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Arena Football League, ESPN enter into five-year agreement

Wow. Another ESPN snub of Tampa. First they trashed em when the NCAAs were at the Trop....Tony Kornheiser has made a cottage industry of slamming Tampa every time he's come here.....a legendary sports radio consultant thought Kornheisers "Team" Radio show would be accepted here...it wasnt;...John Saunders seriously labels St Pete "Gods Waiting Room" at the Davis Cup...The ESPNABC coverage of the Tampa Bay Lightnings battle with Calgary was poo pooed as it was evident that neither Saunders or Play by Play announcer Gary Thorne wanted to be there (Side Note: The CBC telecast with Chris Cuthebert and company was far better...thats no surprise, but we got to see it here on tape delay via sun sports..)

Now, ESPN is back in Arena Football. (Dont mention this to Kirk Herbstreit; he started for the net doing those games. He'd look at the Thunderdome and shake his head. He was soooooooooo far above the rest of us)

The greatest team in the history of the league will NOT ONCE be seen duriing the regular season on this network.

Like Cubans wait for Castro to die, The league waits for Tim Marcum to go....but now that ESPN is back in ArenaBall, Storm fans will have a second mountain to overcome....Hopefully...winning will change that. Can't black out a playoff game.

Maybe we need a washed up rock n roller to own the team. Jon Bon Jovis Philly Soul is seven times.....one stretch ..four straight weeks.
 
Studio20 said:
Wow. Another ESPN snub of Tampa. First they trashed em when the NCAAs were at the Trop....Tony Kornheiser has made a cottage industry of slamming Tampa every time he's come here.....a legendary sports radio consultant thought Kornheisers "Team" Radio show would be accepted here...it wasnt;...John Saunders seriously labels St Pete "Gods Waiting Room" at the Davis Cup...The ESPNABC coverage of the Tampa Bay Lightnings battle with Calgary was poo pooed as it was evident that neither Saunders or Play by Play announcer Gary Thorne wanted to be there (Side Note: The CBC telecast with Chris Cuthebert and company was far better...thats no surprise, but we got to see it here on tape delay via sun sports..)

Now, ESPN is back in Arena Football. (Dont mention this to Kirk Herbstreit; he started for the net doing those games. He'd look at the Thunderdome and shake his head. He was soooooooooo far above the rest of us)

The greatest team in the history of the league will NOT ONCE be seen duriing the regular season on this network.

Like Cubans wait for Castro to die, The league waits for Tim Marcum to go....but now that ESPN is back in ArenaBall, Storm fans will have a second mountain to overcome....Hopefully...winning will change that. Can't black out a playoff game.

Maybe we need a washed up rock n roller to own the team. Jon Bon Jovis Philly Soul is seven times.....one stretch ..four straight weeks.
Click to expand...

You're right - not one Tampa game will be broadcast! I can't imagine a good reason for the snub - except that it's a snub.
 
I wouldn't count on that being the final schedule. That doesn't mean ESPN will add a Tampa game or two, but I wouldn't rule it out either.

I'm a little curious about the fact ESPN is buying a piece of the league. They have the right to do so, but it's a little too cozy in some ways. Are they going to lead with AFL highlights on Sports Center now because they want to promote their own product? One would assume they'll at least add highlights to Sports Center that they didn't run before. What gets squeezed out when that happens?
 
To Me it signals another victory for ESPN and another defeat for NBC Sports.

First they lose the Belmont Stakes to ABC and The Breeders Cup to ESPN

Then the 2nd half NASCAR Coverage to ABC/ESPN

And now the AFL to ESPN2/ABC.

And with ESPN, expect full coverage to go into overdrive.

Now the peacock looks even more vunerable than they did when they didn't have

the NFL. Soon, it won't be long before all of the over the air sports divisions will look

obsolete.

On the bright side it makes ESPN2 look like the almost equal to ESPN in sports.

ESPN=NFL, MLB, NBA, NASCAR Nextel Cup

ESPN2=AFL, MLB, NASCAR Busch Series
 
This deal makes it clear that the AFL prefers national exposure of the sport and the league, no matter what kind of exposure any one team gets.
* They certainly weren't getting that exposure from NBC (and last season was prime evidence of that).
* Versus (another TV partner from last year) would've had the room on their schedule, but not everyone is familiar with that network right now.
That's why the AFL went with ESPN, even if it meant "getting married" (as the commissioner put it) to the network. ESPN not only has the name recognition but the TV and non-TV platforms that the AFL can take advantage of. If it means having to see the Philadelphia Soul for nearly half of the season, so be it; that's exposure for the league (as opposed to not getting exposure at all).

As for seeing so few of the teams (like the Soul) so many times... though that is indeed disappointing for some, there's always the possibility that an ESPN2 game can get bumped due to NBA and NHL playoff schedules, allowing the league to plug another game into that Monday time slot.
 
oldvnewschool said:
On the bright side it makes ESPN2 look like the almost equal to ESPN in sports.

ESPN=NFL, MLB, NBA, NASCAR Nextel Cup

ESPN2=AFL, MLB, NASCAR Busch Series
Click to expand...

Are you kidding me right now? Arena football is NOTHING compared to the NFL and NBA. AFL is a fringe sport at best, and ESPN 2 is probably even too good for it. Maybe the exposure of being in the ESPN fold will bring it more into the mainstream, but it's going to be quite the upward battle. Look at everything else going on during the AFL season: NBA and NHL home stretch for the playoffs, Baseball and Golf getting going(including the Masters). Arena Football is and will continue to be a non factor on TV.
 
I'm surprised that AFL or AFL2 games are on TV at all...even getting coverage from local news stations. I believe the Manchester Wolves of the AFL2 get extensive coverage from WMUR Channel 9.

To those who have participated and/or started this thread: do any of you care about the AFL or AFL2? Have any of you attended an indoor football game before? What are your thoughts? As for me, I went to the inaugural Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers game. I left the area shortly after, and haven't been to a game since. The Pioneers are in the AFL2 league.
 
Beau Duran said:
Are you kidding me right now? Arena football is NOTHING compared to the NFL and NBA. AFL is a fringe sport at best, and ESPN 2 is probably even too good for it. Maybe the exposure of being in the ESPN fold will bring it more into the mainstream, but it's going to be quite the upward battle. Look at everything else going on during the AFL season: NBA and NHL home stretch for the playoffs, Baseball and Golf getting going(including the Masters). Arena Football is and will continue to be a non factor on TV.
Click to expand...

IIRC, the Arena league had better ratings than the NHL the last couple of years.

They're starting in March instead of February this year, mostly due to ESPN's college hoops commitments, I'll guess (could be post-Super Bowl football burnout as well). That's an excellent decision, as is having most of the games on Monday night, continuing the MNF tradition into the spring and early summer.
 
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