Watching the Schedule

So the season’s started. 1–0, baby! One game whets the whistle, so I guess now’s time to figure out how to watch the games.

The Athletic Department and league makes a big deal about game availability on TV every year, increased access, increased exposure, etc. Of course, those releases highly tout/depend upon all the local TV listings to add robustness. Well, I’m not local. And a lot of UR alumni aren’t local. [Insert VCU quip here.] I need a wholly separate schedule crib sheet to decipher the actual viewing/streaming options in the other 49 states (and beyond). The formatting of this page leaves a bit to be desired. CBS 6.3 and MASN don’t help me.

Last year I bought the SpiderTV/A10 Network package so in theory every game was available to me somewhere, in some form. And it worked, but still took some finagling and searching. In debating whether to anty up for SpiderTV again, I thought I’d break down the 2014–15 schedule viewing options for those non-RVA based alums and fans. Since I live outside of Virginia and they don’t apply to me, I’m going to ignore any local options.

(Obligatory Note: if you can make a road game or two, do.)

Bold games will be readily available for your viewing pleasure (network/webservice after the colon):

11/18 @ Old Dominion: American Sports Network

11/22 v. High Point

11/26 @ NC State: ESPN3

11/30 @ Northern Iowa: ESPN3

12/3 v. William & Mary

12/7 @ JMU: MadiZone

12/13 v. Howard

12/18 v. South Alabama

12/20 v. Pepperdine: ESPN3

12/23 v. IUPUI

12/28 v. Wake Forest: NBC SN

12/31 v. Northeastern

1/3 @ Davidson: NBC SN

1/8 v. Mason: NBC SN

1/11 v. St. Bona

1/15 @ GW: ESPNU

1/17 v. Davidson

1/24 @ Dayton: A10/Dayton Network

1/28 v. Duquesne

1/31 @ VCU: ESPN

2/5: @ La Salle: NBC SN

2/8 v. URI: NBC SN

2/11 v. Fordham

2/14 @ Mason

2/18 @ St. Bona: A10/Bona Network

2/21 v. GW: CBS SN

2/25 v. VCU: ESPN2

2/28 @ St. Joe’s

3/4 @ UMass: American Sports Network

3/7 v. Saint Louis Universtiy

So there it is. 30 games remain and 15 of them can be seen with reasonable cable access and/or a web browser. Get your streaming box of choice/HDMI cable ready. That’s not bad. The two italicized games above(ODU and UMass) are on the American Sports Network (?). Those games may or may not be available gratis online live (local ASN affiliates outside Virginia won’t pick up the game on TV). It also seems like they may at least be available free as an archived game. Inclusion would push the readily available games number to 17.

If I missed something or have something mis-listed, please let me know.

One note: Dayton, Duquesne, Fordham, St. Bona and Saint Louis (the “Free Five”) don’t charge a subscription for their Atlantic 10 Network portals. As best I can tell/understand, that means games those teams host will stream free for all. What’s more, it seems like the Free Five minus Saint Louis also make archived games (current season) available, too. Insert the “Richmond step up make and SpiderTV free — and on demand” rant here.

As for the rest…

SpiderTV: of the remaining 13 games, 11 are home games and will be available via a SpiderTV subscription ($25 for 4 months; $10 for 1). Do the math: that’s $2.27/game. 2 are road games and would require (I think) a broader subscription to the All-A10 Network (to get the opponents’ feed); All-A10 Network is $40 for four months, or an extra $15 to stream those last two games on 2/14 and 2/28. That would raise the per game rate to almost $4 (All-A10 is $15/month by itself, too).

Alternatively, feel free to be nostalgic and tune in to everything via Pixelvision (google your own link).