Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE
The Oklahoma Sooners have come to an agreement with the FOX Sports family featuring Sooner specific programs. The long-term deal will be multi-platform with at least 1000 hours of programming. Some of the details were announced during the opening game at UTEP, but now we have the big picture.
The Sooner Sports TV option is available immediately and as of right now, reaches over nine million homes. The FOX Sports family of channels that Sooner programming will be available on include, FOX Sports Southwest, FOX Sports Oklahoma and FOX College Sports. The states that are included in on the deal right now are Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana. Markets outside of those regions will get select programming Nationally, most likely on FOX College Sports.
The University of Oklahoma President David Boren on the new deal:
The programming agreement between the University of Oklahoma and FOX Sports marks the beginning of a terrific opportunity to engage our entire university community in athletic, academic and cultural events all across our campus. By providing unprecedented access to many areas of our university, millions of people across our state and nation will be able to see all of the truly great developments happening at OU.
Not only will the programming include live events, but they will show archived and historic footage, much like the other networks show “classic” games.
As of right now, listed original programs include (from SoonerSports.com) :
OU Football Press Conference
OU – Review (weekly encore)
Sooner Football with Bob Stoops
Sooner Sports Game Day (pregame show)
Sooner Sports Overtime (postgame show – home games only)
Sooner Sports Pad
Coach’s Corner
Sooner Sports Talk
Sooner Basketball with Sherri Coale
Sooner Hoops with Lon Kruger
Rounding Third (baseball/softball)
Sooner Sports Weekly (spring sports)
Shortly after the announcement, Sooners athletic director Joe Castiglione gave a press conference.
As we began this process, our goals were to develop a network that was widely distributed and sustainable. We accomplished those goals by placing Oklahoma programming on visible platforms and in a model that allows us to remain strong and viable for a long period of time. We’re excited to take this very significant step with FOX, a leader in sports and digital media, and we’re invigorated to seek more challenges while tapping into the vast media opportunities that seem to blossom every day.
“We’ve made significant investment in SoonerVision to prepare for this day. With an eye on the future, we put in place an infrastructure that gives us almost limitless possibilities from a production standpoint. That state-of-the-art facility has paved the way for us to not only launch this venture, but look ahead with dynamic creativity.
This is a big deal for Sooner fans that aren’t able to attend or get coverage of other sports besides football. Basketball, baseball and softball will also be key features.
The Sooners had a chance to peruse a 24/7 network and decided that partnering with FOX on specific programming would be more beneficial in the long run. The contract is set for 10 years between the two.
