YOUNG: Ivies need more TV coverage

While Harvard-Columbia was good, I think it’s safe to say it will be the other New York-Boston matchup that will live on forever, especially here in New York. Mario Manningham’s circus catch and Ahmad Bradshaw’s misguided game-winning touchdown, which helped wrap up the Giants’ second once-in-a-lifetime run in four years, will be ingrained in the minds of what was undoubtedly the biggest TV audience ever.

Nothing beats the NFL in terms of brand power, the size of its media presence, or the number of viewers of its biggest game. All of these things represent exactly the areas in which Ivy League basketball needs to improve. The first step: a consistent television presence.

Much like last night—when the best programming alternatives to the Super Bowl included marathons of classics such as “Teen Mom 2,” “Cupcake Wars,” and, of course, the Puppy Bowl—Friday night TV does not have much to offer besides the NBA. The usual daily staple of college basketball is absent because Friday is a day off for the major conferences. While this opens the door for Ivy games to steal the spotlight, the opportunity has so far been wasted because the average fan has no way of stumbling upon any of the four matchups.

Ivy basketball has clearly risen in fame over the last few years following Cornell’s run to the Sweet Sixteen, last year’s incredible Harvard-Princeton playoff game, and this season’s dominance by a ranked Crimson team. Harvard has been the only Top 25 team in action the past two Friday nights and will continue to be for the next two (assuming it retains its ranking), and it is hard to believe that none of its appearances will be televised. Plenty of Ivy alumni scattered throughout the country would gladly tune in to watch some of the best-quality basketball to come out of the Ancient Eight in decades. Not to mention, with so little college action on Friday nights, even gambling provides incentive to view Ivy games.

Some Ivy matchups do make it on TV: The first rematch of last year’s Ivy playoff will be on ESPNU this Saturday, and Columbia’s games at Princeton and Yale will be televised by ESPNU and YES, respectively. Yet Ivy basketball needs a more consistent TV presence. Why not sign a deal with ESPNU to air an Ivy game every Friday or get more games on ESPN3? Last fall, fellow columnist Jim Pagels brought up the recently re-branded NBC Sports Network, which has aired an Ivy football package in each of the last two years. But Ivy basketball has even more appeal than football to the average fan, because the champion impacts the NCAA tournament. NBC Sports knows this, as it televised Harvard’s run through the Thanksgiving tournament at Paradise Island. So why not strike a Friday night deal and show the Crimson more?

If it cannot find a national deal, then the league (or individual teams) should sign deals with regional sports networks—like Yale has with YES. Especially here in New York, with so many Ivy alumni, SNY, MSG, or YES would probably fare well in such a deal.

And then, there’s the Internet. Thankfully, (what was supposed to be) a marquis matchup between Harvard and Yale two Friday nights ago was streamed for free via Yale’s athletic website due to high demand. While there may be logistical concerns about getting games on TV, it should be easier to access Ivy basketball via the Internet.

While watching the women’s team fail at attempting a comeback on Friday, it would have been nice to use my Columbia account to watch video of the men in Hanover, which came down to the wire. But, just as for all Ivy teams, the Columbia package only gives access to video of home games, while providing audio for away contests. The next night, I couldn’t watch the Lions’ best effort of the year, in which they never trailed by more than eight points to a 20-2 Crimson team that had not won by fewer than nine points this month. As it stands, I would have to pay $12 just to watch one of these road games.

The best solution would be to allow a paid subscriber of an Ivy’s athletic website access to video of away games through the host team’s feed. If that isn’t possible, there should be a way to access a stream of every Ivy basketball game conveniently for one flat rate, much as MLB.tv does for baseball games.

Hopefully, the league will soon choose one of these methods to increase interest and ease access to its prized sport. In the meantime, just tune into WKCR—who needs to pay for a picture when you can have a free one painted for you.

There is, however, no replacement for attending an event in person, which is why hopefully I will see you all at the championship parade tomorrow.

Ryan Young is a Columbia College sophomore majoring in economics-statistics. He is a sports broadcaster for WKCR.
sports@columbiaspectator.com