Corvallis Gazette-Times

The only way to watch the Oregon State football team's game Saturday is to buy a ticket and show up at Reser Stadium.

There will be no television coverage at any level — national, regional or local. There was an opportunity to show the game on Fox Sports Northwest because the opponent is Washington State, but athletic director Bob De Carolis declined.

He didn't make that decision lightly. De Carolis considered the feelings of the fans and his staff. If the game was shown on television, it would have been a 7 p.m. start for the second straight week.

And that was a major factor.

"I had to weigh the opportunity to show the game in the Northwest versus the financial reward, which would have been minimal," De Carolis said. "I also had to weigh the comfort of our fans."

If a game is broadcast nationally or even regionally by ABC, the payout makes showing the game at any time of day worth the effort. The regional cable broadcast creates variables if it's at night.

Fan turnout tends to be less for evening games because they travel from across the state to see the game live. With games running up to four hours long, the wait to get out of the parking lot due to traffic and the trip back home, many fans wouldn't be in bed until 2 a.m. or later

"I didn't think that's fair to our fan base," De Carolis said.

Another significant factor was he didn't want to lose out on gate receipts two weeks in a row. The payout for a regional broadcast won't compensate OSU enough for lost attendance due to the late start.

Selling the rights to broadcast games is one of the largest revenue sources for college programs. Under the Pacific-10 Conference contract, teams receive $600,000 for a game on ABC, $250,000 on Fox Sports Net for a national broadcast and $40,000 for a regional showing.

ABC picks the first 14 games and Fox Sports receives the next best 18, but gives up to six to Turner Broadcasting System.

"It's our goal as a conference that we want to provide the best experience for our student-athletes and fans, and TV exposure goes into that," said Duane Lindberg, the Pac-10 assistant commissioner for electronic communication. "We've been very happy with our TV partners, the experience we've had and the compensation."

After those networks select their national games, that's where Fox Sports Northwest tries to show games involving the Oregon and Washington schools.

The only time the Beavers are on ESPN or CBS are road games. Other conferences have contracts with those networks, but the Beavers are still paid for those contests. They received the standard $250,000 for playing at Louisville on ESPN.

It's common for a road game against a Western Athletic Conference team such as Boise State to be moved to the middle of the week. ESPN sees a chance for greater interest in games with major conference opponents.

ESPN also becomes involved in nonleague scheduling, De Carolis said. He's been asked to play games with ESPN teams to fill its time slots.

Locally, OSU gives out about one game a year to the Beaver Sports Network. A good example of that was the season-opening Portland State game. The thought was the only people interested in that game lived in Oregon.

"Fox Northwest approached us about (the WSU) game," De Carolis said. "Contractually, they have an opportunity. We are not obligated to do those games, but being good partners we try."

Regional broadcast are not allowed to compete with national games. When there's an opening in the schedule, Fox Sports Northwest tries to pick up a game.

The biggest benefit De Carolis considered was exposure. Any time a program is on television at any level, it's a marketing opportunity. It attracts potential players, students and boosters.

"Whatever school gets more hype on TV, you want to go there," running back Yvenson Bernard said. "And coming from Florida, my family and friends don't come out here to see me play. So when I'm on national TV, I do what I can to show them I'm all right and doing OK."

ABC picks most of its games early, but allows some leeway to show the best matchup. However, ratings due to the size of an area plays an important part of the decision.

There are more television sets in Los Angeles, Phoenix or Seattle than there are in Oregon or eastern Washington. So, the Southern Califorinas and Washintgons of the world have a better chance of being on ABC, even in bad seasons.

"There is some discussion each Monday which game is picked, but it comes down to who's doing well," Lindberg said. "They pay us a lot of money to get the games they want. In our conference, everyone understands everything goes in cycles. There was a time when USC wasn't that good."

There's a limit of six times a team can be shown on ABC, so the Pac-10 teams can share the pot. However, it's rare for the Beavers to be on there, with the 2003 USC game being the last national broadcast. Most of their appearances were in the 2000 Fiesta Bowl season and right after.

Even the Ducks aren't that big of draw outside the Northwest. Their game against No. 1-ranked USC last week was on ABC, but only regionally.

"If you ask people at Oregon and Oregon State, they know they don't have the media strength that USC and UCLA has," Lindberg said. "People know when push comes to shove, a TV market is considered."

Fox is a little more flexible and decides on most of its games six-12 days in advance. However, that creates some hassle about start times.

There are midday, afternoon and night time slots for nationally televised game by ABC, Fox and TBS most Saturdays. Teams sell tickets in the offseason for the day of the game, but can't say when the kickoff is until the network selections. If there's no television, like this week, OSU prefers the 1 p.m. start for the comfort of the fans.

De Carolis believes announcing the start time late is not too much of a problem at OSU. If the team is competitive and exciting, fans want to be part of the game live.

Winning creates a hot ticket.

And that begins the rat race. Teams must be successful to be selected for television to earn money for the program, increased attendance and help recruiting.

It also shows how much television networks influence the game week-to-week and in the long-run. It's difficult to change the status quo when ratings are at the forefront, with different payouts.

"Let's not kid ourselves that the market doesn't play into it," De Carolis said. "You are at a disadvantage at Oregon State or Washington State verses the L.A. or Bay Area in not being selected."