The Longhorn Network Is Coming To Your CITAAAAY!
Posted By Admin on July 24, 2011
We’re just over a month away from the Longhorn Network making its official debut as a property of ESPN. The initial broadcast schedule is laid out. The studio and on-air personalities are prepped. All they’re waiting on is for the lights, camera, action moment to get this thing off the ground. They’re going to be showing Texas football, other Big XII football games, Olympic sports and most important; high school football games on the channel.
Now originally as the network came to fruition and our content knowledge was limited I wasn’t sold on this having a tremendous impact on the recruiting of the Longhorns. Not because television doesn’t matter but more because, as we’ve discussed before, I have seen how Texas currently recruits and didn’t see a lot of room for growth within their borders when it came to snagging kids. However, a recent interview with ESPN Programming Vice President Dave Brown has swayed things a bit in outlining the Longhorn Network’s approach. Sure, we all expected some big time Texas football to be on the network, issue is those kids already are well aware of the Texas. They have already been “baptized” in the Burnt Orange through a lifetime of Texas exposure that the network only heightens, not creates.
The issue is the latter part of Browns’ quote:
“One other thing, you may see us, I know there’s a kid [unsigned Texas verbal commit] Connor Brewer from Chapparal high school in Arizona. We may try to get on one or two of their games as well so people [Longhorn Network subscribers] can see an incoming quarterback that’ll be part of the scene in Austin.“
That’s right. Unsigned kids from out of state are now game to be broadcast on the network. Sure Brewer is a commit but we’re still six months before he inks a National Letter of Intent and five months before the kid can enroll early to join the squad if he so chooses. The “upper management” and in this case the ESPN power brokers have already decided that targeting commits and/or elite high school talent from out of state to put on the Longhorn Network is a great idea for content.
So what do you take from that comment? Read more to see what other folks are saying and get the ITB take on the Longhorn Network…
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