COLUMN: TV deal doesn't help the real fans

Of those 1.2 million, how many will be Penn students living on- or off-campus? None. If you still want to watch Quakers football in action, you're going to have to continue to wait one more day and hope UTV13 hasn't botched another videotape beyond all recognition. And even if they do get the lighting right, the players always seem to run up- or downhill thanks to a tilted camera. In theory, a new television contract could have solved the UTV problem of time-delay and poor production, and since Comcast is also airing a couple Quakers men's soccer games, Penn athletics could have enjoyed a little more attention than they are used to -- even if it is from the comfort of our dorm rooms. Yet for some reason, Athletic Director Steve Bilsky thought he was pretty smart when he signed the contract. Earlier this year, Bilsky cited Comcast as his preferential cable system because of its recent growth, including the purchases of the Phillies and Flyers as well as their venues. But this deal is about as crazy as Philadelphia's NFL television deal. If the Eagles don't sell out a game, the game is blacked out locally. By signing with Comcast, Bilsky has unintentionally blacked out every Penn game locally. Penn athletics will now be broadcast to the furthest reaches of the region, but not in West Philly, the site of the live action. So will anyone receiving Comcast Cablevision really care? The immediate Penn community -- the community that cares the most about Penn athletics will have to continue the backwards ways it has been doing things. Random people in the area will get a five-second glimpse of a Penn men's soccer game as they flip through the channels. But they will still be experiencing five seconds more than the average Penn student who doesn't go down to Rhodes Field for either lack of interest or ignorance of the field's location. A good television deal that envelopes everyone, from students to the surrounding community, would have helped Penn sports, like men's soccer, get a little more attention in the Penn community -- the place the attention needs to be brought first. In addition, a good television contract would also let an average Penn student watch an away basketball game on television, instead of waiting for the occasional ESPN broadcast. What makes matters worse is that this deal is not a money-maker for the University or the athletic department, which is facing a $200,000 debt. In other words, Bilsky has settled on a television package that provides only one benefit to the department and University -- to spread Penn athletics to those completely unaffiliated with Penn. In defense of Bilsky, actually landing a television deal is clearly a step in the right direction. Penn athletics has appeared on Prism, Wade Cablevision and SportsChannel-Philadelphia in the past, but now the Quakers have a multi-sport plan to call its own. Bilsky's choice in Comcast is also smart in that the cable network is also courting Princeton for another Ivy League television deal. The main difference is that Princeton students will able to watch what is aired on Comcast, while Penn students are stuck with Wade Cablevision or ResNet -- both unaffiliated with Comcast. At the very least, the University should have included in the deal the rights to air Comcast over ResNet. As for off-campus students, their best bet was for another deal altogether. But since all is said and done, commuters or people completely unaffiliated will be able to watch Penn sports. But would they want to? Certainly not as much as we do.

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