So I've watched a little bit of the replay on ESPN3... and I have the same complaint that used to crop up with the STO broadcasts... What is with the complete lack of nat sound? It's like we have the broadcasters in a soundproof booth and next to ZERO sound from teh field and the crowd. It just sounds awful and makes the broadcast seem bush league.

It's watching a football game on the internet, it's crap like you expect it to be. It's worse than watching a game from the 1960's on ESPN classic. The MAC commissioner should be fired if this is the best tv deal he can get. Espn3 from September till November then all the MAC teams play on Tuesday and Wednesday nights in empty stadiums for the entire nation to see. It's embarrassing.

You always have the option of listening to Russ and Rob.

My only complaint about the webcast is actually related to when you watch the delayed replay. I wish there were fast forward/or backwards capability so you could skip the gaps, or parts you don't want to see, and replay the plays you do want to see. I like to watch the same plays several times, sometimes, so I can see how they unfolded, and who did a good/bad job. I understand that they don't want the stream to be copyable, but I wish there was some way around this.

A different viewpoint: I have no complaint because I live about 2800 miles from Athens and I've seen every one of our games for what seems like the last 6-8 years.

It wasn't so long ago that even getting a radiocast was a treat.

C-USA and MWC TV deals are head and shoulders over the MAC. MWC maybe but C-USA? We basically have the same deal as the upstart Sun Belt. Does the MAC have a regional deal for when the Conference games start on a real TV like STO or anything?

What NEW TV deal? I missed it.

I don't think this will improve TV time its just adding years and money to the current deal it appears. Most games will still get kicked to ESPN3 except at the beginning of the year when a Big School hosts a MAC school (which doesn't fall under the MAC contract cause we are not the home team) and Tuesday/Wednesday nights in November. The MAC should shop for some secondary deals with CBS Sports, Fox and NBC for when ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU or ESPN News does not pick up games. The MWC & American has deals with ESPN, CBS & Fox, C-USA has deals with CBS and Fox. It gives you more options to get on TV.

BG/Indy was on ESPNU, CMU/Cuse was ESPN News.

Thanks for the real skinny!

I don't think Fox is interested. Otherwise we wouldn't have switched from STO (an FSN affiliate) to god-awful TWC last year. CBS is already clogged with MWC and CUSA, so they might not be interested. I'm not thrilled about NBC for anything but Sunday night NFL.

The MAC's real problem is that we don't have the primary university in a larger TV market. Buffalo is the only "home" school in a major market. Toledo, Akron and WMU are in much smaller markets. The rest are either secondary or nonexistent in a TV market. It's all about eyes on the tube, and as your market presence dwindles, so does the networks' interest. That said, I'd still like to see ESPN package a MAC conference Saturday game of the week for sale to local TV stations and cable outlets. Channel 6 in Columbus is showing a CUSA package on one of its subchannels, which doesn't get great ratings but still gives CUSA a presence in Columbus. With all the MAC grads in the area, the MAC should be here instead.

The reason was Time Warner Cable. They wanted the conference package for themselves.

The STO package disappeared because FSN bought STO. FSN decided years ago -- probably at the prompting of the home office -- to dump the MAC in favor of Big East/Big 12/Pac 12 football and Big East/A-10 b-ball.