SDSU football arrives to KELO airwaves: What to expect
· Yahoo Sports
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) -- Just two days from Thursday, the 2026 Jackrabbit football season will be underway.
KELOLAND will be teaming up with SDSU and Midco Sports to bring you the Jacks' first two home games.
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Here's how that partnership came together and what viewers can expect when they tune in.
South Dakota State's season opener against Stetson on Saturday and its matchup with New Haven on September 12 will be live on KELO-TV.
"A while back, SDSU and Midco connected with us and said, 'Would you be interested in distributing the games over your airwaves?' And, of course, I thought it was a great opportunity to pair up with these great organizations in our community and help bring the games to more viewers in our viewing area," KELOLAND Media Group Vice President and General Manager Mari Ossenfort said.
Harrisburg team embraces big college volleyball eventThe games will be available across the KELOLAND viewing area.
"We are all about local, right? We want to provide the best local viewership opportunities available, and this is definitely one of them," Ossenfort said.
"As cable audiences have shrunk over the last 15 years, there's probably a generation now that, either watching through YouTube TV or through Hulu, they haven't been exposed to the Midco Sports brand. This is an opportunity, through the statewide KELOLAND signals, to be able to, again, just show Midco Sports is out there," Midco Vice President of Sports Content Andy Price said.
"You're just trying to reach as many people as possible. You always want to paint with a broad brush. There's a reason that we have the success we have, the sellout crowds and the allure of SDSU athletics and Jackrabbit football in particular. It's at an all-time high. People are pining for their opportunities to be able to watch, to be able to, in person, attend," SDSU Senior Associate Athletic Director Tyler Merriam said.
Merriam will be on the call for both games.
"It's a really cool thing. I mean, growing up watching KELOLAND, being a South Dakota native, that's always been a special thing. I can remember watching an occasional college game or the high school championships when they were on KELO, and having an opportunity to work with some of those people who I watched call games and wanted to emulate growing up, and now they get to do it on KELOLAND is a pretty cool thing," Merriam said.
Merriam is also excited to see how the Jacks build on their 2025 season. There were ups and downs, but SDSU battled its way into the playoffs.
"There's just a lot more stability this year, and that built on the expectations of being a top-five program of the preseason nationally, being the pick to win the Missouri Valley Football Conference. You can just feel all the excitement as we get ready for, right around the corner. for Saturday," Merriam said.
Midco Sports will handle the production. Vice President of Sports Content Andy Price says the company is ready for the opportunity.
"It will be our, what we would call our standard production. Although moving over towards KELO, there will be a few extra bells and whistles, but we want to show off what we've been doing for production for the last decade and a half," Price said.
And game day will be here before we know it.
"We're going to be able to show all the sights, hear all the sounds, and hopefully bring the feel of what a Jackrabbit football game day is all about to the viewers on KELOLAND," Merriam said.
"I hope it does everything from the stance of bringing the local colleges to the forefront and something that works for everybody. I mean, this is one thing that, if it works for all three- the school, KELO, and for Midco Sports- it could be a different way of distributing games in the future," Price said.
KELOLAND's Kelsey Dennehy will also serve as a sideline reporter. Kickoff for both games is set for 6 p.m.
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