Texas Southern reaches historic TV deal

Dr. Charles McClelland has had a grand vision for Texas Southern athletics from the time he took over as the school's Athletic Director in April 2008.

On Monday, the program took a giant step forward with a historic TV deal. Texas Southern announced that at least four of its football games (probably five) will be broadcast live this season on ROOT Sports Southwest. It's TSU football's first-ever live television broadcast deal with a regional sports network.

"It's so big that I don't know how to put it into words," McClelland said. "In order to have a successful football program, you have to have television coverage. This is the first time that we're going to be able to deliver that, so as Texas Southern continues to move forward, this is going to be another key component in order for us to continue to increase our overall level of competitiveness."

ROOT Sports Southwest is a regional sports network seen over a five-state area. For TSU, this aids them in recruiting and overall exposure.

"It's a pitch you can sell to recruits coming in for next season," said Darrell Asberry, in his fourth year as TSU's head football coach. "The parents that can't make it here... you get an opportunity to see us on television, so that's very important for our program and I thought it was a great vision by our Athletic Director."

"We want to be able to compete outside of the SWAC," McClelland said. "We want to be able to beat the Michigan States and the Kansas States like the basketball team did. Being on television, having these facilities will allow us to get to that end and increase our overall level of competitiveness with the recruits and this is just going to be huge to that end."