IRT and ESPN
May 12th, 2008 by Geoff Thomsen
There have been MANY rumors surrounding an affiliation between the IRT (Men’s Pro Racquetball Tour) and ESPN, to provide live video streaming of the events. On May 8th, the IRT sent out a newsletter, part of which is copied below. In summary, ESPN360.com will provide live video streaming for all Tier 1 IRT stops next season!! This move by the IRT should provide a HUGE increase in exposure for the sport, and we can only hope that things continue to move in this direction. Next season should be a VERY exciting year for the sport!
I’m still not sure why ESPN360.com is only available to certain ISP’s (licensing fees?), but any increase in viewership is a good thing, IMO.
ESPN360.com will become the official home for live IRT action this fall. A deal was signed before the Motorola IRT Pro Nationals presented by Verizon Wireless between ESPN and the IRT to broadcast all semi-final and final matches at all tier one IRT events in the US. Also as part of the deal ESPN will air the Motorola Pro Nationals in Chicago and The Motorola World Championships in Denver on ESPN Classic on a tape delayed basis. Air times will be in primetime and re-aired in prime time. More details are coming so keep your eyes on the IRT website.
ESPN360.com is ESPN’s signature broadband sports network, delivering more than 2,500 live global sports events per year. The service offers a mosaic of screens that allow users to follow multiple events simultaneously, and expanded controls including live-event pause, rewind and fast forward. ESPN360.com is currently available in nearly 23 million homes nationwide via more than 20 Internet service providers including AT&T, Verizon, RCN, Insight, Frontier, Cavalier, Charter, Mediacom, Conway, Grande Communications and more. Additionally, it is available to approximately 18 million U.S. college students and U.S.-based military personnel (fans accessing ESPN360.com from computers connected to an on-campus educational or military network – those with “.edu” or “.mil” domains).
Consumers wanting more information about ESPN360.com, which high speed Internet services currently provide it, and how they can get it should go to www.espn360.com.
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Entry Filed under: IRT, Racquetball News
Tags: ESPN, espn360.com, IRT, live racquetball video, racquetball video
