Lockhart Stadium will have one thing Pro Player Stadium never had: OWL TV.
The past two seasons have gone by with virtually no television presence whatsoever. In contrast, FIU had its first-ever game aired live on Sunshine Network last season. 2003 seems no different as FIU has two games on Sunshine and one on NBC 6, while FAU still is without network coverage.
This has led a number of students to question why FAU football games haven’t been on Sunshine or any of the other local cable channels.
The common rumor was that Sunshine owned the rights to FAU football and simply wasn’t motivated in broadcasting the games. This was confusing, since they have aired FAU basketball games in the past.
The truth of the matter is that Sunshine doesn’t possess any restrictive rights concerning FAU football. The matter at hand is simply money. FIU is getting more cable airplay because they are paying for that time. FAU just has not opted to give funding to football for broadcasts, not surprising considering the tightening budgets. However, without any legal obstacles, OWL TV is marching ahead with plans to film the first two games of the FAU season.
On September 6, FAU’s first home game, expect to see a number of cameras filming the game. The game will be the setting for OWL TV’s multi-camera shoot. They intend to bring their portable studio units with them. When the studio equipment was purchased and assembled, it was portable by design and has been used in the filming of other sports. This enables the on-location crew to produce the game with replays and graphics just like any of us see when we watch network NFL games.
Pete Montalbano explains that their goal is to go out and make the production look professional. To assist in this regard, BRET TV (Boca Raton Educational Television) is bringing some cameras for the Valdosta State game.
OWL TV seems excited about the upcoming season, enough to have a special project for an “Owl Vision” camera to use during the game. Their GlobeCaster, one of the portable studio units, will allow the on-location volunteers to edit and employ 3D video warp effects in real-time, meeting the challenge of making this endeavor professional.
The only real issue is where the games will be aired.
There is some speculation that the Sunshine Network will play the games. At the moment, Sunshine Network doesn’t have any scheduled FAU games. They’re instead waiting to see the first, or first two, games that OWL TV is planning to film before they make a decision. Sunshine aired the coach’s show and multiple basketball games last year, so they have a history of airing FAU sports programming.
The hope is that Fox Sports
Net will pick up the FAU football games. It’s unlikely they will be aired live, at least this year.
Also in the works is a projection for a bimonthly FAU sports show to air on Tuesday nights with replays on Saturdays and Sundays. The program would showcase all of FAU’s sports similar to the Florida Gator report aired on Sunshine network.
The Sunday possibility is an intriguing one since that option would place FAU sports right before the NFL pre-game shows, catching a prospective audience when nothing else appealing is on. The problem with getting on Fox is the money situation. Sponsors will probably be needed.
BRET, on the other hand, is a safe fallback option for cable airplay if the Sunshine Network and Fox don’t end up airing the football games this year. The situation gets complicated because BRET is nonprofit; sponsored games would be impossible to play. It wouldn’t be too difficult to doctor up all the graphics with sponsors.
In keeping with the goal of making a professional production, OWL TV has secured Eric Reed for the play-by-play commentary. Eric Reed has been the voice of the Miami Heat for the past fifteen years. They’re also optimistic that they’ll be able to land a recognized personality for the color duties. Eventually, the plan is to replace the professional commentator booth with students.
So far, there are a lot of plans and options and very little determined. It all depends on how the first two “trial” games go. So come out and fill up the stands on Lockhart stadium. As Mr. Montalbano says, “Just come out to the game and you might be on TV.”
BRET TV’s schedule can be found online at http://www.bretonline.tv/.Fox Sports Net’s regional schedule can be found at http://www.foxsports.com/.Sunshine Network’s schedule can be found at http://www.sunshinenetwork.com/program_schedule.jsp.
