With fans on social media questioning the lack of TV or video streaming for the Oct. 7 CareSource Invitational featuring the Cincinnati Bearcats, Ohio State, Xavier and Dayton, The Enquirer sought comment from the promoter.
UC Bearcats basketball plays at 3 p.m. vs. the Buckeyes, followed by Xavier and Dayton at 5:30 at the Lindner Tennis Center in Mason.
The UC vs. Ohio State game will have an audio stream with Mo Egger and former Bearcat Terry Nelson on gobearcats.com. From Columbus, the Buckeyes Radio Network broadcasts on WBNS-FM 97.1.
Brooks Downing, the event promoter and CEO of bdG Sports, responded on the morning of the Oct. 7 games.
"For year one, we prioritized the on-site fan experience and a sellout crowd. Looking back, it's probably
a miss to not have these broadcast, and should we run this back next year, we'll make plans to do a full production."
From a logistical point of view, weather will not be an issue, but had their been inclement weather, getting production trucks from Mason to the University of Dayton Arena (the backup) might have been an issue.
The event also features teams from the Big 12, Big Ten, Big East and Atlantic 10 and whatever issues that would present elsewhere.
Going back to when UC played Ohio State in a CareSource Invitational game in 2023, there was no television at Fifth Third Arena, just radio coverage. CareSource events vs. Dayton in 2023 and 2024 at Heritage Bank Arena were televised on ESPN+ and ESPNU, respectively and the UC vs. Louisville game last season was on ESPN2.
All were bdG productions, but also were regular-season games.
UC's exhibitionlast year in Ann Arbor vs. Michigan was available on a Big Ten single-game package, and their exhibition at Arkansas could be watched on an SEC package for a fee.
Historically, not all exhibitions have had video streaming, which some, like CBS insider Jon Rothstein, find unsettling. He believes all exhibitions should be televised or live-streamed. However, many teams also engage in "secret scrimmages" in front of no audience, with bare-minimum results leaking out to fans.
TV or no TV, the Oct. 7 event features two teams ranked in Rothstein's Top 45, with Ohio State coming in at No. 30 in the opener and Xavier being ranked No. 44 in the nightcap.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Why there's no TV broadcast for UC, Xavier exhibition games
