New online Virginia Sports Network to focus on UVA athletics

In an effort to provide more original content and present it in a timelier fashion, the UVA athletics department has formed the Virginia Sports Network.

The new network combines the resources used to communicate to the Cavalier fan base into one consolidated effort and repurposes some pre-existing media into new formats. The focus of distribution will be on social media and through UVA’s long-established athletics websites, VirginiaSports.com and VirginiaSportsTV.com.

The most visible change concerns the athletics department’s former weekly television show “Chasing Uncompromised Excellence.” This fall it has transitioned to a series of video features posted to VirginiaSportsTV.com. That content is also being distributed through social media and email throughout the week.

“The number of stories and features that we can tell about our student-athletes, coaches and staff is pretty much unlimited,” said assistant athletics director for media relations Jim Daves. “We have seen a spike in traffic and metrics for that content on social media and our websites, so we want to consolidate resources and be able to tell more of those in a timelier manner. Our new Orange and Blue Report, which was formerly known as CUE (Chasing Uncompromised Excellence), and in-depth student-athlete features are great examples.”

Replacing the weekly television show, the Orange and Blue Report is now airing three times per week during UVA’s athletics seasons. The show features highlights, student-athlete interviews and scouting reports for upcoming games. Profiles on student-athletes, featuring the “Uncompromised Excellence” brand, have begun to appear on a weekly basis.

“Jeff White’s website reports and features have a very strong following,” Daves said. “He will be very visible in the Virginia Sports Network along with the voice of the Cavaliers, Dave Koehn.

“We are also involving our student-athletes more in front of the camera and with pen in hand. We want them to present themselves and their interests in a first-person fashion. Those elements will be called ’Hoos Life. They will be more light-hearted and quick to consume.”

The newly-branded Virginia Sports Network includes the Cavaliers’ in-house produced sports content from ACC Network Extra, the Virginia Sports Radio Network, VirginiaSports.com, Virginia Sports TV and Jeff White content/podcasts. In addition, fans can view content on Virginia’s official social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and the “UVA Sports” and “ICA UVA” sports apps available in the Apple Store and Google Play.

“We have a large and diverse group of student-athletes, and many of them have fascinating stories,” White said. “The Virginia Sports Network helps us better share those stories for those who follow UVA Athletics.”