In conjunction with ESPN, Monmouth University has announced that they will broadcast their home athletic contests live on ESPN3 starting later this year. The agreement was made official on Sept. 12.
According to espn.go.com, “ESPN3 is a live multi-screen digital network that provides thousands of live events annually, as well as replays of recent ESPN events.”
“As a whole I think this opportunity will help the University grow. It will help the University expand its stature, it will tell the story of Monmouth University to a much wider audience, it will attract more students who will apply, and it will send students who go through our program to go out as ambassadors once they graduate to expand the reputation that we have already developed as a solid program,” explained Dr. Chad Dell, Chair of the Communication Department. “It can only benefit us.”
Monmouth and ESPN had been in talks for sometime before the agreement was made official earlier this month. Greg Viscomi, Assistant Athletics Director of Communications and New Media, explained how the relationship was created. “It all came together when we joined the MAAC [Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference]. The MAAC reached out and said who else do we think could pull this off and Dr. [Marilyn] McNeil was in those meetings and said I think my crew could definitely do it,” said Viscomi. “It began with an inventory of all the equipment that we were using already. [ESPN] took a look at some of the stuff we were doing on Hawk Vision at the time and thought that we would have the capabilities to do that. We got on their list of potential schools and fostered the relationship until it got to the point where we were ready to make a commitment on the equipment and all of that.”
Although the streaming of the Hawks’ games will have the appearance of an ESPN broadcast, it will be entirely produced by Monmouth students and faculty members. Viscomi explained, “Our productions on ESPN3 mean that there is minimum set by ESPN. Basically what is going to be going on is, we will put on a full ESPN event and the idea is that the end user will have no idea that it is Monmouth staff and students putting on this ESPN event. We will have the same graphics look. It will look just like any other ESPN game you watch.”
Along with allowing Monmouth games to be streamed on ESPN3, ESPN is in the process of building a television production trailer that will be given to the University to help raise the creation of athletic content. “The University is investing considerable money and resources in a television truck, in cameras, in replay equipment, and those sorts of things, which will allow us to elevate our game in terms of the quality of the product that we are able to put out,” said Dr. Dell.
Despite the agreement to put the Hawk’s games on ESPN3 being finalized, the exact time and amount of sports that will be streamed has yet to be decided. “ESPN has the first call on the sports. They tell us what sports they want. They came to us and said that their priorities are football, basketball, and baseball,” said Viscomi. “If I had to guess, I am going to say that it would start no earlier than late October, early November.”
Though the University spent substantial money in order to obtain adequate equipment to produce an ESPN level program, the increased viewers and exposure could help athletics grow and become more attractive to potential recruits. “Coaches will be able to take advantage of profiling their programs a little bit more
and student-athletes will get more coverage that there probably deserving of,” said Matt Harmon a Specialist Professor and announcer for the Hawk’s Football and Men’s Basketball teams.
“I am excited about it. Every player wants to play on ESPN at some point in their career and this gives us the opportunity to do so,” said Chris Mckenna a starting pitcher for the Hawk’s Baseball team. “Coaches at Monmouth will be able to recruit better players. As far as I know the only school that has this partnership is Monmouth, which could give us an advantage over schools like Rutgers, Rider, and Saint Peters.”
While the live streaming could help the athletics’ program, faculty members in both the Athletics and Communication Departments believe that it will help grow the University as a whole. “The positives are almost immeasurable. I think it will help athletics grow. It will help the University grow. It will give us an opportunity to really showcase what our students are doing. It is going to be a couple of staff members in my office and couple of staff members from the communication office but for the most part this is going run just like the Monmouth Digital Network. It is going to be on the backs of the communications students at Monmouth. It is nothing but positive for the University,” maintained Viscomi.
“I think it is going to be a good thing for the Athletic Department. I think it could be an amazing partnership with the Communication Department. I think it could bring our Sports Communication Minor to a whole other level. To me it is a total win-win for everybody,” said Harmon. “As a communication department now we can open doors for students that they’ve never really had before. The one piece that we are missing a little bit is the live element of sports and TV and now that door is so wide open that the things that we are going to be able to do should be amazing.”
The move to ESPN3 will seemingly create not only new opportunities for both the Athletics and Communications Departments, but the entire University. Harmon said, “It is a high profile relationship that does not exist at many schools. It is massive undertaking that will pay big dividends for the school.” Monmouth will be the first member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference to offer a full list of games on ESPN3 with ESPN production requirements.
PHOTOS COURTESY of Taylor Jackson
