KFVE may have to bid to regain rights from ESPN
By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer
Imagine paying rent on a house you already own.
KFVE, which owns the local television rights to University of Hawai'i sporting events, is in that situation because of a new three-year agreement between the Western Athletic Conference, of which UH is a member, and the ESPN cable television network.
ESPN Regional, a subsidiary of ESPN, is allowed to claim the television rights to five WAC football and men's basketball games each academic year. ESPN Regional then can sell the rights to television stations across the country.
If a station, which owns the local rights, cannot reach an agreement, ESPN Regional can seek an arrangement with another station in that market.
"There's something greatly ironic to paying a rights fee for something we already own the rights to," said John Fink, KFVE's president and general manager.
KFVE is entering the final year of a contract in which the station pays UH $1.2 million annually.
ESPN Regional already has claimed the rights to UH's football games against Nevada (Sept. 15 in Reno) and San Jose State (Nov. 3 at Aloha Stadium).
In exchange for a rights fee, ESPN Regional has offered to pay for the production costs of the telecast and allow KFVE to keep all advertising revenue. ESPN Regional will use its own announcers.
UH athletic director Hugh Yoshida said the arrangement could save KFVE money in production costs for road games. But Fink said the deal, in turn, could limit UH's exposure on the Mainland and shorten its reach to recruits.
KFVE, in a lateral partnership with the Fox Sports cable network, shows UH football games in Southern California, Seattle, Detroit and parts of the Southeast. Fink said UH would lose those markets because Fox would be unwilling to show a telecast with an ESPN brand.
Fink said, for instance, that the UH-Nevada game would be of interest only to television stations in Hawai'i and Reno.
"UH will lose coverage in other markets," Fink said. "This is not of UH's doing, but in the grand scenario, the WAC thinks the exposure and minimal amount of money it would get is worth the individual (WAC) schools biting the bullet."
Yoshida said he will ask ESPN Regional to delay the telecast of any game played at Aloha Stadium.
ESPN Regional officials, reached in their office in Iowa, declined to comment.
