Sept. 2, 2003
EASTON, Pa. (www.lafayette.edu) -
The Lafayette football program will lead the nation among Division I-AA teams in 2003 with the most nationally televised games. The Lafayette Sports Network will broadcast the Leopards' entire schedule on Empire Sports Network, DIRECTV and DISH Network.
Regionally, the Lafayette Sports Network can be seen by more than 9.1 million viewers on RCN-TV 4 and WBPH-TV 60 in Eastern Pennsylvania - including all of Philadelphia - and Western New Jersey.
The Lafayette Sports Network, which begins its fourth season of national telecasts via DIRECTV and DISH Network, has reached an agreement with Empire Sports Network to air all 11 Lafayette football games in 2003 to its potential audience of more than 17.5 million viewers in Upstate and Western New York as well as more than 40 million potential viewers on DIRECTV (channel 626) and at least 19.5 million possible viewers on DISH Network (channel 432).
All four of Lafayette's road contests - Sept. 13 at Towson, Oct. 18 at Harvard, Nov. 15 at Holy Cross and Nov. 22 at Lehigh - will be shown live on Empire Sports Network, DIRECTV and DISH Network. In addition, 10 of the 11 games will be replayed in prime time at 7 p.m. ET each Tuesday following the game. The only exception is the Oct. 25 contest vs. Fordham, which will be aired on Monday, Oct. 27 at 7 p.m. ET.
Local television sports broadcaster Gary Laubach will handle all of the Leopards' play-by-play duties for the seventh straight season. John Leone, Lafayette's Director of Alumni Affairs, will provide color analysis for the sixth straight season. Reporting from the Leopards' sidelines will be Dan Mowdy for the third season.
Lafayette's home contest vs. Georgetown on Oct. 4 will be televised live on The Football Network (TFN) and simulcast on Empire Sports Network, DIRECTV (channel 626) and DISH Network (channel 432).
In addition to unparalleled television exposure in 2003, Lafayette football will broadcast on the radio via WEST-AM 1400 for the 68th consecutive season, and the live audio and video feed of all broadcasted events will be available simultaneously on Lafayette's award-winning Web site. All Lafayette webcasts will be distributed by RealNetworks, Inc., the global leader in Internet media delivery.
WEST-AM sports director Dick Hammer enters his 36th season of handling play-by-play duties. Providing color analysis on most broadcasts will once again be Carl Schumacher.
Nationally recognized as a leader in collegiate sports broadcasting on regional television and radio, Lafayette has seen its Web site become one of the most popular mediums for Leopard fans. The sports portal of www.lafayette.edu received more than 3.1 million page views in the 2002-03 athletic seasons as more than 100 audio or video webcasts were made available.
