University of Houston Athletics
University of Houston, Yahoo! Sports to Offer Live Audio Internet Package
Aug. 21, 2003
The Houston ISP Sports Network has reached an agreement with Yahoo! Sports to be part of a national network of real-time sports programming on the Internet beginning with the 2003 football season that will generate revenues for the athletic program.
Cougar football, men?s basketball, women's basketball and baseball, as well as the "Cougar Talk" Coaches' Shows, will now be available via the university's official athletic website, www.UHCougars.com, on a subscription basis.
By logging on to www.UHCougars.com, alumni and fans across the country will be able to support Houston Athletics by selecting one of two subscription options provided by Yahoo! Sports. A portion of all revenue from each subscription goes directly to the school's athletic department.
Listeners may subscribe to Cougar programming ("School Pass") on a monthly basis ($4.95) or at a reduced rate on an annual basis ($29.95).
Programming from nearly 40 other major colleges ("College Pack") will also be offered for a monthly ($9.95) or yearly fee ($59.95). This package allows listeners to access all college broadcasts from all schools participating in the program.
In addition to Houston, schools such as Alabama, Arizona State, Duke, Georgia Tech, Kansas, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Oklahoma, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest have committed to participate.
"Free audio service on the Internet is no longer available through dependable providers such as Yahoo," Stacy Hall, general manager of the company?s Houston operation, says. "We were fortunate in being able to have free service this past year when more than 50 athletic programs and many professional organizations were already using a subscription plan.
"The cost to continue to provide this service would have been in the thousands of dollars and we feel that this plan is a fair one to the consumer in that the pricing is certainly affordable and there are choices available. We will evaluate the plan after the 2003-2004 season but are confident that this is the best solution at this time."
UH revenues will be dependent on the number of subscribers to Cougar programming, as well as the number of total listeners and amount of listening time for Houston sports by all subscribers, even those who may enroll through a website other than www.UHCougars.com.
Complete information on both subscription packages will be available beginning August 21 on www.UHCougars.com.
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