The Boeing Red Tails Classic has been a hit for the SIAC and Disney, per the classic’s Assistant Executive Director Clay Norrell. The classic, which has featured Fort Valley State and Tuskegee Univeristy, averaged 100,000 television viewers in its first two broadcasts. The number is encouraging, as HBCU enthusiasts have had substantive discussions about the value of HBCU sports and the interest it can garner if given the opportunity. The matchup is one of two SIAC games that will be shown on one of ESPN's linear cable channels.
“We're televised nationally on ESPNU. That is a smaller audience…ESPNU is carried in less households nationally than ESPN or ESPN2,” Norrell said in an interview on the SIAC Talk podcast broadcasted on Twitter. “The TV number that we've hovered right around is that 100,000 mark.”
When asked if the viewership number was the total for both games individually or an average total viewership for each game, he specified that it was an average.
“It's an average…with ESPNU being a much smaller carried channel than ESPN or ESPN2, ESPN and the Walt Disney Company have been pleased with that number.”
Per a report by the Sports Business Journal's John Ourand, ESPN is available in 37 million homes. The viewership numbers for ESPNU are not available via Nielsen and other ratings-measuring companies. However, while Norrell says that while high viewership is always welcome, in-game attendance reigns supreme in determining the success of the Classic.
“It [the viewership] is important to us but what's even more important to us has been the in-stadium, in-crowd attendance the past couple of years which has been tremendous…we've averaged anywhere around 12,000 to 14,000 fans [in attendance at the classic], which has been incredible. ”
Fort Valley & Tuskegee match up in the 3rd annual Red Tails Classic on September 3rd at 7 PM EST, with the game set to be broadcasted on ESPNU.
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