THE SIDELINES : Liberty Bowl Chooses ESPN
The Liberty Bowl has picked ESPN over CBS to televise its postseason game and will sign a four-year contract with the cable network, Executive Director Bud Dudley said.
Dudley also said the Liberty Bowl will soon announce a corporate sponsorship that will allow the bowl to pay each team $1 million.
He said the offers by ESPN and CBS were about even, but the ESPN offer was chosen because it was in the bowl’s “best interests.”
Dudley said he likes ESPN because it’s an all-sports network with more promotion possibilities than CBS.
“CBS gives us 94% of national coverage and ESPN gives us 62% of coverage,” Dudley said. “But ESPN does more to promote your game. And it’s been easier to negotiate dates with ESPN.”
Loren Matthews, ESPN vice president of programming, said the 1990 game probably will be played on Thursday, Dec. 27.
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