Josh Hirsch: TV calls; thankfully, Ivies answer

Normally, I'm one of the first people to criticize the Ivy League for something, be it the postseason football ban or the scheduling across some sports. I tend to think that the league presidents are not trying to compete as a conference, but rather are just trying to keep the Ivy League reputation in place.

That being said, I have quickly come around to the Ancient Eight's newest initiative - a deal announced last week between the League and the not-yet-born America Channel.

On Thursday, the two sides agreed to a broadcast deal for over 40 events per year, and covers basketball, football, soccer, tennis, volleyball and softball.

My first reaction was, "This is the best they could do? A channel that doesn't even exist yet, that I have never heard of?"

According to Doron Gorsheim, The America Channel's CEO, when the network launches this summer it will be on tiers of video networks offered by telecom giants like Verizon and AT&T.;

Gorsheim said that he was working on deals with other video providers, but currently the channel has no agreements with cable or satellite companies.

So if a game is broadcast and no one is there to watch it, did it really happen?

But as I looked into the deal, I have to compliment the Ivies for getting in on the action.

There is no guarantee that The America Channel will be successful or that the league will benefit from the deal.

However, I could just have easily seen the League further limiting its exposure and not wanting to compete even with the low-majors of Division I.

In December, TAC announced it would broadcast games from the Patriot League and seven other conferences. It looked like the Ivies were out of the fray.

But according to Gorsheim, the Ivies' deal was announced later because it was done later, and was not separate from the network's other agreements.

I had differing reactions to the rest of Gorsheim's pitch. The network is supposedly about "telling stories," with human-interest pieces about athletes a big part of it. The America Channel will work with student newspapers like this one to create pieces based on features.

That seems like a nice idea, but I don't know how much people will be drawn to this side of the programming.

Meanwhile, Ivy League Executive Director Jeff Orleans had more intriguing details for me.

He said that the agreement would not take away from games belonging to the YES Network or CSTV, and that TAC would simply pick up other games, which he called "an unusually accommodating approach."

Furthermore, Orleans said, the Ivy League has "full rights to stream all of these broadcasts over League and institutional Web sites."

In an age where so many games are televised, having more contests available on the Internet and television is a huge recruiting tool. Now more than ever, Ivy coaches can say, "Look at us on TV next week. You can be there too and your parents don't have to trek across the country just to see you play."

It may not be a multi-billion dollar agreement with ESPN, but the Ivy League deserves credit for this deal.

Josh Hirsch is a senior urban studies major from Roslyn, N.Y., and is former Senior Sports Editor of The Daily Pennsylvanian. His e-mail address is jjhirsch@sas.upenn.edu.

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