Cox4 and the Ragin` Cajuns TV Network

Cox4 and the Ragin’ Cajuns TV Network
Programming - Cable System 4
Cox Communications - Louisiana System
Contact: Fran Gladden, Vice President of Public Affairs
7401 Florida Blvd., Baton Rouge, LA 70806
Planning & Strategy
Justification Statement: In South Louisiana, cotton used to be king, but today football wears the crown. When the
University of Louisiana at Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns take the field, they transcend the game, and when partnered with Cox4
and Cox Communications, the Ragin’ Cajuns become more than a football team, they become ambassadors of
excellence! Cox4 and the Ragin’ Cajuns TV Network belongs in the programming category because it utilized the
cable medium to promote and advance the UL Athletics Program at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Through
Cox4, more than a half a million Cox customers in Louisiana were able to view Ragin’ Cajuns football games during its
best season of all-time. Equally as exciting, replays of the games were shown on Cox Sports Television to more than two
million customers across the south.
Important Background Information: In 2007, Cox began a significant relationship with UL Athletics. At that time, we
announced our “Partnership for Victory,” a 10-year, $2 million gift, the largest sponsorship in Ragin’ Cajuns Athletics
history. In the partnership, Cox had gained naming rights to the athletic complex, exclusive sponsorship of
ragincajuns.com, stadium and street-side signage, opportunities to run fiber on campus, and first right of refusal on a
multitude of future projects. The year of 2011 brought great change to the UL Athletics Program, and great opportunity for
Cox to expand on its partnership. The university, with an unfortunately historic losing football record, would have a new
head football coach. Mississippi State Assistant Coach Mark Hudspeth was hired to lead the UL Ragin’ Cajuns in what
would become their first victorious season in decades. Changes to the UL Athletics Program were producing lots of
excitement and momentum. Fans were stepping up, donors were stepping up, and Cox was also, once again, stepping
up. We believed that this excitement should be shared with fans and customers throughout the state – and beyond. We
knew that Athletics provided the window through which the world could see the university and all it had to offer. Cox4, Cox
Louisiana’s local origination channel, acted quickly to put together a plan that would reach hundreds of thousands of UL
fans and alumni, a service that the local competition could not offer. Two years after launching its fiber-to-the-home
network, LUS Fiber, the municipal over-builder and Cox’s number one competitor in the Lafayette market, was touting its
message of localism and, ironically, unable to provide television access to the local university’s athletic events.
Objectives:
• To provide statewide and nationwide access to select Ragin’ Cajuns home football games
• To promote Cox as provider of choice for Ragin’ Cajuns Athletics
• Position Cox4 as the flagship television network for Ragin’ Cajuns
• Gain access to new, and wildly popular, Coach “Hud”
• To generate positive media coverage of Cox4/UL partnership
• To further strengthen the relationship between Cox and the University
Target Audience:
• UL students, fans, alumni and stakeholders
• Cox customers and potential customers
• Cox Sports Television customers
• Key influencers, community leaders and elected officials
• Media
Messages:
• Cox is a committed partner of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette: in cash, in in-kind support and on the air.
• Cox4 is exclusive to Cox customers, and customers of other providers will not have access to live Ragin’ Cajuns
football games.
• Cox4 is the local leader for Ragin’ Cajuns Athletics.
Potential for Measured Results:
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Ensure select Ragin’ Cajuns football games air live on Cox4 across all 17 parishes (counties) in the Cox
Louisiana footprint; utilize relationship with Cox Sports Television (CST) to replay games and reach two million
customers
Media references to Cox4 as flagship television network for Ragin’ Cajuns
Coach Hudspeth and coaching staff to become friends of Cox and regular visitors of Cox office
Maintain press clippings of Cox4/UL partnership
Leverage Cox4 partnership with Athletics to gain other opportunities at the University
Implementation
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Cox4 leaders met with the UL Athletics Director and identified three key games they wanted live on Cox4
A press conference was held at the University on August 18 to formally announce the partnership
A 5-minute video (condensed to three minutes here) of the partnership was created by Cox4 to promote the
partnership and instantly went viral
Cox4 reached out to CST, a 24-hour, regional sports network that delivers high-profile, professional and amateur
men’s and women’s sports television to over 2 million viewers, to replay games.
The University then asked Cox4 to produce and air its weekly coach’s show
Cox4 provided the university with copies of all games for them to use as a recruitment tool
Cox hosted a tailgating party before the first home game on September 17, announcing the partnership once
again, and invited the media and the Greater Lafayette Chamber of Commerce membership base
History would tell us that it was an incredible move on the part of Cox4 to air three live football games from Cajun Field,
also known as “The Swamp.” The Cajuns had an undefeated home record and lost only four games on the road. The
once losing team received their first invitation in 41 years to play in the New Orleans Bowl.
Results
On August 18, 2011, the Ragin’ Cajuns Network was born, and Cox4 became the flagship television network – airing
three Ragin’ Cajuns game live to half a million Louisiana Cox customers. As a caveat, replays of these games were made
available through Cox Sports Television (CST) to over two million viewers. CST’s coverage area includes viewers in
Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Virginia. Producing the coach’s show
from the Cox4 studio was HUGE for both UL and Cox4 as the new coach and his staff would be visiting the local Cox4
studio, just minutes from the university, weekly. Additionally, the coaching staff became regular guests on Across
Louisiana, the weekly public affairs shows produced by Cox4. The announcement of the Ragin’ Cajuns Network was so
big for the university and Cox that it made FRONT PAGE news in The Daily Advertiser, Lafayette’s daily newspaper the
day following the announcement. The local ABC, CBS and FOX affiliates also covered the announcement. That news
coverage gave Cox4 some much-deserved exposure and our local competitor’s customers began asking their provider,
on their Facebook page, why they didn’t carry Cox4!
In celebration of the Ragin’ Cajuns making it to the New Orleans Bowl, Cox4, the flagship for the Ragin’ Cajuns TV
Network, engaged with the university, once again, and hosted a 30-minute pre-game show live from the Superdome, on
the field, just before the New Orleans Bowl kick-off. Ragin Cajuns: A Season to Believe started an hour before kick-off and
aired live on Cox Channel 4 in 17 Louisiana parishes, reaching more than 500,000 customers. On Saturday, December
17, 2011, the live show, hosted by Cox4’s own local talent, included season highlights and live interviews with Coach
Mark Hudspeth and some very excited Cajuns fans. For those attending the game, a replay of the pre-game show was
made available on Cox4 for the following day. Cox4 also received rights from ESPN to replay the New Orleans Bowl. The
game replay aired immediately following the pre-game show the day after the game. Additionally, local newspapers
promoted the Cox4 pre-game show in advance of the Bowl game.
The UL Alumni Association hosted a party in Champion’s Square at the New Orleans Superdome and invited Cox to be
named the exclusive sponsor of the event. Cox paid them no money for the sponsorship; they simply offered it to us as a
“thank you.” More than 50,000 Ragin’ Cajuns fans attended that party and saw the Cox logo front and center throughout
the event. Cox and Cox4 co-hosted a suite at the New Orleans Bowl and guests included: the publisher of The Daily
Advertiser, the president of the United Way, the president of the UL Alumni Association, the president of the board of
directors for the Greater Lafayette Chamber of Commerce and a previous board president as well. We had successfully
reached thousands of University stakeholders and influencers.
Cox4’s announcement at the beginning of the season to partner with UL Athletics and Coach Hud was a natural extension
of Cox’s long-term “Partnership for Victory” with Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns. On December 17, UL Lafayette fans got a thrill
they hadn’t gotten in a while when a 50-yard field goal was kicked as time was running out, lifting the Cajuns to a 32-30
victory over San Diego State. Like all Cajuns fans, Cox4 was proud to be part of such an amazing season. The launch of
the Ragin Cajun Network allowed the university to build upon their partnership with Cox, and Cox4 was given exclusive,
behind-the-scenes coverage of an historic season.
Julie Dronet, Cox Director of Operations,
at August press conference
UL Head Football Coach Mark Hudspeth
The Cox4 satellite at Cajun Field, i.e., “The Swamp”
The Cox4 crew at Cajun Field
Cox4 crew at the New Orleans Bowl during the
pre-game show, “A Season to Believe”
UL/Cox4 team in Cox4 studio