UH-Michigan State on ESPN2

Advertiser Staff

The start of the University of Hawai'i football game against Michigan State on Dec. 4 has been moved to 6:30 p.m. to accommodate national television, costing UH a potential six-figure payoff.

The original kickoff was 6:05 p.m. for the regular-season finale at Aloha Stadium.

The game will be televised live on ESPN2.

But the national visibility will come with a price tag for UH which stands to miss out on the $105,000 to $140,000 that could have been its share of the pay-per-view pot had the game been shown by the local rights holder, KFVE.

Under its agreement with Oceanic Cable and KFVE, UH receives 70 percent of the first $1 million in pay-per-view sales. UH averaged 10,629 PPV subscribers per game last year.

Because ESPN had UH-Mich-igan State on its "watch list" of games it was considering, the game was not included in the pay-per-view season ticket package.

Under the terms of the conference's agreement with ESPN, the network may pick up games within a 12-day window if the date is not changed. The network may move the kickoff provided it doesn't go earlier than 11 a.m. or 8 p.m. local time, the conference office said.

Regardless, UH athletic director Herman Frazier said, "This is a great opportunity to celebrate the most decorated senior class we've had here in a long time."

It will be UH's fifth appearance on national or regional cable this season. UH is 0-4 in those games.