PHILADELPHIA -- Athletic directors from Penn State, Notre Dame, West Virginia, Temple and Rutgers have announced the formation of a college football network that expects to televise 12 games during the 1984 season.
The creation of the National Independent Football Network was made in conjunction with TCS-Metrosports Inc., a production company, based in New Kensington, Pa., and Rockville, Md., which holds radio and television rights to a number of college sports.
Nelson L. Goldberg, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of TCS-Metrosports, said Monday the telecast package included national syndication rights to the Penn State-Texas game on Sept. 29 at East Rutherford, N.J.
Goldberg told a news conference that the schedule of 12 games was tentative since the plans of ABC-TV and ESPN, which holds the rights to games involving College Football Association teams, had not been finalized.
'The schedule seems to fluctuate day-by-day,' Goldberg said, speaking during Temple's Media Day activities at Veterans Stadium. 'As of Aug. 14, we had our 14th revision and there will probably be more. ABC policy means they have to give only 12 days' notice so there are quite a few question marks.'
The production company still is finalizing games for Sept. 8 and 15. The first scheduled game in the package is Maryland at West Virginia on Sept. 22.
Not counting the Sept. 8 and 15 games, West Virginia would be on four times, Penn State and Notre Dame three each, Temple twice and Rutgers once under the tentative schedule released Monday. Most of the games would start at 12:20 p.m. Eastern time.
Goldberg said no games in the TCS-Metrosports package could conflict with CFA games on ABC, which are scheduled for the 3:30-7 p.m. time slot, or on ESPN. All the teams in the package but Temple are members of the CFA.
No details on stations were announced but negotiations with major markets in the East and Midwest were being conducted, Goldberg said. He added that Penn State-Texas would be marketed nationally.
Goldberg said the rights fees for the games were negotiated individually with the five universities but he did not elaborate. Broadcast rights reverted to the schools when the Supreme Court voided the NCAA football contract with ABC and CBS last month.
'Everyone realizes the rights fees are not anywhere near last year,' said West Virginia athletic director Fred Schaus. 'Last year we were on TV five times -- four on ABC and once on Turner (TBS). We wanted a certain amount of exposure but not too much. We wanted a happy medium to help ourselves and the football team. We can't hurt our season sales.'
Other games on the tentative network schedule include: Maryland at Penn State Oct. 6, Air Force at Notre Dame Oct. 13, South Carolina at Notre Dame Oct. 20, Penn State at West Virginia Oct. 27, Notre Dame vs. Navy Nov. 3, West Virginia vs. Rutgers Nov. 10, West Virginia at Temple Nov. 17, and Toledo at Temple Nov. 30.
