As of last summer, Cal Poly Athletics has a new sponsor. Athletics and KSBY agreed to a three-year sponsorship package last August. The package includes live broadcasts of three Mustang home football games and two men’s basketball home contests each year.
The agreement was created by athletics director Don Oberhelman and KSBY president and general manager Kathleen Choal to create a long-term relationship between the two organizations.
“This partnership with KSBY will permit unprecedented access to Mustang Athletics,” Oberhelman said. “The fact that we will have several football games televised locally is great for our fans, not to mention the basketball games that will be aired as well.”
Not only will KSBY cover numerous home football and basketball games, but the new organization also airs extended sports coverage with its “Mustang Roundup” segments, which will continue for years to come.
“I couldn’t be more pleased with the partnership with KSBY,” Oberhelman said. “They have done an outstanding job in their live telecasts, and the games they have broadcasted have been very exciting.”
Oberhelman said KSBY’s live broadcasts have enabeled Cal Poly to reach a broader audience that couldn’t attend the game or wouldn’t have for other reasons. He was pleased to see this as another form to show off the positive atmosphere Cal Poly creates at home games.
“We are excited to continue our long-standing partnership with Cal Poly Athletics,” Choal said. “Together, we are taking local sports coverage to the next level.”
The sponsorship agreement will be in effect until June 2014. Until then, KSBY is the official home of Cal Poly Athletics, which includes signage at Alex G. Spanos Stadium, Mott Gym and other sports complexes around campus.
“It was a total learning experience,” KSBY news/sports director Andrew Masuda said. “By our third broadcast, it was pretty phenomenal. We’re all just super proud to be able to do it. It’s something that has never been done before for Cal Poly.”
Last fall, KSBY covered Cal Poly’s football games against Southern Utah on Oct. 15, South Dakota on Oct. 29 and Eastern Washington on Nov. 12. KSBY also picked up the broadcast feed from Missoula, Mont., and aired the game against Montana on Sept. 10.
“We work with their staff to determine the best events given the dates and times along with opponent,” Cal Poly assistant athletic director Shaun Russell said. “In exchange, we are provided with advertising dollars to promote all of our athletic events via commercial campaigns.”
The agreement included Cal Poly Athletics purchasing $15,000 in local advertising and receiving an additional $35,000 in “free trade” dollars to work with each fiscal year for a total of $50,000 in advertising annually.
In addition to the $50,000 for annual advertising, KSBY provides Cal Poly Athletics $30,000 in public service announcement advertising for the department to promote special events and other initiatives. Cal Poly Athletics also receives $10,000 for video board treatments to be used in Alex G. Spanos stadium each year. Those treatments include team intro videos and in-game prompts along with other commercial creation for other campaigns put on by Cal Poly Athletics.
In return, KSBY receives the right to broadcast the games that are chosen to be covered, preferred partner status on television, advertising and signage at Cal Poly Athletics events promoting their station, tickets to games and public address announcements at Cal Poly home events promoting them at the ‘TV home of Cal Poly Athletics.’
Until 2014, KSBY is the only news organization that can call themselves the official home of Cal Poly Athletics. KSBY hopes to renew their agreement when their sponsorship is over, but Cal Poly Athletics has neither confirmed nor denied that it will re-sign with KSBY.
But with one football season down under the current KSBY sponsorship, the feedback from both students and the greater San Luis Obispo community looks positive.
“KSBY and Cal Poly will continue to look at other opportunities to televise as many live events as possible,” Oberhelman said.