Make Sure To Listen To IU Softball This Year…EVERY GAME!
In case you have not seen the release that was just put up on IUHoosiers.com, it was announced today that each and every single game will feature an audio broadcast during the 2011 season. There are a few slight changes from last year but overall it is something that will certainly benefit the program as friends, family and all fans will be able to follow them everywhere they go throughout the year.
Here’s the text from the release that was on IUHoosiers.com with information on how to listen to games this season and where to go to listen:
“Indiana Softball fans will be able to follow the 2011 team like never before as each game will be broadcast live on IUHoosiers.com with Dave Leno doing play-by-play and assistant media relations director Nathan Wiechers providing color analysis.
“The 2010 season marked the first season with any form of audio broadcast as nearly 35 games were carried on IUHoosiers.com. In 2011 that coverage will be expanded to include each and every game that Hoosiers play – no matter where they are playing.
“There are very few softball programs across the country that can say that every single game will be broadcast on the internet and we are very proud to be one of those,” Indiana head coach Michelle Gardner said. “We started with a partial broadcast schedule last year but bumped it up to the whole schedule this year and I am really excited about the exposure that this gives our team and program.”
The team opens the 2011 season on Thursday, Feb. 10, at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Ariz., and play a total of five games over four days in Arizona – all of which can be heard via the All-Access player at IUHoosiers.com. Those that wish to listen will need to purchase the monthly access pass a monthly fee in order to access these broadcasts and all broadcasts through the March 15 doubleheader.
One the team returns to Bloomington to host the Hoosier Classic on March 18, fans will be able to listen to games free of charge through Stretch Internet just as they did to select games in 2010.
To Listen:
To access the broadcasts (on both formats), go to the softball page of IUHoosiers.com and click the “Live Broadcast” link on the left side of the page above the rotating picture. Or go to the softball schedule on IUHoosiers.com (click here) and click on the game you want to listen to. When the box on the right side of the schedule comes up, click the “listen” link at the bottom of the box.
Here’s a little bit more information about the changes to the broadcast and why there is a charge for those early season tournaments.
The reason for the month access cost is because we will be broadcasting those using the “All-Access” feature on IUHoosiers.com and it is part of our contract with them that when we broadcast live events through their website we charge the monthly fee. (NOTE: this fee does NOT go to Dave or myself – a portion goes to CBS and IU Athletics as I understand it). And the reason we are using this feature is because we will be doing the broadcast using an internet connection and not a phone line like we did last year. Doing it through the internet allows us to do all of those preseason tournaments where there are no phone line available. Then once the team starts to play at the Hoosier Classic (March 18) and on through the rest of the season we will be playing at stadiums with press boxes and phone lines and thus we can go back to the free feature we utilized last year.
I know this could get a little confusing but if you just go to the schedule on IUHoosiers.com and click the “Listen” link on the right it will take you where you are supposed to go to listen to the game.
Any questions or concerns can be sent to me (nwiecher@indiana.edu) and I will answer them to the best of my ability.
As I enter my fourth year with the IU softball program, I can only remember seeing two or three other teams that had radio broadcasts of these preseason tournaments so this expanded coverage is really setting the Hoosiers apart from most teams across the country. I’m sure when other teams see that we are doing broadcasts in Tempe, Ariz., Palm Springs, Calif., Tampa, Fla., Norman, Okla., (just to name a few) they will see the dedication to the softball program at Indiana.
Dave and I have been out watching practice a lot recently trying to do our homework on the team so we are ready to go for the season opener against Arizona on Feb. 10.
Hope to see many of you out at the games this year!
Nathan Wiechers
Assistant Media Relations Director/Softball Contact
Indiana University Athletics
Email: nwiecher@indiana.edu
