NORMAL, Ill. - The Illinois State football team will have five of its 11 regular-season games distributed by national and regional television outlets, the most in the history of the program.
"I think having this many games televised is a great thing, not only for our football program, but for the university as a whole," ISU head coach Brock Spack said. "Our fans around the state and around the country will be able to see the Redbirds on their televisions or computers five times this season, which is something they can be proud of.
"It's a great way for our fans who can't travel with us to watch our progression through the season and see their favorite team from the comfort of their home, office, local restaurant or wherever they watch their sports. The exposure will be great for the football program and the university and we hope our fans, alumni, faculty, staff and students tune in to support us."
The Mid-America Classic on Sept. 1 at Eastern Illinois not only opens the regular-season schedule, but also the Redbirds' television exposure. The 6:30 p.m. game will be broadcast live on Comcast SportsNet Chicago, as Illinois State alumnus and WGN Sports Director Dan Roan will handle the play-by-play duties and EIU alumnus and Chicago's ESPN 1000 radio host John Jurkovic will serve as the analyst.
The Oct. 1 game at North Dakota State will be produced by the North Dakota NBC Network, but because of an agreement with NDSU and Illinois State's partnership with Comcast SportsNet Chicago the game will be aired live on Comcast SportsNet Chicago Plus. NDSU will assign the talent for this telecast.
The Redbirds will be back on Comcast SportsNet Chicago for the Oct. 29 game at Southern Illinois, which was moved to a 2:30 p.m. kickoff. As part of the recent agreement with Niles Media Group, this Illinois State telecast will feature WMBD Sports Director Kurt Pegler on play-by-play and Illinois State All-American and former NFL player Boomer Grigsby as the analyst.
On Oct. 22, the Redbirds will host Indiana State at Hancock Stadium and that broadcast will be available on ESPN3.com. In addition, the regular-season finale on Nov. 19 against Northern Iowa, also at Hancock Stadium, will be seen on ESPN3.com.
ESPN3.com is ESPN's live broadband sports network, a 24/7 destination that delivers thousands of global sports events annually. It is currently available in approximately 70 million homes at no additional cost to fans who receive their high-speed Internet connection or cable TV video subscription from an affiliated service provider.
The network is also available at no cost to approximately 21 million U.S. college students and U.S.-based military personnel via computers connected to on-campus educational networks and on-base military networks. It is also accessible to Xbox LIVE Gold members and via ESPNnetworks.com and the WatchESPN app through an affiliated provider.
In addition, Illinois State's home games against Morehead State (Sept. 10), South Dakota State (Sept. 24), South Dakota (Oct. 15) and Western Illinois (Nov. 5) will each be available to watch online via Redbird All-Access, the video streaming hub for Illinois State Athletics.
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