To the Editor:

I am writing in response to your Oct. 19 Ed Board article”Dead Air For Mustangs” in hopes of clarifying a fewissues. While I agree with your overall assertion that televisinggames is good for creating interest in the SMU football program, Ifeel you overlooked some details that need attention.

You are critical of the fact that our game against Boise State,a ranked opponent, was not televised. In reality, the game wasbroadcast in some areas, but due to a malfunctioning satellitereceiver at Channel 52 here in Dallas, the station was unable toreceive the feed and could not air the game. The problem wasentirely on the station’s end and 52 will not be paid itsbroadcasting fee due to their error. I am certain that even thestation would agree with your point that viewers are “morelikely to watch a football game over a knockoff of‘Cops’.”

Regarding the Texas Tech game, we decided not to televise thatgame because we felt the airing of the game on live TV wouldnegatively impact the gate. If we had aired the game, I truly doubtwe would have had the record-setting crowd of 34,689 inattendance.

In addition, your figure of $30,000 to broadcast games issomewhat low, with the actual amount hovering around $40,000. Thisfigure does not take into account the “rights fees”many host schools charge for broadcasting our away games. As anexample, last season when we attempted to air our game at Baylor,the BU athletic department requested a fee of $250,000 from us inorder to clear the game. While a fee this large is not the norm,the cost of airing a traditional 11-game slate would range anywherefrom $500,000 to upwards of $1 million. As stewards of the fundsprovided to the department by the university, we simply do not feelthis would be good usage of our limited resources.

However, we do appreciate the interest of The DailyCampus and its Ed Board in our football program. We hope youand all students will come to our remaining two home games andsupport our team. Thanks and GO PONIES!

Brad Sutton

Assistant Athletic Director/Media Relations