TicketsAug. 21, 2007
CINCINNATI - CinCW, the digital sister station of Local 12 WKRC-TV in Cincinnati, announced today that it has come to terms on an agreement that will make the CinCW the official home of the BIG EAST Conference for the 2007-08 football and basketball seasons.
BIG EAST games will air this fall on Saturday afternoons at Noon on the CinCW beginning with either Syracuse at Louisville or North Carolina at South Florida on Sept. 22, 2007. The weekly schedule will be comprised of multiple game options with a determination to be made regarding the exact game to be aired no less than 12 days prior to the broadcast date.
"We have felt for some time now that the Cincinnati market was under-served by not having a direct link to all of the exciting action that the BIG EAST Conference has to offer," said Clear Channel Regional Vice President and General Manger Christopher Sehring. "This is a great sports market. With the success of BIG EAST football last year, and especially the excitement that surrounds UC football locally for the coming season, we absolutely felt that the time was now to complete an agreement that would bring the best BIG EAST Conference games to the tri-state."
To celebrate the new agreement with the BIG EAST, the CinCW will be having a lunch-time announcement and pep rally this Friday, Aug. 24 on Fountain Square. The event, scheduled from 11:30-1:00 p.m., will include appearances by members of the University of Cincinnati football team, head coach Brian Kelly, and the UC cheerleaders and dance team. The pep rally starts at 12:15 p.m. and Coach Kelly will address the crowd at approximately 12:20 p.m.
"This is an important step in the on-going growth of the BIG EAST brand," said UC Director of Athletics Mike Thomas. "For the first time since UC joined the BIG EAST Conference, the entire slate of syndicated conference football and basketball games will air in the city for our fans to see."
Other games that will be part of the potential BIG EAST football schedule on the CinCW include Cincinnati at Rutgers, Louisville at Cincinnati, Rutgers at Syracuse, Cincinnati at Pittsburgh, Cincinnati at Syracuse and Akron at Connecticut.
"We are thrilled that the conference and the CinCW have partnered to bring BIG EAST football to everyone in the city of Cincinnati," said head coach Brian Kelly. "It's important in a great sports city, like Cincinnati, we offer our fans the complete experience so they can follow along all season as we compete in one of just six BCS (Bowl Championship Series) conferences."
The BIG EAST football schedule on the CinCW will run through December 1, 2007.