SportsTimeOhio to broadcast five games & five ?Insider? Shows Racers to produce the 2009 MAC Championship Game on STO
Akron, OH - Akron Racers, President/General Manager, Joey Arrietta announced today that the Racers have reached an agreement with SportsTimeOhio to broadcast five of their 2009 regular season games. The Racers will also be creating five half-hour ?Insider? television shows featuring the Racers, training tips and also focusing on the emerging amateur game. Additionally, the Racers will produce the 2009 MAC Championship on STO. ?This partnership with STO is a perfect fit for the Racers. I am particularly excited about developing our own magazine-type ?Insider? show to broaden our reach and to allow us to profile our players and our game for the STO audience,? commented Arrietta.
Four of the games will be tape delayed for broadcast on Sunday afternoon immediately following the Cleveland Indians at 4:30pm. Those broadcast dates are June 14, June 28, August 2 and August 9. The July 26th broadcast will air at 12:30pm prior to the Indians game from Seattle. ?I welcome the opportunity to broadcast our games in concert with the Cleveland Indians telecasts. I am confident that if the viewers stay tuned to our games they too will become fans of our game and in particular, the Racers,? noted Arrietta.
The Racers ?Insider? Show will air immediately following ?Tribe Report? on Monday nights at 6:30pm. ?We couldn?t have asked for a better time slot. This clearly gives us a chance to promote our team and our game,? said Arrietta. The air dates for the ?Insider? Shows are June 8, June 22, July 6, July 20 and August 10.
Arrietta brought the Mid-American Conference Championships to Firestone Stadium in 2002. Since then, Firestone Stadium has been the site of the conference finale five times in the past seven years. ?I have been talking to the coaches and league officials for several years about televising the championship game. We were finally able to obtain the rights to the broadcast and I am extremely excited to broadcast the MAC title game,? replied Arrietta.
?We are excited for the opportunity to partner with Sports Time Ohio, one made possible by the commitment to and support for MAC Softball displayed by Joey Arrietta and the Akron Racers. This provides a terrific chance to bring the Mid-American Conference Softball Championship into thousands of homes throughout Ohio and give people a chance to see our elite student-athletes in action,? noted Jeff Bacon, MAC Assistant Commissioner.
The Racers kick off the 2009 season on the road June 3-7 against the Rockford Thunder. The Thunder will travel to Akron for the Racers opening weekend, June 10-14. The Racers welcome the return of Two-Time Olympic Gold Medalist, Crystl Bustos and All-NPF selections, Angela Tincher (pitcher) and Kristen Butler (catcher). The Racers return to action at Firestone Stadium for a six-game home stand against Katie Burkhart and the Philadelphia Force beginning June 23. Jenny Finch and the defending NPF Champions, the Chicago Bandits, visit Akron July 22-26 followed by Taryne Mowatt and the Washington Glory, July 29-August 2. The Akron Racers will host the 2009 NPF Championships, August 19-23. Call 330.376.8188 for tickets to all Firestone Stadium events.
