ELMHURST, Ill. – The Summit League and Midco Sports Network will debut a weekly 30-minute show titled “Inside The Summit League” on Aug. 22. Part of the “See The Summit” initiative, the show will include highlights, news and features from The Summit League and its member institutions.
Midco Sports Network, based in Sioux Falls, S.D., will produce and originate airing of 42 weekly programs during an exclusive 7 p.m. (CT) time slot on Wednesdays from Aug. 22 through June 5, 2013. Fox College Sports will provide The Summit League national coverage by airing the show weekly throughout the season.“Inside The Summit League” will also be made available to league markets and segments can be seen on The Summit League’s official website (thesummitleague.org).
“Having a weekly television show will enable The Summit League and its member institutions to tell their story to fans across the country,” said Summit League Commissioner Tom Douple. “This exciting new way to ‘See The Summit’ will help with the brand recognition for our league and teams. The expanded visibility that this show will provide to our sports programs and its student-athletes and coaches is invaluable. Midco Sports Net has proven to be an extraordinary partner over the past four years and this project signifies our continued growth with them and as a league.”
“Inside The Summit League” will review and preview games and provide feature stories on student-athletes and coaches from across the league. Segments will also include“insiders” and news and notes from around the league. In addition, a weekly “Campus Spotlight” will profile the happenings on campuses across the league.
Tom Nieman, who has called Summit League Basketball action for each of the past four seasons, will serve as host for “Inside The Summit League.”
“We are very pleased to be producing ‘Inside The Summit League,’” said Midcontinent’s Vice President of Business Solutions Mark Powell. “As the producer of the 12 men’s and women’s quarterfinal and semifinal games, this show will be a great prelude leading up to that tournament coverage as well as showcasing other sports within the institutions that make up the League. The Midco Sports Network production team looks forward to using their experience with producing this type of quality programming to give The Summit League, its schools and athletic programs greater exposure.”
Midco Sports Network has produced and aired 46 men’s and women’s games live from The Summit League Basketball Championships since 2009, including all quarterfinal and semifinal games over the past three years.
Additional information, including show dates, air times and local affiliates will be available on The Summit League website in August.
ABOUT THE SUMMIT LEAGUE
Entering its fourth decade of Division I athletics, The Summit League offers 19 championship sports and has a combined enrollment of over 144,000 at nine universities, four of which are located in top 58 U.S. metro populations (Detroit, Indianapolis, Kansas City and Omaha). Member institutions include: Fort Wayne (Indiana University-Purdue University-Fort Wayne), IUPUI (Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis), Kansas City (University of Missouri-Kansas City), , North Dakota State University, Oakland University, Omaha (University of Nebraska Omaha), the University of South Dakota, South Dakota State University and Western Illinois University. Previously known as the Mid-Continent Conference, The Summit League rebranded in 2007 and has since produced 54 All-Americans, 37 Academic All-America selections and seven NCAA Championships. For more information about the league and its history, visit www.thesummitleague.org or follow on Twitter @thesummitleague.
