May 20, 2011

TEMPE, Ariz.-The Arizona State University football game at Illinois on Saturday, September 17, 2011 has been selected for television by The Big Ten Network, it was announced Friday by the Big Ten Conference Office.

The game will begin at 6 p.m. Central Time at Memorial Stadium in Champaign-Urbana. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. ET and 4 p.m. Arizona time.

Headquartered in Chicago, the Big Ten Network is the first internationally distributed television network dedicated to covering one of America's premier collegiate conferences.

With more than 350 live sports events, and virtually all of them in high definition, the Big Ten Network is the ultimate destination for Big Ten fans and alumni across the country.

The network is available to an estimated 75 million households, through agreements with more than 300 cable, satellite and telco affiliates in all 50 states and Canada. That includes existing distribution agreements with each of the nation's 10 largest cable, satellite and telco providers (Comcast, DIRECTV, Dish Network, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications, Charter Communications, Verizon FiOS, Bright House Networks and AT&T U-Verse).

Customers of DIRECTV and DISH Network have access to the network regardless of where they live, while Verizon and AT&T continue to roll out their FiOS and U-Verse services across the country. The network is available on cable in 19 of the nation's 20 largest media markets, including New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, San Francisco, Boston, Atlanta, Washington DC, Houston and many more. To get the channel number specific to your area and provider, visit www.bigtennetwork.com/channelfinder .

Cable subscribers inside the Big Ten states receive the network on either an expanded basic or digital basic level of service. Outside the Big Ten states, cable operators that carry the network make it available on a variety of packages.

With this selection, four Arizona State University football games will be televised live in 2011 with others to be considered throughout the season.

Announced earlier this year, the Friday, September 9 home game with the University of Missouri at Sun Devil Stadium will be televised to a national audience by ESPN. The game will kickoff at 7:30 p.m. local time. ASU's September 24 visit to Sun Devil Stadium by USC will be televised by ESPN or ESPN2, beginning at 7:30 p.m. Arizona time.

Additionally, ASU's Saturday, November 26 regular season finale with California has been moved to Friday, November 25 at 8:15 p.m. Arizona time for an ESPN national television audience during Thanksgiving weekend.

Additional ASU football games could be selected as the 2011 season progresses.