ESPN will televise the UH season opener against USC

HA Note: "For the second time in six years, the University of Hawai'i football team will open its season on national television and, once again, the attraction will be Southern California. The Warriors' Sept. 2 opener against the Trojans has been picked up by ESPN and the Thursday kickoff will be at 5 p.m. at Aloha Stadium, UH athletic director Jim Donovan confirmed yesterday. UH's 2005 opener with USC was also shown on ESPN. The game, which was Colt Brennan's UH debut, featured Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart. UH is 0-5 in nationally televised home season openers."

About how ESPN showed interest in televising their 2010 season opener when they approached him before the 2009 season began and asked him to see whether UH and USC would be willing to play the game on a Thursday, JD said:
"It worked well for USC and for us. They (the Trojans) wanted to allow their team some time to enjoy the stay and it was good for us because the next two (UH games) were going to be on the road and it allowed us, in a sense, to make back that travel day." (HA)

HA Note: "UH follows the USC game with games at Army (Sept. 11) and Colorado (Sept. 18). Under the Western Athletic Conference's new five-year contract with ESPN, which begins with the 2010-11 school year, the conference is required to furnish a specified number of non-traditional dates (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday) for games. Under WAC policy, UH will receive a $75,000 "inconvenience" fee for playing on Thursday. Overall, UH is to receive approximately $400,000 annually as its share of the new contract."

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