CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – The University of Northern Iowa and its athletics multimedia rights partner, Learfield Sports, announced today the statewide television broadcast plans for the Panthers during the upcoming 2013-’14 athletic season.
Fans throughout Iowa will have several viewing options available to them when football kicks off next month. Sioux City’s KCAU-TV ABC Channel 9 is the newest affiliate to carry the Panthers, to be joined by WOI-DT ABC Channel 5 reaching fans in Des Moines and Ames’ markets; and KCRG-TV ABC Channel 9 in Cedar Rapids’ market.
Again this year, the Cedar Falls Cable Division will produce Panther games for the statewide network and for distribution through Cedar Falls Utilities (CFU) Cable TV. The CFU distribution complements the company’s existing UNI Athletics’ partnership via Panther Sports Properties, Learfield Sports’ entity in Cedar Falls that directly manages the rights relationship.
All television agreements are effective for the 2013-’14 athletic season and encompass the following Panther broadcasts: two football games (September 7 vs. Drake at 4 p.m. CST and November 9 vs. Youngstown State at 4 p.m. CST); six men’s basketball games, one women’s basketball game and one volleyball game. Confirmed dates will be announced later.
Each of the four television outlets for UNI’s 2013-’14 athletic season will broadcast the abovementioned games live on their respective channels – CFU 15 and HD415, KCRG 9.2, WOI Channel 5 D-2, KACU Channel 9 D-2. Cedar Rapids’ ABC affiliate also will broadcast UNI’s 30-minute weekly show, Panther Sports Talk, featuring interviews with head coaches, student-athlete features and other UNI sports’ highlights. In Eastern Iowa, the show airs at 11 p.m. every Sunday night on KCRG and throughout the week on 9.2 and Cedar Falls Community Television.
“We’re definitely pleased with the television line up secured by Learfield, and we’re excited to have the opportunity to continue to enhance our Panther brand throughout the state,” said UNI Director of Athletics Troy Dannen. “We want nothing less than to provide our loyal fans the chance to watch their favorite team and look forward to working with this group of broadcast partners to deliver excellent game broadcasts in the coming year.”
“It was a priority for us to piece together the best television scenario for the University and a quality deliverable for the fans,” said Learfield Sports’ Chief Content Officer Joe Ferreira. “We are pleased with our TV arrangement for this year and wish the Panthers a very successful season.”
Panther Sports Properties’ General Manager Brian Gabel commented, “We strive to bring the best in Panther Athletics to fans with our TV and radio partnerships, and we feel we have done that again this year. Bringing on the Sioux City ABC affiliate will be a great addition to fans in that market as well.”
In addition to UNI, Learfield Sports manages multimedia rights and sponsorship for more than 50 collegiate institutions and associations, and titles the Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup with award co-founders NACDA and USA Today. The company’s multimedia rights encompass numerous content distribution platforms to deliver the passion of college athletics across radio, television and digital networks to fans globally. Today, Learfield Sports’ exclusive sports programming reaches more than 50 million television households nationally and delivers nearly 17,000 hours of radio programming on more than 1,100 radio stations. For additional information about the company’s 40-year history and complete collegiate portfolio, visit www.learfieldsports.com.