Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 23, 1990 TAG: 9006230031
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Jack Bogaczyk
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Tech was expecting to have a contract renewal with Telesport Productions of Cary, N.C., for football and basketball in 1990-91. However, on June 10, Telesport president Jack Gregory faxed a letter to the Hokies informing them Telesport was out of business.
Telesport and Tech signed a contract less than 13 months ago, a one-year deal with four successive one-year options, renewable by agreement of both parties. Telesport, which did a better-than-average job with its on-air product, lost more than $125,000 on the Hokies' package last season, $102,000 of that on football.
Under the contract, Telesport and Tech were to divide all net profits, but the Hokies were liable for no losses.
"Virginia Tech and the people there did everything they could to make it work," Gregory said. "But it was a tough sell. There wasn't the support there. Their fans who could have supported the package just don't seem to care."
Danny Monk, Tech's associate athletic director who handles the Hokies' TV negotiations, hasn't been able to get Gregory on the phone. So, Tech has turned to another syndicator, SportsNet of Columbia, S.C.
Here's where things get messy. One of SportsNet's partners is Jim Forest, who did play-by-play on Gregory's Tech package a year ago.
It was Forest who introduced Gregory to Tech. Forest also has negotiated a TV deal with East Carolina, which also was working with Gregory.
Earlier, Forest signed a six-game football TV package with South Carolina. Gregory said that he and Forest had a handshake deal that they would split the 1989-90 Tech package 50-50, whether the property yielded profit or loss.
No contracts were signed, however. Forest said he worked 10 games for Telesport and was paid only for one. Monk said Telesport still owes Roanoke's WDBJ about $2,000 for clearing a Jan. 8 basketball telecast against Virginia Commonwealth.
"I personally feel betrayed that certain individuals conspired to put Telesport in this situation," Gregory said. "I might not be willing to let that drop."
Gregory emphasized that he has no problem with Tech.
"If anything, I feel embarrased we couldn't make it happen," he said. "People like Danny Monk and Dave Braine [Tech's athletic director] did everything they could for us. Everyone at Virginia Tech did."
SportsNet was founded in the last two months by Forest and his attorney, Craig Kelly, of Columbia. It was an outgrowth of Jim Forest Sports after Forest landed the South Carolina TV package. Tech has not signed a contract with SportsNet, and Forest has yet to assure the Hokies that their four-game football package, originally planned by Telesport, will get on the air.
Like Gregory, Forest is working with Dave Morgan of Litton Syndications of Baltimore, trying to clear stations and sell advertising.
"I'd say it's better than 50-50 Tech will have a TV package," Forest said. "It looks good, but we're not quite sure yet."
While Tech is in dire need of the type of exposure provided by Telesport, it will only sign a contract similar to the one with Telesport.
"We're not going to get into anything where we can lose money," Braine said. "There won't be any financial risk on our part."
Forest, who also is operations manager at WOLO Television in Columbia, said he feels he has "an obligation to Virginia Tech, because I did bring them to the table with Telesport."
Monk said he knew the Hokies' renewal with Telesport, which Tech desired, was in trouble "when I never heard anything by the end of May, and I kept calling and leaving messages and no one returned my calls."
Tech would like SportsNet to televise the same four games Telesport has tentative plans to do - games at East Carolina and at Florida State live, a home game against South Carolina live and a late-night tape-delay telecast of the West Virginia game at Lane Stadium.
Forest said SportSouth, the new regional network of Turner Broadcasting, also has inquired about Tech's home game against Southern Mississippi. SportSouth will be available in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.
Forest said SportsNet hasn't even talked about basketball telecasts with Tech because the football telecasts aren't a certainty yet. Forest also said no station in the Roanoke-Lynchburg TV market, Tech's home base, has been cleared for the proposed package, either.
The situation is simply a continuation of Tech's litany of TV and radio problems over the last decade. Metrosports went bankrupt, leaving Tech with unpaid rights fees, and several years ago, the Hokies almost ended up in court over a radio contract disagreement with Creative Sports Marketing. Tech's coaches also sell their own TV shows, another losing proposition.
Tech tried to do its own radio broadcasts in recent years and lost more than $100,000 before turning to Metronews of Morgantown, W.Va. Metronews will pay Tech $58,300 for its radio rights in the 1990-91 school year, the second on a three-year contract with a pair of two-year options.
If Forest finds the same problem Gregory did - a lack of advertising support from Tech alumni and friends - then the Hokies will keep losing exposure, even if they aren't losing money.
by CNB