Root Sports Network, wholly-owned subsidiary by DirecTV, currently has three regional networks at the moment, including Pittsburgh, Northwest, Utah and the Rocky Mountains and have reached a deal with the Houston area.
This August as Comcast filed for bankruptcy, DirecTV and the formerly known Fox Sports Network, now RSN, made a plan to take over the Rockets and Astros games in upcoming seasons.
RSN airs regions’ professional teams as well as their respective college conferences within their area.
As far as area fans of the Southland Conference, no deal has been reached about airing Sam Houston State and other conference opponent’s games.
“At some point, the Southland Conference will reach out to them to see if there’s a chance for a partnership,” assistant athletic director of media relations Jason Barfield said. “But right now, there is no agreement.”
Although change is on its way, it does not necessarily mean everyone will be happy with the new station, Barfield explained.
“Right now I would say this is not a good change for the university,” Barfield said. “Comcast was very good to Sam Houston State. In addition to three live football games they broadcast, they also televised two home basketball games.”
Barfield added that it is still too early to know if any media aspects will be changed at Sam Houston State.
RSN, originally renamed in 2011, will solve the problems for Rockets and Astros fans. However, it looks as if the SLC could lose some importance.
“The focus of Comcast Sports Network Houston was on local sports coverage and while the Houston area has a lot of professional and college programs, they were always good about including Sam Houston State in their news and talk shows any chance they could get,” Barfield said. “That kind of exposure will be missed.”
RSN will launch its first coverage of the Rockets game Monday against Memphis Grizzlies in Memphis, TN. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
I don't want to be an asszhol but yeah I do. Does the Southland Conference really deserve to be on TV? I know that in 2014, every individual feels like his own particular interests are THE most important interests in the world so if like 10 people want to see SLC sports there should be a whole TV channel dedicated to it. BUT the reality is that you can't dedicate coverage to teeny tiny markets. Not cost effective. I would like to point out that CSN is bankrupt. It's pointless to air shows that no one will watch no matter how important they were to the few dozen faithful SLC viewers....