Ole Misc.: The Rebel Soccer Team will Kick Off the SEC Network

The first live sporting event the new SEC Network will televise will be held on the Ole Miss campus, when the Georgia Bulldogs and Rebel soccer teams face off on August 22nd of this year. The SEC Network, as you are probably aware, is the product of a 20-year agreement with ESPN to create a multiplatform, SEC-centric sports network. The network is slated to launch on August 14, of this year, and is will be carried by AT&T U-Verse, Dish Network, and Google Fiber, among other service providers.

When this network was first announced, I was a bit skeptical of the idea that it filled some sort of need. With football and basketball so readily available, I wondered who would actually benefit from this (aside from ESPN and SEC athletics departments who will all earn fatter paychecks because of it). But in seeing the schedule of non-revenue sports events that the network will show - volleyball, soccer, track and field, etc. - it is clear that fans like us will have the opportunity to watch sports which otherwise would have been cost prohibitive or even impossible to do so.

So while it's not covered by enough service providers for it to yet be the great boon to revenue I am sure the league expects it to be, I do believe the SEC Network will be something good for the conference and its teams' fans. If you also feel this way, go to GetSECNetwork.com and goad your cable or satellite provider to carry it.

Other Links:

• Laquon Treadwell is one of the SEC's top returning receivers, per ESPN and anybody who is paying attention.
• Hugh Freeze plays a lot of golf in May.
• Athlon's Ole Miss preview has the Rebs at No. 18 in the country.
• The Rebel Netters sign the top recruit out of Egypt (after signing the same out of Sweden and Croatia).
• Donald Sterling is Master Shake from Aqua Teen Hunger Force (NSFW language).

Video:

Here's a Forward Together update for you.

Forward Together Event Recap from Ole Miss Athletics Foundation on Vimeo.