James Madison Announces 2017 Football Television Coverage

HARRISONBURG, Va. – James Madison Athletics has finalized its 2017 football television coverage, providing seven contests across various broadcast outlets in addition to digital availability for all 11 games. As part of the package, which matches the most regular-season televised contests in program history, JMU football will be seen on regional outlets such as Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN), Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic and Philadelphia, Cox Communications and SportsNet New York (SNY) with most games also available on Dish Network and DIRECTV.

"With the conference switching focus to digital this year, we felt it was imperative coming off a national championship to provide television coverage to our fan base," JMU Director of Athletics Jeff Bourne said. "We worked swiftly to construct an attractive package, in order to build upon the current momentum of our program and strengthen our overall exposure."

Five JMU home contests will be televised, including four airing on MASN or MASN2. The Sept. 9 home opener against ETSU will air on Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic Plus at 6 p.m. The other four home contests that follow include Sept. 16 vs. Norfolk State on MASN2 at 3:30 p.m., Sept. 23 vs. Maine on MASN at 1:30 p.m., Oct. 14 vs. Villanova on MASN2 at 3:30 p.m. and Nov. 11 vs. Richmond on MASN2 at 3:30 p.m. As part of the television package announcement, all originally announced game times have been preserved.

In addition to the five home dates, JMU partnered with Delaware on distribution of its Sept. 30 Colonial Athletic Association contest in Newark. The game will air at 3:30 p.m. on CSN-Philly, CSN-MA+, SNY and local Delaware outlet COZI.

Bourne said, "It was great to work with [Delaware A.D.] Chrissy Rawak to partner on our game in Newark and maximize our audience reach. I'm confident that those discussions will pay off with future opportunities. We've had similar productive dialogue with William & Mary. These partnerships provide great benefit to all schools involved and maximize our resources."

William and Mary will broadcast the Oct. 21 league matchup in Williamsburg on Cox Communications in Hampton Roads and extended areas of Virginia. JMU is currently working with W&M and potential outlets with the hope of airing the game locally in the Shenandoah Valley.

"Television coverage is great for the overall exposure of our program," Head Coach Mike Houston said. "It's important to keep alumni and fans engaged as we build on our national championship. While television is important, it's also critical that we maintain the energized home environment that we enjoy every Saturday in Bridgeforth Stadium."

MASN reaches 5.8 million households in the Mid-Atlantic region spanning from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to Charlotte, North Carolina. Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic airs in 3.4 million homes in a similar footprint. Both outlets are available nationwide on Dish Network and DIRECTV. Cox Communications' airing of the JMU vs. W&M game will reach Virginia's Hampton Roads region (Channel 1011) along with Roanoke (1009), Fairfax (1074) and Fredericksburg (1077). Other markets will also be included and will be announced closer to game day.

DIGITAL COVERAGE OF JMU FOOTBALL

All 11 regular season games will be available on various digital and mobile platforms. JMU's season opener at ECU streamed on ESPN3. The Dukes will be featured as part of the CAA's game of the week package with CBS Interactive on Oct. 14 against Villanova.

JMU's other five home games will be streamed on MadiZONE HD SportsNet, which is presented free to fans via a partnership with the JMU Alumni Association. Streaming host, Stretch Internet, has upgraded its flash-based player to HTML5 video for the 2017 season for a better viewing experience while also adding new OTT platforms to offer all JMU streams on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV. Television blackouts may impact MadiZONE streaming in Virginia for select games.

Road contests at William & Mary and Elon will be available free on MadiZONE courtesy of shared feeds from the host schools. Delaware's streaming service, Blue Hens All-Access, will provide a free stream but will not be shared to MadiZONE. Rhode Island will offer a paid stream for a $6.95 subscription for JMU's Nov. 4 road contest.

SOCIAL MEDIA COVERAGE

News updates, highlights and other in-depth digital content is shared regularly on JMU football's official social media channels on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Be sure to follow these accounts for in-game and season-long coverage of the Dukes.

TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE

The defending national champions and nation's top-ranked team opened the 2017 season, presented by CarMax, on Saturday, Sept. 2 with a 34-14 victory at FBS ECU. JMU will play its home opener this Saturday, Sept. 9, against ETSU at 6 p.m. airing live on television on CSN Mid-Atlantic Plus and on digital platforms on MadiZONE HD SportsNet presented by the JMU Alumni Association.

Season tickets, mini plans and single-game tickets are on sale now by visiting JMUTickets.com or by calling 540-568-3853. Tickets for Saturday's home opener are still available. Student tickets are also available for the 2017 season.

Calendar