tommy
07-25-2003, 09:46 AM
Changes in schedules please all
By LUKE DECOCK AND CHIP ALEXANDER, Staff Writers
N.C. State wanted a Thursday night football game, broadcast nationally. The Carolina Hurricanes wanted a few national television appearances of their own.
Because of ESPN's intervention, both sides will profit.
The network brokered a settlement in a scheduling conflict that will allow State to host Clemson at Carter-Finley Stadium on ESPN on Thursday, Oct. 16.
And the Canes, who finished last in the NHL last season, now will have three games carried on ESPN2.
"There was obviously a desire for our Thursday night football package to carry the N.C. State-Clemson game," ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz said. "Moreover, the NHL is clearly a long-term partner of ESPN. We work closely with them week in and week out to maximize the telecasts on our schedule.
"We were able to work with all the partners involved and figure out a scenario that worked for everybody."
On the NHL's preliminary schedule, the Hurricanes had been allocated a home game on Oct. 16. Thursdays are important dates because weekend dates are in demand across the league and Thursdays are the next best thing.
Before the final NHL schedule came out, ESPN approached N.C. State about moving the Oct. 18 Clemson game to Oct. 16 for a national broadcast.
Because the parking and traffic chaos involved with having a football game at Carter-Finley and a hockey game at the RBC Center is nearly unimaginable , the Wolfpack needed the Canes to move their game to another date.
When N.C. State athletics director Lee Fowler approached the Canes, he said he was told their hands were tied because it was too late to make schedule changes.
"We told ESPN if they wanted the game, they needed to talk to the NHL," Fowler said.
The network did and used its leverage to get the NHL to alter the schedule. ESPN offered the Canes three appearances on ESPN2 to make the change.
For a 30th-place team in a minor market, that's a large number of national TV games -- especially when the Canes probably would have made none without the deal.
The Canes were scheduled for four ESPN and ESPN2 appearances last season as the defending Eastern Conference champions but made only three after ESPN dropped one game.
"It's part of having a good partner," Hurricanes general manager Jim Rutherford said of the relationship with N.C. State. "It was important to them to get the TV game on ESPN. In the future, we may have something that has to be moved."
State, meanwhile, gets one of the Thursday night appearances coveted by coach Chuck Amato.
"The perception was we were trying to avoid State Fair weekend, but Chuck's always been in favor of Thursday night games and the national exposure it brings," Fowler said.
By LUKE DECOCK AND CHIP ALEXANDER, Staff Writers
N.C. State wanted a Thursday night football game, broadcast nationally. The Carolina Hurricanes wanted a few national television appearances of their own.
Because of ESPN's intervention, both sides will profit.
The network brokered a settlement in a scheduling conflict that will allow State to host Clemson at Carter-Finley Stadium on ESPN on Thursday, Oct. 16.
And the Canes, who finished last in the NHL last season, now will have three games carried on ESPN2.
"There was obviously a desire for our Thursday night football package to carry the N.C. State-Clemson game," ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz said. "Moreover, the NHL is clearly a long-term partner of ESPN. We work closely with them week in and week out to maximize the telecasts on our schedule.
"We were able to work with all the partners involved and figure out a scenario that worked for everybody."
On the NHL's preliminary schedule, the Hurricanes had been allocated a home game on Oct. 16. Thursdays are important dates because weekend dates are in demand across the league and Thursdays are the next best thing.
Before the final NHL schedule came out, ESPN approached N.C. State about moving the Oct. 18 Clemson game to Oct. 16 for a national broadcast.
Because the parking and traffic chaos involved with having a football game at Carter-Finley and a hockey game at the RBC Center is nearly unimaginable , the Wolfpack needed the Canes to move their game to another date.
When N.C. State athletics director Lee Fowler approached the Canes, he said he was told their hands were tied because it was too late to make schedule changes.
"We told ESPN if they wanted the game, they needed to talk to the NHL," Fowler said.
The network did and used its leverage to get the NHL to alter the schedule. ESPN offered the Canes three appearances on ESPN2 to make the change.
For a 30th-place team in a minor market, that's a large number of national TV games -- especially when the Canes probably would have made none without the deal.
The Canes were scheduled for four ESPN and ESPN2 appearances last season as the defending Eastern Conference champions but made only three after ESPN dropped one game.
"It's part of having a good partner," Hurricanes general manager Jim Rutherford said of the relationship with N.C. State. "It was important to them to get the TV game on ESPN. In the future, we may have something that has to be moved."
State, meanwhile, gets one of the Thursday night appearances coveted by coach Chuck Amato.
"The perception was we were trying to avoid State Fair weekend, but Chuck's always been in favor of Thursday night games and the national exposure it brings," Fowler said.