Versus to Air College Hockey Regular Season Games
Versus (soon to be rebranded the NBC Sports Network) is going to air 16 college hockey regular season games this year. One of these 16 games will be Michigan at Notre Dame on January 20th, the only CCHA conference game that will be featured. Full schedule and press release in the link from DU athletics.
November 2nd, 2011 at 4:00 PM ^
I thought this post was about air hockey.
November 2nd, 2011 at 5:22 PM ^
Glad I wasn't the only one. I got really excited to see 'pros' play.
November 3rd, 2011 at 4:51 AM ^
and got excited. :( I love air hockey.
November 2nd, 2011 at 4:14 PM ^
I thought I read somewhere that some ND football games could be aired on Versus in the future. Not sure if it's true, though.
Edit: Here's a link.
November 2nd, 2011 at 4:09 PM ^
Putting ND games on Versus would fulfill the terms of ND's contract while holding viewers hostage and forcing them to turn the channel to their "new baby." I would expect NBCSC to put their best foot forward during those telecasts.
November 2nd, 2011 at 4:10 PM ^
College hockey on a 'major' tv station. Better than FSDetroit, Comcast Local, and local North Dakotan channels. Should be really good exposure for the sport
November 2nd, 2011 at 4:26 PM ^
Definitely better than the exposure they're getting now, but I wouldn't call it "really good," given that most people don't even know that Versus carries NHL games. Frankly, I think ice hockey is still a relatively niche sport in this country.
November 2nd, 2011 at 5:50 PM ^
maybe I should have said "a lot better exposure than whatever we're getting now, which is FSD 5 times a year". At the very least, I'm pumped I'll be able to see at least 1 michigan game on TV this year
November 2nd, 2011 at 8:33 PM ^
This is seriously getting old. Versus is available and standard on most cable packages and a very cheap upgrade on many others. Anyone that is actually a sports fan most likely has versus and definitely know it exists.
November 2nd, 2011 at 4:31 PM ^
first national cable channel to have college hockey on it.
November 2nd, 2011 at 4:37 PM ^
regular season, that is. And didn't/doesn't CBS College Sports air hockey?
November 2nd, 2011 at 10:00 PM ^
i meant basic cable
November 2nd, 2011 at 4:51 PM ^
That kind of sucks there will only be 16 and only one being Michigan, but I guess it's better than nothing. I'm assuming this is a test run for them to see what kind of viewership they get and if it is high, they will broadcast more games in the future.
I am hoping the Big Ten Network airs more Michigan hockey games.
November 2nd, 2011 at 5:02 PM ^
Versus/NBC sports already has contracts with the NCHC and Hockey East (and a separate one with Notre Dame) to air their games starting in a few years, so this isn't exactly a test run in the sense of figuring out if they want to air more games or not. Big Ten Network will likely air more games once the Big Ten Hockey Conference starts up, and there are more games between Big Ten schools to pick from.
November 2nd, 2011 at 9:10 PM ^
that can only be good for college hockey to get that much TV time
November 2nd, 2011 at 5:07 PM ^
as somebody who listens to a lot of games on the radio, i'm excited about any college hockey on tv in the future whether it be NBC sports or BTN. i just hope that Versus doesn't turn into the all ND all the time network.
November 2nd, 2011 at 5:47 PM ^
Does this mean we'll get to listen to Tom Hammond commentate both a Michigan football AND hockey game in one year?
November 2nd, 2011 at 6:56 PM ^
I first read the title " air versus college hockey". I must have an issue. That would be an interesting thread though.
November 2nd, 2011 at 7:49 PM ^
This is awesome. It allows Versus to further brand itself as a hockey channel and it means I can see a few more Meeechigan hockey games. I hope it's successful and they quickly expand the schedule of college hockey games they carry.