On Saturday, both Fox Sports Detroit and Fox-owned Big Ten Network will air the Michigan State-Michigan outdoor college hockey game, live from Michigan Stadium. It’s the second time the two schools have staged an outdoor game. The first time was in 2001 at Spartan Stadium and it’s taken nine years to do it again. Let’s take a look at the press release.
109,000 FANS EXPECTED FOR MICHIGAN VS. MICHIGAN STATE OUTDOOR HOCKEY ON SATURDAYFOX SPORTS TO PRODUCE ‘THE BIG CHILL AT THE BIG HOUSE’Game Televised Nationally on FOX Sports Detroit, Big Ten Network, and Fox College Sports AtlanticFOX Sports Networks will provide comprehensive television coverage of the ‘The Big Chill at The Big House,’ the outdoor hockey match up featuring rivals Michigan and Michigan State on Saturday, Dec 11 at 3:00 p.m. ET. The game is expected to draw a crowd of more than 109,000 fans, which would shatter the previous world record for an outdoor hockey game.‘The Big Chill at The Big House’ will be televised regionally in high-definition on FOX Sports Detroit, reaching 3.2 million households throughout Michigan and portions of Northwest Ohio and Northern Indiana. Outside of the FOX Sports Detroit footprint, the game will be shown on the Big Ten Network, available to an estimated 75 million households across the U.S. and Canada. The game will also be available on Fox College Sports Atlantic, Leafs TV (Ontario) and FOX affiliate KFXF in Fairbanks, Alaska.Michigan and Michigan State previously played an outdoor game on Oct. 6, 2001 at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing in front of 74,554 fans. That contest, which was dubbed ‘The Cold War,’ was also produced by FOX Sports Networks and set the standard for all outdoor hockey games that have followed on the amateur and professional level.The 16-camera, high-definition production includes the following announcers: Matt Shepard (play-by-play), Billy Jaffe (analyst), Fred Pletsch (between the benches analyst), along with Mickey Redmond and John Keating (hosts/intermission interviews). Shepard, Jaffe and Keating also were on the 2001 “Cold War” telecast.
And we’re done for the night. Lots of press releases posted. I’ll do more stuff tomorrow.
