September 15, 2000
BLOOMINGTON - The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) announced today (Sept. 15) that it has embarked on a new course to create its own network for television and Internet coverage of its state final events.
Beginning with the fall state finals this school term, and continuing with those in the winter and spring, the Association will be securing sponsors and producing and distributing its own telecasts. The Association also will be providing cybercasts of its events on the Internet.
IHSA Executive Director Dave Fry said the change in direction was the result of the Association's "desire to have a more hands-on approach" to what is available for viewers, listeners, computer users, and fans of IHSA sports, "with as great an exposure to the events as we can achieve."
The first telecast of an IHSA event was the 1952 State Basketball Tournament from Huff Gym. Every year since state final events have been telecast. For more than a decade, all of IHSA state finals except golf, badminton and bowling have been telecast on cable, or a combination of over-the-air stations and cable systems.
The new IHSA Television Network will air as many state final events as can be telecast within budget or other constraints, Fry said. "Our plan is to carry football and basketball live and the others on a tape-delayed basis," he said. " In football, we plan to carry all six games live. In boys basketball, we plan to carry all eight games of each state tournament live. In girls basketball, we plan to carry the semifinals and finals live this year, and to expand coverage to all games in the near future. Our events will be carried by the local cable systems on one of their basic package channels. Our fans need only have basic cable to watch our events. We feel the ultimate number of households having access to our events will expand rapidly. Our goal is to have the events on every cable system in the state. In addition, we will work diligently to accommodate fans not having access to cable."
Plans call for the live telecasts from football and basketball to be video streamed on the Internet. Audio and/or graphic reports from the other state final events will be scheduled on the Internet.
Fry said questions regarding the IHSA telecasts and Internet services should be directed to the IHSA Office.