TSSAA and PlayOn! Sports, in association with Mann Communications, announced a new agreement for the broadcast television rights to the 2013-2016 BlueCross Bowl football championships as well as the girls and boys BlueCross Basketball Championships. The games will air live across a statewide network of affiliates and will reach nearly three million households across Tennessee.
“We are very excited about the network of stations that will be providing statewide coverage of the BlueCross Bowl and BlueCross Basketball Championships,” said Bernard Childress, executive director of TSSAA.
“We have worked with many of these stations in the past and we are looking forward to renewing that relationship. PlayOn! Sports continues to provide an outstanding service to the student athletes and fans across Tennessee with outstanding production of our championship events, and we are happy to continue our relationship with them as well.”
The statewide broadcast affiliate network will televise the 2013 BlueCross Bowl Football Championships this fall and the 2014 BlueCross Basketball Championships this winter, and will continue coverage through the 2015-2016 school year. Games will be broadcast on the following network affiliates:
Ø Nashville – WUXP (MyNetwork) / WNAB (CW)
Ø Memphis – WLMT (CW) / WPXX (MyNetwork) / WPTY (ABC)
Ø Knoxville – MyVLT (MyNetwork)
Ø Chattanooga – WFLI (CW) / MyTV Chattanooga (MyNetwork) / WDSI (FOX)
Ø Tri-Cities – WAPK (MyNetwork)
Ø Jackson – WJKT (FOX) / JEA Cable
In addition to the football and basketball championship coverage included in the agreement, the network of local stations will also carry three Road to the Blue Cross Bowl specials to air at different times throughout the football season. One basketball championship special will run before the basketball playoffs.
“Fans in Tennessee will have comprehensive television access to the exciting football and basketball championships the BlueCross Championship series offers,” said David Rudolph, PlayOn! Sports CEO. “We are looking forward to producing more great years of Tennessee football and basketball.”
Stephen Mann, president and CEO of Mann Communications, added, “Our television network will be the strongest in the history of the TSSAA. More fans will be watching the championships than ever before.”