Senators push for football TV change
Montana Sen. Jon Tester is weighing in on the ESPN decision to broadcast University of Montana and Montana State University playoff games exclusively through an online channel that won't be available to most state residents.
News of the network's plans to stream second-round games through the online ESPN3 was surely a hard pill to swallow for fans who have long been accustomed to watching post-season action for the Bobcats and Grizzlies.
"In Montana, college football is a treasured tradition," Tester wrote in a letter to George Bodenheimer, president of ESPN-ABC Sports.
"Within hours after hearing your decision, Montanans put their friendly rivalries aside to cheer for a common goal: to encourage ESPN to reconsider," Tester wrote. "I am proud to join these Montanans in their unified plea. Please consider working with Montana broadcast stations or cable providers to make TV feeds of these (Football Championship Series) playoff games reasonably available to Montana fans. Airing these games in Montana will allow ESPN to be part of a time-honored pastime in the Treasure State."
The Bobcats are scheduled to host New Hampshire in a second-round playoff game on Dec. 3 in Bozeman.
The Grizzlies will host the winner of the Tennessee Tech-Central Arkansas game the same day in Missoula. If the Montana teams advance to the quarterfinals of the playoffs, those games might be broadcast on the ESPN or ESPN2 cable television channels.
According to Monday press reports, the ESPN3 online service is extremely limited in its
availability in Montana.
"We're finding out we are pretty much out of luck," Gordie Fix, owner of Missoula's Press Box sports bar, told the Associated Press.
"Even a live Internet stream on ESPN3 is not widely available for games that hundreds of thousands of Montanans are looking forward to," Tester said in his letter to Bodenheimer.
Montana's senior senator, Democrat Max Baucus, also released a statement on ESPN's decision:
"In the spirit of teamwork and good sportsmanship, I'm hoping ESPN will rethink its decision and work with Montanans to make sure fans are able to support their teams through the playoffs," Baucus said. "It's time for a timeout so we can take a look at this game plan and make sure it works for Montanans."
Baucus vowed to work on a solution that includes encouraging ESPN to listen to Montanans as it formulates its post-season broadcast options.