GREENSBORO, N.C. - UNC Greensboro Interim Director of Athletics Rod Wyatt confirmed Tuesday that at least three men's basketball games, including UNCG's first game on its new home floor at the Greensboro Coliseum, will be televised by Fox Sports Net South this coming season.
The Spartans' opener at Duke on Nov. 13, the home opener against Clemson on Nov. 20 and the Dec. 31 date with North Carolina State have all been picked up by the network this season. The Duke and Clemson games are slated for 7 pm starts, while the NC State game has a special 6 pm start time for New Year's Eve.
The Spartans will be playing their first season in their new arena - the historic Greensboro Coliseum. UNCG Chancellor Linda P. Brady announced last December that the program was moving its home games to the Coliseum for the 2009-2010 season - a move to raise the visibility of the program and give it a first-class facility. The Spartans expect to typically play in a seating capacity of 7,613, but would expand that with a variety of configurations when necessary. Also included in the plan were a customized UNCG locker room and floor that will be used for the Spartans' home games. That floor will be unveiled at a VIP function at the Coliseum this Thursday night.
For its game with Davidson last Feb. 5 at the Coliseum, UNCG drew 11,687 fans. Originally planned for the 7,613-seat configuration, Coliseum officials opened additional sections in both the lower and upper levels the day of the game. More than 1,800 walk-up tickets were sold for that game - surpassing the capacity of UNCG's on-campus facility Fleming Gym.
In the last 30 years, UNCG men's basketball has played 40 games in the Greensboro Coliseum - three of them against teams from the ACC: Virginia Tech (2006-07 season), Duke (2005-06) and Florida State (1994-95). The Duke game, on Dec. 31, 2005, when the Blue Devils were ranked No. 1 in the nation, drew 21,124 spectators - the largest crowd ever to see a UNCG athletic event.
FOX Sports South - and its sister networks FOX Sports Carolinas and FOX Sports Tennessee - collectively reach more than 12.6 million cable and satellite television households in seven states in the Southeast, including Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.
Season ticket packages are available now through the UNCG Athletics Ticket Office by calling (336) 334-3250. Packages are available for $99 in the upper level and $149 in the lower level. Information on Spartan Club member season ticket packages can be obtained by calling (336) 334-5156 or online at www.spartanclub.org.
Single-game general sale tickets will be available for purchase through the Greensboro Coliseum box office and Ticketmaster in late-October. Student ticket pick-up plans will be announced next month.
Additional telecasts could be added at a later date, including the release of the Southern Conference's television package in the coming weeks.
- UNCG -