter Fields says he has no say in ESPN's decision, but the schools can lobby to have their games picked for broadcast.

Meanwhile, Gordie Fix, owner of Missoula's Press Box sports bar, says "we're finding out pretty much that we're out of luck."

MSU will host New Hampshire on Dec. 3. The Griz will play at home the same day at 12:05 p.m. against the winner of Saturday's Central Arkansas-Tennessee Tech game.

And now it gets serious as state senators push for a TV change

"In Montana, college football is a treasured tradition," Montana Senator Jon Tester wrote in a letter to George Bodenheimer, president of ESPN-ABC Sports.

"Within hours after hearing your decision, Montanans put their friendly rivalries aside to cheer for a common goal: to encourage ESPN to reconsider," Tester wrote. "I am proud to join these Montanans in their unified plea. Please consider working with Montana broadcast stations or cable providers to make TV feeds of these (Football Championship Series) playoff games reasonably available to Montana fans. Airing these games in Montana will allow ESPN to be part of a time-honored pastime in the Treasure State."

The Bobcats are scheduled to host New Hampshire in a second-round playoff game on Dec. 3 in Bozeman.

The Grizzlies will host the winner of the Tennessee Tech-Central Arkansas game the same day in Missoula. If the Montana teams advance to the quarterfinals of the playoffs, those games might be broadcast on the ESPN or ESPN2 cable television channels.

According to Monday press reports, the ESPN3 online service is extremely limited in its availability in Montana.


Considering the following that both the Griz and Bobcats have, does ESPN really want to feel the burn from those fan bases? And this whole thing just goes to show that ESPN has ceased to become a source for sports news and has become a sports entertainment company with its own agenda (in this case, pushing their online channel onto people because it's the only option). This gets worse in the future for the Worldwide Leader...