NEW YORK — FOX Sports and the Big East are taking their all-access experiment into men’s college basketball, as Providence will play at DePaul on Jan. 12 with both head coaches mic’d up during a commercial-free broadcast on FS1.
Providence coach Ed Cooley and DePaul coach Dave Leitao will wear live microphones while on their respective benches and also enable viewers the opportunity to hear what’s said in huddles and speeches in the locker rooms from tip-off, during timeouts and through the final whistle. Because the game is presented commercial-free (FOX gave up the inventory), cameras and microphones can provide sights and sounds not usually available to a television audience. FOX Sports GO’s website and mobile app offer two additional livestreams, with a camera and audio dedicated to each coach for the duration of the game so that viewers can customize the experience.
“I want to commend the two schools who volunteered to do that because there are some risks there, you can probably imagine,” Big East Conference commissioner Val Ackerman said at the Learfield Intercollegiate Athletics Forum.
“But…this is the expectation now from our fans. You know, they want to get inside. They don’t just want to see cameras going back and forth. They want to be in the huddle. They want to be in the locker room. They want to hear what these coaches are saying and sort of get that perspective on what goes on during the game.”
This experience will also be available in women’s basketball when Creighton visits Seton Hall women’s basketball on Jan. 2 on FS2. It was in women’s basketball where this FOX Sports Lab experiment first took place last December in a commercial-free, mic’d up game between Seton Hall and St. John’s.
“Hours of just what they’re saying to their players — yes — what they’re saying to the referees, what they’re saying to their assistant coaches,” Ackerman said. “It was during huddles, during breaks, and it was actually very, very interesting.”
Said Big East senior associate commissioner of broadcasting Rick Gentile in a statement: “We look forward to continuing to help our partners push the broadcast innovation envelope.”
PURE JOY. The @SHUWBB locker room is the definition of lit. #BIGEAST https://t.co/cmJBD3zsSE
— FS1 (@FS1) December 31, 2016