David Tomchinsky
Staff Writer
HBTV Sports Network has teamed up with Florida Southern College to be the official broadcast network of FSC athletics.
HBTV Sports Network, owned and operated by HB Holmes, is a broadcast network located in Lakeland that focuses heavily on high school sports.
The network is the exclusive partner for Mid Florida Football and works closely with the Florida High School Athletic Association to broadcast sports around the state.
Holmes wanted to branch out of high school athletics and work with collegiate sports.
“I showed interest in working with Florida Southern,” Holmes said. “FSC seems like a good fit for us.”
Associate Athletic Director Al Green was eager to meet with Holmes when he heard HBTV Sports Network was interested in working with FSC.
“I heard that they were interested, so I made some calls,” Green said. “A couple days later, they were in front of our door.”
Green met with Holmes to discuss details of the agreement. They agreed to become partners to broadcast FSC athletic games.
“It was a very good meeting,” Green said. “We developed a partnership where they are going to broadcast a number of our games.”
The agreement states that HBTV Sports Network will broadcast at least five games during each school year.
HBTV Sports Network’s inaugural broadcast will be on Nov. 15, as FSC takes on Polk County rival Warner University in the Jenkins Field House.
“We will be broadcasting the entire game,” Holmes said. “We also look forward to airing pre and post game interviews throughout the year.”
Full broadcasts of FSC sports will be aired on television through HBTV Sports Network on Bright House channel 167.
One of the main goals of the agreement is to get people excited about FSC sports and showcase the Moccasin’s success.
“We are talking about doing some coach shows and features on FSC athletics,” Green said. “As we move forward, it will be very positive for everybody.”
Along with games, HBTV Sports Network and FSC plan to showcase standout athletes on and off the field. Holmes believes that showing what athletes do outside of athletics is just as important as when they are on the field or court.
“We plan on doing positive things for the school,” Holmes said. “We want to spotlight athletes who are successful on the playing field, as well as those who are active in the community.”
Both HBTV Sports Network and FSC look to expand in the following years. The goal this year is to test out the productions and see how much can get accomplished.
“This year, we’re just exploring,” Green said. “We want to see what direction to go in and what everyone’s capabilities are.”
Although HBTV Sports Network is assigned to just five games this year, those involved with the network are excited to produce as many as possible.
The network hopes to expand to other sports, including baseball and softball in the following years.
“We have the five games scheduled,” Holmes said. “We are going to see how many we can schedule and go from there.”
HBTV Sports Network also filled a slot on its online channel for FSC athletics.
All of the games, interviews and talk shows can be viewed on the HBTV Sports Network website at hbtvsportsnetwork.com.
Photo courtesy of fscmocs.com
