PRINCETON, N.J. -- The Ivy League Office announced today an agreement with VERSUS for unprecedented national television coverage for its 2008 football season. VERSUS will televise five Ivy League football games under the title “The Ivy League Game of the Week, Presented by TIAA-CREF,” including the Dartmouth game at Columbia on Oct. 25 at 4 p.m. The first game of the agreement will take place Oct. 11 at noon when Cornell visits Harvard.
This agreement marks the first time since the early 1990s that Ivy League football games have been packaged together nationally. “The Ivy League Game of the Week, Presented by TIAA-CREF,” will reach more homes than any other games in Ivy League football history, as VERSUS is currently in more than 73 million U.S. homes.
“The entire Ivy League community is thrilled to have the heart of our football season broadcast nationally this year by VERSUS, and we appreciate TIAA-CREF's strong support to make it possible. Our students and home communities, and our alumni around the country, as well as college football fans everywhere, will be able to watch top-notch football and celebrate great rivalries,” said Jeff Orleans, Executive Director, Council of Ivy Group Presidents.

The Ivy League includes Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Princeton and Yale universities, Dartmouth College and the University of Pennsylvania. With the nation's longest history of football competition, the Ivy League also sponsors championship competition in more sports, for more athletes, than any other conference in the country. Ivy League student-athletes have outstanding competitive and academic records and Ivy League football alumni of every era are among the most distinguished in the country.
“Ivy League football has an incredible legacy supported by a passionate fan base and we are thrilled to now have the opportunity to present these historic rivalries to a national audience,” said Jeff Goldberg, Vice President of Programming for VERSUS. “The addition of five Ivy League games to the network's 2008 schedule will undoubtedly help solidify VERSUS' position as a top television destination for college football.”
VERSUS' Ivy League Game of the Week, Presented by TIAA-CREF 2008 schedule follows
(schedule subject to change):
| Date | Time | Game |
Oct. 11
| Noon
| Cornell at Harvard |
Oct. 25
| 4 p.m.
| Dartmouth at Columbia |
Nov. 1
| Noon
| Brown at Penn |
Nov. 15
| Noon
| Princeton at Yale |
Nov. 22
| Noon | Yale at Harvard |
ABOUT VERSUS
VERSUS celebrates real competition across all platforms (VERSUS.com, VERSUS on Demand and VERSUS HD). Now in more than 73 million homes, the network is the national cable home of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the Stanley Cup Playoffs as well as best-in-class events such as The Tour de France, Davis Cup Tennis, the Professional Bull Riders (PBR), World Extreme Cage fighting (WEC) and Professional Boxing. The network also offers collegiate sports featuring nationally ranked teams from top conferences such as the Pac-10, Big 12 and Mountain West. VERSUS features the best field sports programming on television and is a destination for sports fans, athletes and sportsmen to find exclusive, competitive events that audiences can't find elsewhere. VERSUS, a wholly owned company of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA, CMCSK), is distributed via cable systems and satellite operators throughout the United States.
ABOUT TIAA-CREF
TIAA-CREF (www.tiaa-cref.org) is a national financial services organization and the leading provider of retirement services in the academic, research, medical and cultural fields with more than $420 billion in combined assets under management.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
IVY LEAGUE
Scottie Rodgers, 609-258-6426
scottie@ivyleaguesports.com
VERSUS
Meier Raivich, 917-934-1994
meier_raivich@versus.com
TIAA-CREF
Chad Peterson, 212-916-4808
cpeterson@tiaa-cref.org