BALTIMORE, September 28, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- American Sports Network ("ASN"), a division of Sinclair Networks Group, which is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: SBGI), announced that it has entered into agreements with several top collegiate hockey conferences to broadcast as many as 30 games per year, in total.
Under the agreements, ASN will air live collegiate hockey games from Hockey East, the National Collegiate Hockey Conference, ECAC Hockey and the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, Friday nights on Sinclair broadcast stations and other ASN broadcast and cable affiliates around the country. In addition, ASN has agreed to renew its agreement with the Big Ten Network to televise Big Ten Conference hockey events.
The slate of games in 2015-16 will open with a doubleheader on Friday, October 23 when Notre Dame plays host to Minnesota-Duluth, followed by Air Force at Omaha in the grand opening game in Baxter Arena, the new on-campus home of Omaha Mavericks hockey. Also included in the schedule is a rematch of the championship game of the Frozen Four, as runner-up Boston University faces defending champion Providence on November 13th.
"We are pleased to enter into these relationships to deliver top college hockey in service of our communities," said Doron Gorshein, COO of Sinclair Networks Group. "With these agreements, we continue to enhance our product offering and provide relevant, high quality live sports events for students, alumni and fans throughout our footprint."
"Hockey East is excited about joining with the American Sports Network to bring the best of college hockey to fans across the country," said Hockey East commissioner Joe Bertagna. "This innovative package marks a major step for our sport in how we promote our game. We look forward to a long relationship with ASN."
"We are excited to work with ASN and Sinclair Broadcast Group to deliver exciting hockey to fans across the country," said Josh Fenton, Commissioner of the NCHC. "The ability to more widely distribute great NCHC action to our passionate fan base remains a focus for our member institutions. This new relationship with American Sports Network allows us to continue building our television platform."
"Our agreement with American Sports Network represents an important step for the WCHA and is an exciting development for our fans, who now have more opportunities and greater access to watch tremendous college hockey," said WCHA Commissioner Bill Robertson. "We applaud ASN's commitment to growing television exposure for our sport and are thrilled to collaborate in showcasing the tremendous student-athletes, programs and member institutions of the WCHA."
"We are excited to partner with the American Sports Network and Sinclair Broadcast Group," said ECAC Hockey Commissioner Steve Hagwell. "This relationship provides ECAC Hockey with greater visibility and, most importantly, showcases our great member institutions not only to our loyal fan bases but to hockey fans across the country."
About American Sports Network
ASN is a division of Sinclair Networks Group, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc., the largest and one of the most diversified television broadcasting companies in the country with 164 television stations it owns, operates and/or provides services to in 79 markets, broadcasting 384 channels. Sinclair's portfolio reaches approximately 43 million television households and is affiliated with all the major networks. In addition, ASN's content is syndicated to other broadcasters and regional sports networks. ASN, which launched in August 2014, produced 250 college events in nine sports in its first year and plans to air more than 375 events in the 2015/2016 academic year.
About Hockey East
The Hockey East Association enters its 32nd season on the ice in 2015-16 as it has consistently proven as the strongest NCAA Division I college hockey conference from top to bottom, boasting the reigning NCAA National Champions Providence College and home of the two most recent Hobey Baker winners. Hockey East has seen a steady rise to prominence since its founding charter on July 11, 1983. In response, the athletics directors from Boston College, Boston University, New Hampshire, Northeastern and Providence unveiled a new Division I men's ice hockey conference. Currently, the conference holds 12 members including Boston College, Boston University, the University of Connecticut, the University of Maine, the University of Massachusetts, UMass Lowell, Merrimack College, the University of New Hampshire, Northeastern University, the University of Notre Dame, Providence College and the University of Vermont.
About the National Collegiate Hockey Conference
The National Collegiate Hockey Conference is an eight-school, NCAA Division I men's hockey conference entering its third season of competition. The NCHC's member institutions are: Colorado College, the University of Denver, Miami University, the University of Minnesota Duluth, the University of Nebraska Omaha, the University of North Dakota, St. Cloud State University and Western Michigan University. The NCHC regular-season champion receives the Julie and Spencer Penrose Memorial Cup while the conference's championship weekend, the NCHC Frozen Faceoff, takes place at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minn. Since 2000, the NCHC's members have produced four NCAA Champions and 20 NCAA Frozen Four appearances, including three in the last two seasons. All eight members have participated in the NCAA Ice Hockey Championship tournament at least once since 2011, including an NCAA-record six of eight teams in 2015. For more information, visit www.nchchockey.com.
About ECAC Hockey
ECAC Hockey boasts elite student-athletes and teams from 12 of the nation's most prestigious institutions - Brown University, Clarkson University, Colgate University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, Princeton University, Quinnipiac University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, St. Lawrence University, Union College, and Yale University. The winner of its regular-season title is awarded the Cleary Cup, named after Bill Cleary, a former Harvard student-athlete, coach and administrator, who was the driving force behind the conference structure of ECAC Hockey. For more information about ECAC Hockey, log on www.ecachockey.com. Friend ECAC Hockey on Facebook and follow on Twitter @ecachockeyMWD1.
About the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA)
The Western Collegiate Hockey Association, among the most historic, tradition-rich and successful conferences in all of collegiate athletics, will proudly mark its 64th season of men's competition in 2015-16. The 10-team Division 1 conference consists of the University of Alabama in Huntsville, the University of Alaska Anchorage, the University of Alaska, Bemidji State University, Bowling Green State University, Ferris State University, Lake Superior State University, Michigan Technological University, Minnesota State University and Northern Michigan University. For more information, visit wcha.com.
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SOURCE Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc.