FSN and UW extend partnership

SEATTLE -- FSN Northwest and the University of Washington have announced an extension of their partnership with a new, six-year agreement that provides FSN Northwest the exclusive rights to all event and ancillary programming for the football and men’s basketball programs. The new agreement nearly guarantees that all games for both programs will be seen locally on either FSN or a national carrier.

Additional elements of the partnership include pre-season and post-season specials and weekly 30-minute, in-season shows for the football and basketball programs featuring Football Coach Tyrone Willingham and Basketball Coach Lorenzo Romar.

“We are very pleased to continue our partnership with FSN Northwest,” said Todd Turner, UW’s director of athletics. “This new agreement focuses exclusively on maintaining broader exposure opportunities for our football and men’s basketball programs. Our goal is to provide our fans in the region virtually every Husky football and men’s basketball game not televised under our existing Pac-10 contracts. This agreement with FSN Northwest provides unmatched access to live Husky football and men’s basketball games as well as other special programming associated with these programs. Mark Shuken and the staff at FSN have been great to work with and we look forward to carrying our partnership with them through the next six years.”

With a unique level of access to locker rooms, the road trips and behind-the-scenes moments, FSN is the only place fans can get more in-depth, personal, innovative and exciting coverage of the Huskies than ever before.

“As the exclusive television home for football and men’s basketball in this new agreement, FSN will now have the opportunity to give fans more of what they want with a new level of access to both programs,” said Mark Shuken, Vice President and General Manager of FSN Northwest. “Lorenzo Romar has developed one of the elite men’s basketball programs in the nation and Tyrone Willingham has the talent and respect to bring Husky Football back to a tradition of winning. FSN is proud to continue this partnership with Todd Turner and the Husky Athletic Department and we look forward to six years of exciting Husky action on FSN.”

FSN Northwest will produce all games for both programs that are not already being televised as part of the Pac-10 Conference’s national agreements and are outside of the protected windows. The network has been a television partner of the Huskies since 1989.

In May 2006, FSN and the Pac-10 Conference reached an agreement that renewed the sports network’s position as the Conference’s exclusive national basketball television partner through the 2011-2012 season. The current agreement for football between the Pac-10 and FSN runs through 2006.

FSN Northwest is the cable home of the Seattle Mariners, Seattle SuperSonics, Portland Trail Blazers, Seattle Storm, Washington Huskies, Washington State Cougars, Oregon State Beavers and Gonzaga Bulldogs. The region reaches more than 3.4 million homes in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Alaska. FSN reaches nearly 78 million homes through its 20 regional sports channels, and serves as the only supplier of national, regional and local sports programming. For the latest up-to-the-minute sports news and opinions, visit www.FoxSports.com.

Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest state-supported institutions of higher education on the Pacific coast and one of only two NCAA Division IA institutions in the state of Washington. Husky Athletics has a national reputation for athletics success as evidenced by its top-20 placing in the NACDA Director’s Cup in five of the last six years. The football program has appeared in 30 bowl games in its history, including 14 Rose Bowls, and won the 1991 national championship. In men’s basketball, UW is one of the top 15 winningest programs in the history of college basketball and advanced to the Sweet 16 in its third-straight NCAA tournament appearance last spring. For more information, visit www.GoHuskies.com.