KTXA broadcast funded through LSC grant, university funds

The Oct. 16 football game between A&M-Commerce and Tarleton State University was broadcast on KTXA-21, a Columbian Broadcast Society (CBS) local television station. Traditionally, television stations pay universities for the rights to broadcast their football games, especially at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level.

Since their games do not draw the same number of television ratings as the larger teams, there is a special program for Division II schools to receive grants from the NCAA to pay networks for television broadcasts. The grants are applied for and awarded to the Division II conferences, who then distribute the finances to their respective universities. In exchange for the grants, the NCAA requires awarded schools to promote Division II athletics during the broadcasts. Lone Star Conference (LSC) Commissioner Stan Wagnon was responsible for A&M-Commerce's grant.

"NCAA Division II has a fund for Division II schools who wish to broadcast games," Wagnon said. "Since the fund is only available for conferences, we applied for the grant on A&M-Commerce's behalf. In exchange, A&M-Commerce promoted the NCAA Division II throughout the broadcast. The grant was for $10,000."

The A&M-Commerce athletic department paid the remaining cost of the broadcast, a total of $5,050. In addition to the $15,000 paid by A&M-Commerce, CBS also received money through advertisement. A&M-Commerce President Dan Jones spoke about the advertising side of the broadcast.

"We paid [CBS] to broadcast the game and they made money off advertising," Jones said. "We pay the difference in the price of the broadcast since they don't get huge ratings like a University of Texas game. Division II sports are important, they're just not as advertised as the bigger schools. Sports at every NCAA level are a big part of the overall college experience."

A&M-Commerce's grant of $10,000 through the LSC from the NCAA is 66.3 percent of the cost of the $15,000 broadcast. The $5,050 paid by the Athletic Department went to Jeff Watts Productions, a company that produced the broadcast of game on KTXA-21.