NORMAN —
Oklahoma doesn’t have its own television network, but the deal it announced on Wednesday with FOX Sports comes pretty close.
OU and FOX Sports have agreed 10-year multimedia programming partnership featuring “Sooner Sports TV Powered by FOX Sports,” a multiplatform network that provides for immediate and wide distribution of at least 1,000 hours of OU sports programming annually on a variety of FOX Sports outlets, including FOX Sports Oklahoma, FOX Sports Southwest and FOX College Sports, according to a release from the University.
The programming blocks will be distributed on FOX Sports Networks, reaching 9 million TV homes in Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana. Outside of this four-state region, select programming from “Sooner Sports TV” will be made available nationally, either on FOX College Sports via cable providers or on outer market regional sports packages offered by satellite providers.
“Being able to launch to 9 million people with the opportunity to grow that base is exciting,” OU athletic director Joe Castiglione said. “We examined the amount of programming we would have available to us and getting at least 1,000 hours of programming in a multi-platform network was exciting to us.
“This was at least 10 times the amount programming OU has been able to offer previously to our fans. Partnering with one of the world’s leading media companies is exciting. The opportunity for us to engage in some creative programming that we can develop here on our campus in partnership with the variety of entities we have available, all of that was important. To do it in a way that made the most sense for our program going forward.”
Additionally, the partnership between OU and FOX Sports will include an online component featuring extensive “all-access” content not televised on FOX Sports networks. Such material will include live streaming, archived games, and additional content exclusively for the web.
Nearly all of the content will be produced by the SoonerVision production unit. SoonerVision currently employs a staff of 95. The SoonerVision facility, located at Owen Field, already houses two control rooms, allowing simultaneous distribution of content to the department’s five in-venue video boards and television. SoonerVision covered 65 events for television distribution last year.
“One of the things that really excited us about this relationship was when you looked and saw the infrastructure the University had invested in for their SoonerVision properties,” FOX Sports It was state of the art, HD facility.” FOX Sports Southwest general manager Jon Heidtke said.
Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but all the income derived from it will go to OU.
The Big 12 Conference television agreement that was signed last week with ABC/ESPN and FOX Sports gives the schools the rights to all programming that isn’t selected for network or cable broadcast. The agreement means each school will hold the rights to one football game per season.
“Our agreement has been carefully constructed to take advantage of the programming opportunities we have available to us,” Castiglione said. “The vast majority of the football programming is already part of the conference television agreement. Going forward, that will remain. We’lll have a chance to get access to some of those games on a re-air basis. That is something great for our fans, too. In addition to our programming we typically produce, we’ll have a chance to re-air some of these games in their entirety much sooner than we’ve ever had the chance to do before.”
The content will also be accessible immediately. OU’s has been developing this for several years. It wanted to create something sustainable that avoided the issues Texas has faced with getting cable and satellite providers to carry the Longhorn Network.
The partnership with FOX Sports gets OU content on the air without the hassles of building a network from scratch.
“This really gives us the best of all possible worlds. We have substantial OU branding in programming, along with immediate and full distributions for fans in Oklahoma, Texas and the region and through a variety of FOX platforms around the country,” Castiglione said. “The exciting part is it also gives us a chance to grow along with our media partner. We really thought this approach would serve our fans the best way possible.”
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“Sooner Sports TV Powered by FOX Sports” is a multiplatform network that provides for immediate and wide distribution of at least 1,000 hours of OU sports programming annually on a variety of FOX Sports outlets, including FOX Sports Oklahoma, FOX Sports Southwest and FOX College Sports. Jerry Laizure / The Transcript
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Sooner Sports TV is born
OU, FOX Sports craft 10-year multimedia agreement
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Tennis camps offered in Edmond
Edmond Raquet Club is offering a pair of tennis camps beginning May 28.
For ages 5-8, a camp is offered from 8:45-9:30 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays and for ages 7-15 a tennis camp is available from 6-6:55 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Both camps run from May 28-June 13 and cost is $99 per camp.
A camp session for ages 8-16 will run on Mondays and Wednesdays from 8:30-9:25 a.m. May 29-June 12 for the identical cost.
For more information concerning these camps and others, call 341-4241. -
UCO winds up 10th nationally
Taylor Neidy fired a final-round 75, but Central Oklahoma failed to move up in the team standings at the NCAA Division II Women’s Golf Championships in Daytona Beach, Fla. Saturday.
The Bronchos closed with a 323 — making 11 double bogeys and three triples — and finished 10th in the four-day, 72-hole tournament with a 1,298 total on the 6,228-yard, par-72 Arthur Hills Legends Course at LPGA International.
Lynn ended Nova Southeastern’s four-year reign as national championships, finishing with a 1,187 total to edge the Sharks by three strokes. -
Central Oklahoma softballers make World Series again
Hayley Hudson gave Central Oklahoma a 5-4 lead with a run-scoring single in the fifth inning and the No. 19-ranked Bronchos staved off a seventh-inning Winona State threat to capture the NCAA Division II Central Super Regional championship Saturday afternoon at Edmond North High School.
The Warriors put two runners on with two outs in the bottom of the seventh in a bid to pull out a late win and force a deciding game in the best-of-three series, but left fielder Devyn Frazier made a running catch in foul territory for the final out to set off a wild celebration on the field.
UCO improved to 47-11 — a school-record for wins — with its 23th consecutive home victory and advanced to the Division II World Series for the second straight year. The Bronchos will face Armstrong Atlantic in the eight-team World Series at 11 a.m. Thursday in Salem, Va.
“I’d say that was a nail-biter,” head coach Genny Stidham said. “It was a good game, both teams played well. Winona has a great team and they didn’t give up, but we came up with some big plays and came out on top. -
Central Oklahoma golf coach picks up award
Central Oklahoma’s Michael Bond has been named the NCAA Division II Central Region Coach of the Year by the Women’s Golf Coaches Association, with Aly Seng and Erica Bensch both earning All-Central Region honors.
Bond led the Bronchos to perhaps the best season in school history in 2012-13 with top-five finishes in 10 of their 12 tournaments. UCO won three titles, including the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association crown and its first-ever regional championship, and finished 10th in the Division II national tournament. -
Workman's blast cranks UCO's engine; Bronchos cruise to 5-2 win
Nicole Workman’s solo home run gave Central Oklahoma a lead it would never relinquish and the No. 19-ranked Bronchos went on to topple Winona State 5-2 in the first game of the NCAA Division II Central Super Regional Friday night at the Edmond North High School Softball Complex.
Workman blasted her 14th homer of the season to lead off the second inning, with UCO adding three runs in the third and one more in the fifth to take a commanding 5-0 lead before the Warriors created some anxious moments in their final at bat.
WSU scored two runs and had runners on second and third on with just one out in the top of the seventh, but Kalynn Shrock got the final two batters to close out her fourth straight complete-game outing of the postseason and put the Bronchos in control of the best-of-three series. -
Richters rip competition at KickingBird
The KickingBird 2-man scramble was won by Jeff and Josh Richter, finishing with a 57.9 on May 11.
Jeff Jester and Kevin Wright wrapped up second-place honors with a 59.9 and Rick Morales and Ronnie Roberts placed third (60.1).
In the second flight, the top score was 60.4 by Jerry Bernhardt and Ted Carter. Picking up silver was the tandem of Jerry Fuller and Ramona Jacobi (61.2) and the third-place squad was Dyke Hoppe and Mark VanSickle at 62.0.
Morales was closest to the pin on No. 6 and Jeff Richter landed a dart on hole 14. -
Eagles' season finished; Lopez earns national honor
Southeastern, Fla. eliminated Oklahoma Christian 4-0 om the National Christian College Athletic Association World Series in Mason, Ohio today to advance to the tournament semifinals, while OC closes at 26-26.
OC would have advanced to the semifinals with a win, but completed a terrific turnaround from an 8-34 season in 2012. The Eagles made only the second national-tournament appearance in the program's history, with the other coming in 1972, when OC finished third in the NAIA World Series. -
Multiple baseball camps offered in Edmond
Edmond Schools baseball coaches Kyle Roberts (Edmond Memorial), Jeff Shafer (Edmond Santa Fe) and Karl King (Edmond North) will instruct the Edmond All-Star Baseball Camps starting May 28 at Edmond North High School.
A pair of all-skills camps will take place for kids ages 5 and older from May 28-31 and June 3-6. Times are the same, 9 a.m.-2 p.m.
On June 7, a pitcher/catcher camp will be offered for ages 8 and older with the identical time frame. Cost is $35 for the pitcher/catcher camp and $125 for the all-skills camp.
For further inquiries, contact Karl King at 863-3570. -
Arthur Hills eating up Bronchos
Central Oklahoma’s struggles continued at the NCAA Division II Women’s Golf Championships in Daytona Beach, Fla. Friday.
The Bronchos made 10 double bogeys and two triple bogeys en route to a season-high 329 score on the rugged 6,228-yard, par-72 Arthur Hills Legends Course at LPGA International, leaving UCO in 10th place with a three-round total of 975.
Nova Southeastern has an 881 total heading into Saturday’s final round, giving the four-time defending champion Sharks a one-shot lead over second-place Lynn. -
Bronchos will make 12th appearance in national golf championship Monday
No. 18-ranked Central Oklahoma will make its 12th appearance in the NCAA Division II Men’s Golf Championships in Hershey, Pa. next week.
The 54-hole stroke play portion of the tournament runs Monday-Wednesday at the 7,061-yard, par-71 Hershey Country Club East Course, with the top-eight teams from the 20-team field advancing to match play. - More Sports Headlines
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Tennis camps offered in Edmond
