Aug. 7, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Big Ten Football Pre-season Tour will journey through Happy Valley for the eighth straight year on Saturday, Aug. 9 as a part of BTN's 14-stop, 3,400-mile trek across Big Ten Country.
The BTN studio team of Dave Revsine, Gerry DiNardo and Howard Griffith will talk with Penn State head coach James Franklin, along with other coaches and players, to bring fans a 60-minute, on-site preview show from Happy Valley and every Big Ten campus this month.
The Penn State Football Preview show will debut on Aug. 9 at 6 p.m. ET amongst 10 consecutive hours of Nittany Lion football programming on BTN. The studio crew will visit Penn State's practice on Saturday morning to conclude their first week on the road and the Nittany Lions' first week of training camp in anticipation of the Aug. 30 opener vs. UCF.
| Coach Franklin |
The BTN crew is traveling to each of the 14 Big Ten campuses on a customized chartered bus branded with the BTN logo and images from each of the conference's institutions. The Pre-season Tour shows will include interviews with head coaches, assistant coaches and selected returning student-athletes as the BTN analysts measure each team's progress as the 2014 season approaches.
The Penn State Football Preview Show will debut as the centerpiece event of 10 consecutive hours of Nittany Lion Football programming on Aug. 9. The coverage kicks off at 2 p.m. when the network will air Penn State's thrilling 2012 Senior Day overtime win over Wisconsin. The 2013 overtime victory at Beaver Stadium against Illinois airs at 3 p.m. and the NIttany Lions' 31-24 triumph in the 2013 season finale at No. 14 Wisconsin is slated for 4 p.m.
After the debut of the Penn State preview show at 6 p.m. on BTN Live, the network will air the Nittany Lions' electrifying four-overtime 2013 victory over No. 18 Michigan at 7 p.m. Another showing of the Penn State preview show will air at 9 p.m. and a reprise of the 2013 showdown in Madison will air immediately after.
Fans can also catch re-airs of the Penn State preview show throughout Sunday morning on BTN.
Tom Dienhart, BTN.com's Senior Writer, will also be providing stories from the tour's stop at Penn State at BTN.com/tour. A complete schedule of the BTN's Football Preview Tour can be found at BTN.com
Fans can also virtually jump on the bus via Twitter by following @BigTenNetwork, @BTNDaveRevsine, @HowardGriffith, @gerrydinardo and @BTNTomDienhart from the road. Dienhart, BTN.com's Senior Writer, will also be providing daily stories from the tour at BTN.com/tour. Fans can also ride along with the crew by following Big Ten Network on Instagram.
BTN will televise more than 45 football games this season, kicking off the Big Ten football season with Eastern Illinois at Minnesota on Aug. 28. BTN will carry multiple Penn State football games this season, including the opening game of the Big Ten's 119th season, at Rutgers (Sept. 13, 8 p.m.).
The Big Ten Network is available to more than 90 million homes through agreements with more than 300 cable, satellite and telco providers in all 50 states and Canada. Armstrong, Blue Ridge and Adams Cable, though, do not carry the BTN in Pennsylvania and the Medina and Youngstown, Ohio areas. More than 35,000 Penn State alumni live in the communities served by the three cable providers in Pennsylvania and the Medina and Youngstown areas, in addition to thousands of more fans and current Penn State students.
Armstrong, Blue Ridge and Adams Cable customers missed more than 100 Penn State events on BTN during the 2013-14 academic year, in addition to coverage from 15 conference championships.
More than 5,000 new Penn State football season tickets and 45,000 single game tickets have been sold for the 2014 campaign. Alumni and fans are able to purchase Penn State football season tickets and make their Nittany Lion Club donation online at GoPSUsports.com/seasontickets, while choosing their own seats by utilizing Virtual Venue. New season tickets, the four-game partial ticket plan and single game tickets also are available at PSUnrivaled.com or by calling 1-800-NITTANY, weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
About BTN: A joint venture between the Big Ten Conference and Fox Networks, BTN is the first internationally distributed network dedicated to covering one of the premier collegiate conferences in the country. With more than 800 events, all in HD, the 24/7 network is the ultimate destination for Big Ten fans and alumni across the country, allowing them to see their favorite teams, regardless of where they live. BTN2Go is the 24/7 simulcast of BTN that delivers live and on-demand programming via the internet, smartphones and tablets to customers of participating video providers. Events include football, men's and women's basketball games; dozens of Big Ten Olympic sports and championship events; studio shows; and classic games. Original programming highlights activities and accomplishments of some of the nation's finest universities. The groundbreaking Student U initiative provides real-world experience for students interested in careers in sports television. The network is in more than 60 million homes across the United States and Canada, including carriage by all the major video distributors, such as DIRECTV, DISH, Verizon FiOS, AT&T U-Verse, Charter Communications, Comcast Xfinity, Time Warner Cable, Cablevision, Cox Communications, Mediacom, RCN, WOW!, Rogers Cable, Shaw and Shaw Direct (Canada) and approximately 300 additional video providers across North America. For additional information, go to www.BTN.com.