Verizon FiOS1 Gets Exclusive Rights to Broadcast All New Jersey State High School Sports Through 2015
(SPORTS TECHNOLOGY)
Telecom giant Verizon (News 
- Alert) has reportedly signed an agreement with newspaper publisher Star-Ledger/NJ.com making its FiOS1 local channel the exclusive broadcast partner of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association through 2015.
Under the deal, FiOS1will broadcast 36 high school games – including basketball, football, lacrosse and soccer – and feature some of the top matches between rival schools across the state.
The deal gets FiOS1 an exclusive right to broadcast all New Jersey state high school sports playoff and championship games until 2015.
The games will be aired at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays, with replays throughout the week. Those who miss the broadcast can view the game later through FiOS (News - Alert) TV's video-on-demand service.
"With our partner, Star-Ledger/NJ.com, we will be able to bring viewers unique content they won't be able to find anywhere else," said Michelle Webb, FiOS1's director of programming.
The agreement also covers online streaming of games at NJ.com, promotional opportunities and co-branding of games. The Star-Ledger/NJ.com reaches out to people through several forms including print, online, mobile, email and tablet channels.
In 2011, the Star-Ledger's newsroom was honored with a Pulitzer Prize, four New York Emmy awards and more than 30 first-place journalism awards at the state, regional and national level.
Earlier this year, FiOS1 partnered with Star-Ledger/NJ.com to air exclusively for FiOS TV customers in northern New Jersey the high school basketball title game between St. Patrick's and St. Anthony's on March 12, widely regarded as the nation's No. 1 high school basketball matchup of the year.
Steven Timko, executive director, NJSIAA, said: "We have had many organizations approach us over the years about televising a high-profile game or several games over the course of a school year, but FiOS1 was the first TV operation to support the NJSIAA with an annual sponsorship commitment."
FiOS TV features more than 540 all-digital channels including more than 130 high-definition channels and 30,000 monthly VOD titles.
Narayan Bhat is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Narayan’s articles, please visit his columnist page.
Edited by Rich Steeves
