Dukes To Play Nine TV Games In '18
HARRISONBURG – James Madison is the only team in the Colonial Athletic Association that will have 10 of its games air on traditional television or an internet broadcast this season.
The CAA released its 2018 linear and digital package on Tuesday. Nine of those 10 contests will be available on television.
“JMU is a product that can be marketed and sold,” third-year coach Mike Houston said. “We’ve had discussions with a lot of people about a lot of different options, and I think [athletic director] Jeff Bourne is aggressive with this and he’s tried to put together what is best for JMU.”
JMU’s Sept. 1 opener at N.C. State will air on ESPNU, as announced earlier this summer by the Atlantic Coast Conference. It’s the only nationally televised contest the Dukes have on their schedule.
All five JMU home games will be televised locally as the school struck partnerships with three different outlets.
NBCSN-Washington Plus is set to televise two games – Robert Morris (Sept. 15) and William & Mary (Sept. 22). MASN and SportsNet New York will televise three – Elon (Oct. 6), Stony Brook (Oct. 27) and Rhode Island (Nov. 10).
The Dukes’ trip to rival Richmond (Sept. 29) will be shown on NBCSN-Washington Plus as well.
Seven games on national or regional television (not including satellite) matches a JMU program record.
“It does give is our fan base and alumni, who can’t make it to a game, coverage especially in the Mid-Atlantic and a lot up and down the East Coast,” Houston said. “My parents in North Carolina will be able to see the vast majority of our games and that’s important.
“I couldn’t imagine how it would be if I had a son playing and couldn’t make it to a game, so it’s important to me that our [player’s] parents, fans and alumni have a chance to see our team play.”
Kevin Warner, JMU’s assistant athletic director for communications, said for JMU home games the telecast and MadiZONE HD SportsNet’s online stream will be the same presentation.
Curt Dudley will provide the play-by-play and the school is still searching for a color commentator.
“We learned a lot through our experience last year,” Warner said. “It was our first time putting together a TV package. We worked with an external production agency and had a good experience, but as we strategized in the offseason, we felt like we could take our own MadiZONE production, invest a little in it and have a better product.
“At the end of the day it cut some of our costs down with having one production instead of two.”
He said the MadiZONE presentation is now a television-quality product.
“There will be some things that look familiar,” Warner said, “but there will be some new wrinkles and pieces as well.
“So if you’re watching on TV, it’s probably going to have a little bit more of a JMU feel to it than it did a year ago, and also if you’re watching on the stream, you’re going to have a better stream quality because you’re getting TV quality in the MadiZone stream.”
Road games at Villanova (Oct. 13) and New Hampshire (Nov. 3) will air on Fox College Sports via DirectTV or Fox Sports Go online.
JMU is part of the CAA’s CBS College Sports Live Game of the Week once, in its season finale at Towson on Nov. 17.
“We can tell our recruits we’re going to be on TV,” Houston said. “We’ve got committed kids all up and down the East Coast, and so we can tell them that people are going to be able to see them play every single weekend.”
The Sept. 8 non-conference bout at Norfolk State is the only game that isn't free for consumption. It is available through the Spartans’ Showcase online video stream, but there is a fee associated with it.