Root Sports is an American regional sports network that is owned as a 60/40 joint venture between the Seattle Mariners and the AT&T Sports Networks subsidiary of AT&T Inc. respectively, the latter of which operates it as part of the AT&T SportsNet chain of regional networks and as an affiliate of Fox Sports Networks. Headquartered near Seattle in the city of Bellevue, Washington, the channel broadcasts regional coverage of sports events throughout the Pacific Northwest, with a focus on professional sports teams based in Seattle and Portland.
Root Sports is available on cable providers throughout Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Alaska and nationwide on satellite via DirecTV and Dish Network.
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History
Root Sports was launched in 1989 as Northwest Cable Sports, a network owned by King Broadcasting Company. In 1991, King Broadcasting sold Northwest Cable Sports and its other media properties to The Providence Journal Company, which sold the network to Liberty Media in 1992. Liberty integrated Northwest Cable Sports into its Prime Network group of regional sports networks, subsequently rebranding it as Prime Sports Northwest.
In 1996, News Corporation, which formed a sports division for the Fox network two years earlier after it obtained the broadcast rights to the National Football Conference and sought to create a group of regional sports networks, acquired a 50% interest in the Prime Network from Liberty. Later that year on November 1, News Corporation and Liberty Media relaunched the Prime Network affiliates as part of the new Fox Sports Net group, with the Seattle-based network officially rebranding as Fox Sports Northwest. The channel was rebranded as Fox Sports Net Northwest in 2000, as part of a collective brand modification of the FSN networks under the "Fox Sports Net" banner. Subsequently, in 2004, the channel shortened its name to FSN Northwest, through the networks' de-emphasis of the "Fox Sports Net" brand.
On December 22, 2006, News Corporation sold its interest in FSN Northwest and sister networks FSN Utah, FSN Pittsburgh and FSN Rocky Mountain to Liberty Media, in an asset trade in which News Corporation also 16.3% traded its 38.5% ownership stake in satellite provider DirecTV for $550 million in cash and stock, in exchange for Liberty Media's stake in the company. On May 4, 2009, DirecTV Group Inc. announced it would become a part of Liberty's entertainment unit, part of which would then be spun off into the separate company under the DirecTV name, in a deal in which Liberty would increase its share in DirecTV from 48% to 54%, with Liberty owner John Malone and his family owning a 24% interest. DirecTV would operate its newly acquired FSN-affiliated networks through DirecTV Sports Networks, a new division formed when the split off from Liberty Media was completed on November 19, 2009.
On December 17, 2010, DirecTV Sports Networks announced that its four Fox Sports Networks-affiliated regional outlets would be relaunched under the "Root Sports" brand. The network officially rebranded as Root Sports Northwest' on April 1, 2011, with The Dan Patrick Show as the first program under the new Root Sports branding. For nominal purposes, the Root Sports networks continued to carry programming distributed mainly to the Fox Sports regional networks to provide supplementary sports and entertainment programming.
In April 2013, the Seattle Mariners announced that they would acquire controlling interest in Root Sports Northwest, as part of a long-term extension of its contract with the team through the 2030 season. DirecTV remained a minority stakeholder and controlling partner, and the network continued to operate under the Root Sports brand.
DirecTV was subsequently acquired by AT&T; on July 14, 2017, its sister networks were re-branded as AT&T SportsNet. Root Sports did not adopt the AT&T SportsNet brand, likely because AT&T is not the majority owner of the service. Nonetheless, Root Sports still debuted the new on-air graphics used by its sister networks.
Programming
Seattle Mariners
Root Sports holds the regional cable television rights to the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball, producing and televising over 150 live regular season games (out of 162 total), along with 30+ minute pregame and post-game shows that air before and after all telecasts produced by the network. Other Mariners programming on the network includes live Spring Training games, Mariners All Access, which includes both weekly editions during the regular season and several other in-season and off-season specials each year, and Mariners Mondays, a three-hour weekly program that airs during the winter months that highlights memorable games and moments from the past season.
Major League Soccer
Root Sports also holds the regional cable television rights to two Major League Soccer franchises - the Seattle Sounders FC and the Portland Timbers. The network airs a 30 minute live post-match show after every Timbers game , as well as weekly magazine shows for both teams - Sounders FC All Access and Timbers in 30. Many matches are shown in tape-delay due to overlapping with Seattle Mariners games.
Seattle Seahawks
The network also is the cable home of the NFL's Seattle Seahawks, airing head coach Pete Carroll's weekly press conference, branded as Seahawks Press Pass, and the team's weekly magazine program, Seahawks All Access.
Utah Jazz/Vegas Golden Knights
In Idaho and Montana only, Root Sports carries Utah Jazz and Vegas Golden Knights games and related programming produced by sister-network AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain.
Collegiate and High School Programming
Root Sports is the official regional cable home for Big Sky Conference football, airing between 10 and 15 games each season. Typically, the network will air one weekly Saturday afternoon match-up every week during conference play, until the final week of the regular season, when it features two rivalry match-ups in one weekend - Montana/Montana State (Brawl of the Wild) and Eastern Washington/Portland State. In the winter, the network home to West Coast Conference and Great Northwest Athletic Conference basketball. Local WCC coverage is primarily focused on the Gonzaga Bulldogs and Portland Pilots. The network also features various athletic events from the Mountain West, Atlantic Coast, Big East, and Big 12 Conferences throughout the year.
In addition to a wide array of collegiate programming, Root Sports televises Washington Interscholastic Activities Association high school football games on Thursday and Friday nights during the regular season, as well as playoff and championship games. Root's coverage is usually limited to games featuring teams from the 3A and 4A classification levels. In 2016, the network aired a 2-part program covering the Northwest 9 training camp event for top high school quarterbacks from the Pacific Northwest. High school events broadcast by the network in recent years have also included Oregon School Activities Association high school football championship games and WIAA high school basketball.
Former Programming
- Seattle SuperSonics basketball until the NBA franchise relocated to Oklahoma City (as the Oklahoma City Thunder) in 2008
- Portland Trail Blazers basketball until Comcast SportsNet Northwest (now NBC Sports Northwest) assumed the broadcast rights in 2007
- WNBA games from the Seattle Storm, before those games moved over-the-air to former sister television station KING-TV (on its 5.2 digital subchannel) and KONG-TV
- Athletic events from the Pac-12 conference (most often featuring Washington, Washington State, Oregon, or Oregon State) until those were moved to the Pac-12 Network in 2012 and Fox Sports 1 in 2013
- Seattle Seahawks preseason football games
- Seattle Redhawks men's basketball
- Western Athletic Conference football and basketball
- The Western Hockey League (2008-2015)
On-air staff
Current on-air staff
Seattle Mariners
- Brad Adam - Mariners pre-game and post-game host, basketball play-by-play, studio host and sideline reporter (2000-present)
- Aaron Goldsmith - Mariners play-by-play announcer (2016-present)
- Dave Sims - Mariners baseball play-by-play (2007-present)
- Mike Blowers - Mariners baseball analyst (2007-present)
- Dave Valle - Mariners baseball analyst (2010-present)
- Ryan Rowland-Smith - Mariners studio analyst
- Jen Mueller - host of Mariners All Access and sideline reporter (2007-present)
- Bill Krueger - senior baseball analyst (2000-present)
Seattle Sounders
- Keith Costigan - Sounders FC play-by-play
- Kasey Keller - Sounders FC color commentator
Portland Timbers
- Jake Zivin - Timbers play-by-play, host of Timbers in 30
- Ross Smith - Timbers analyst
Gonzaga Bulldogs basketball/WCC basketball
- Greg Heister - Gonzaga and WCC basketball play-by-play
- Dan Dickau - Gonzaga and WCC basketball color commentator
- Richard Fox - Gonzaga and WCC basketball color commentator
- Francis Williams - college basketball color commentator and studio analyst
Others
- Angie Mentink - host of many of the network's magazine show and a sideline reporter (1999-present)
- Warren Moon - host of Seahawks All Access (2003-present)
- Tom Glasgow - football and basketball play-by-play (2008-present)
- Jason Stiles - football analyst (2006-present)
- Taylor Barton - college football color commentator and studio analyst
Former on-air staff
- Shaun Alexander - host of The Shaun Alexander Show (2002-2004)
- Cara Capuano - anchor/reporter (2004-2008)
- Brian Davis - NBA host (2004-2008, now Oklahoma City Thunder play-by-play announcer for Fox Sports Oklahoma)
- Jason Gesser - football analyst and contributor for Cougars All Access (2009-2011)
- Dave Niehaus - Mariners play-by-play announcer (died on November 10, 2010)
- Don Poier - play-by-play announcer (died on January 21, 2005)
- Kerry Sayers - anchor/reporter (2002-2004, now at WSCR and WFLD in Chicago)
- John Strong - Portland Timbers play-by-play (2007-2013)
- Mack Strong - college football analyst and host of Mack Strong: Seahawks Insider (2008-2011)
- Sonny Sixkiller - college football analyst
- Lenny Wilkens - NBA expert and college basketball analyst (2006-2013)
- Nicole Zaloumis - sideline reporter (2008-2010, now with Sirius XM Radio)
- Vinnie Richichi - Mariners sideline reporter
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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