Soisson | Penn-Princeton back in spotlight

For the fourth time in three years, the Penn football team will play in front of millions throughout the country on national television.

But this time, viewers of the Versus network can watch an Ivy League champion compete against a century-old rival.

In a deal between the Ivy League and Versus, at least three Ivy football games will be nationally televised this season — one of which is the 102nd all-time matchup with Princeton.

And though the Penn-Princeton game has been locally televised five years in a row, the longstanding rivalry is moving into the national spotlight

That is because Versus is “the fastest growing sports cable network in the country,” according to Comcast.com, after a rapid rise to prominence.

Two years ago, when Penn-Princeton aired on ESPNU, Versus was a little-known network showing mostly outdoor sports programming that lacked action, and cable companies such as DirecTV were hesitant to include it in their lineups.

Last September, after Philadelphia-based Comcast, the owner of Versus, demanded a fee increase for the network, DirecTV refused and dropped the station.

But in March of 2010, Versus returned to the lineup of DirecTV and now airs sports such as the NHL and NBA, as well as Pac-10 and Big 12 conference football.

So on November 6, when the Red and Blue lace up against the Tigers, the entire country will have the chance to watch.

Now that Versus is truly a national network, what does this say about Ivy football, Ivy sports as a whole and specifically, the Penn-Princeton rivalry?

As far as Ancient Eight television coverage, the league has the Cornell men’s basketball team to thank. But a deal with Versus shows the nation that Cornell is not, and will not be the Ivy League’s only recent claim to athletic fame.

Maybe this Versus deal will open up the eyes of sports fans throughout the country, and casual spectators will be reminded that those nerdy schools in the Northeast do, in fact, offer quality athletics.

Unlike many major Division I programs, it is rare that Penn sports are televised. So two weeks ago, when the Ivy League announced the TV deal, fans of the Red and Blue were buzzing. Fans were buzzing in 2002 when Franklin Field played host to ESPN’s College GameDay and fans were buzzing in December when the Quakers travelled to Durham to face Duke on ESPN2.

But when will television appearances for Penn Athletics become a little more common? After all, Penn boasts the namesake of the coveted Heisman Trophy as an alum.

This season’s football deal may just pave the way for Ivy athletics. Though not many details have been released, according to the league, it is possible that Versus will add more football games to its fall lineup later this summer.

And it seems as if the networks are finally catching on to what the Ivies can offer athletically. In 2008, Versus aired Penn’s game against Brown, and covered its matchup with Dartmouth in 2009.

It is also likely that the national coverage that will spotlight this season’s game against Princeton will only further intensify their bitter rivalry. Local stations have noted the enmity between the two teams for five years in a row, and now Versus has picked it up.

One can only hope for competitive games this fall on Versus — and even more in 2011.

MEGAN SOISSON is a rising Nursing sophomore from Mechanicsburg, Pa. Her e-mail address is soisson@dailypennsylvanian.com.

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