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Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery
I think it's unwise to downplay the significance of ESPN's regular programming. Things like "Pardon the Interruption," "Around the Horn," and the 6PM edition of "SportsCenter" are staples of ESPN and would be impacted by live FRC coverage. Additionally, there are regular season MLB games to be covered.
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I don't think our (mostly) weekday (mostly) daytime championships would interfere with MLB games or the NBA Playoffs, considering weekday games are usually at night. Concerning the "Pardon the Interruption," "Around the Horn" programs, they have two main channels and 4 other ones, I think they could put us on one of them, while having their normal programs still shown. ESPN takes the normal stuff, ESPN2 takes us.
As someone else addressed, rights would be a fairly small fee. Production would actually be smaller than your average event, because of the fact that FIRST does do some of the things they need already, such as lighting and sound. It would also probably be cheaper at the Edwards Jones Dome than at any of our regional (except for the fact that there are more teams at champs) because I would presume that the Dome has the wiring for cameras and such built into it, since it hosts NFL games. I know other stadiums, such as Sporting Park in KC, have it built in, so it wouldn't be a stretch to think that the dome does.
Concerning appeal, I think if ESPN can make bowling and cheerleading (no offense to anyone) appealing, I think that they can make robotics appealing. Maybe do backgrounds on a couple of teams, showing them during build season and such. I don't think a taping is the right way, because I think part of their audience would be people wanting to watch it live. If it was taped, even some of us might not watch it, because we have already seen it.