FHSAA signs with Bright House Sports Network to become official TV partner for championships
ORLANDO -- Bright House Sports Network has signed an agreement with the Florida High School Athletic Association to become the Official Television Partner of the FHSAA. Under the agreement, BHSN will produce and distribute all FHSAA state quarterfinals, semifinals and final series games for the next three years.
Bright House Networks customers in Tampa and Orlando can now enjoy live coverage of a minimum of 60 high school post-season games each school year in High Definition -- including football, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, boys and girls lacrosse, baseball, softball, swimming and diving, girls volleyball, wrestling, and competitive cheerleading on channel 47, HD 1147.
“This is a historic development for Florida high school sports coverage,” said Elliott Wiser, Vice President of Local Programming for Bright House Networks. “We are excited to partner with the FHSAA to produce a wide spectrum of sports live for our customers. High school sports have quickly become an important part of the television sports landscape.”
Bright House Sports Network has also partnered with Comcast, Cox, and Time Warner Cable to air select games throughout Florida and 19 other states, expanding the number of potential households that will be able to view the games to more than 20 million.
"For our athletes, this has the potential of going to 20 million viewers throughout the nation," said Dr. Roger Dearing, FHSAA Executive Director. "Universities will be seeing our high school athletes performing at their best and I think it's a great avenue for our athletes to earn scholarships at our state universities and those outside of Florida."
BHSN has produced and aired state championships in sports like basketball, volleyball, swimming and diving, softball and baseball for the past two seasons, but for the first time, the state football finals will be live on BHSN.
“We are pleased to add the FHSAA state championships to our robust schedule of regular season high school games and events,” said Paul Kosuth, General Manager of Bright House Sports Network. “BHSN has the largest staff in the state devoted to producing and covering high school sports, and with this new agreement we can focus on providing the most comprehensive coverage anywhere.”
After the playoff and championship games air live, there will be multiple replays available. Bright House Sports Network also airs more than 200 regular season high school games throughout the season.