Talk Of Rights Fees, Lawyers Threaten To Spoil Little Old B

We heard “lawyers” and “B Tournament” in the same sentence the other day and assumed, well, apocalypse.

Someone mentioned “rights fees” and “access” and we hunkered down for the worst. Labor disputes. Lesley Visser snagging coaches at halftime. Pay-per-view.

After a few phone calls, we were assured that it was merely another of Spokane’s intramural TV squabbles “a minor misunderstanding,” one of the principals said. Beginning Wednesday, Washington’s Woodstock for little school hoops will again unfold in all its uncomplicated glory.

Well, mostly uncomplicated.

Still, we couldn’t subdue a silly paranoia that forces are conspiring to take the State B to the dreaded next level now occupied by every other overcommercialized athletic endeavor. Not that we thought it would stop with the sweaty teenagers of Neah Bay and St. John being unwitting billboards for a bank.

A few years ago, KHQ acquired from KAYU the contract for televising State B title games. Recently, Q-6 struck a new five-year deal with the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association giving the station rights to the entire tournament, though for now it will only air the championship games.

Then general manager Lon Lee sent a letter to Q-6’s rival stations setting down limitations on their B coverage agreed to by the only 90 seconds of action footage in any single newscast and no live broadcasting from the event site.

Not just on championship night. We’re talking Thursday loser-out games, too.

Naturally, a roar went up across town at KXLY. Executive news director Michael Espinoza consulted with the station’s lawyers (“I didn’t want to be sued for interfering with a contract”) and phoned the WIAA’s Mike Colbrese for relief.

Which he received. KXLY and KREM can now air up to 90 seconds on any given game and can do live remotes as long as games in progress are not shown.

Lee said he “misspoke a couple of things in the first letter. Nothing intentional.” OK, but the original language left little open to interpretation.

Espinoza said the compromise is very workable, but he’s unhappy with the course of events - noting that while the stipulations aren’t uncommon, “This is one of the harshest agreements I’ve ever seen.

“How did high school basketball get to this?”

We are talking the State B, after all. The coverage restrictions rival anything stations have to live with during the Olympics or the NCAAs.

“Yes, it is just the B,” Lee countered, “but I would say that from other rights deals I’ve seen with high schools it’s not an unusual contract.”

Espinoza will debate that, too.

“I won’t argue they have the right to contract,” he said. “I certainly would have bid for this contract, but it was never open to bid.”

If that seems strange to you, it doesn’t to the WIAA’s Colbrese, who has an analogy.

“We’ve got a five-year contract with the new Arena in Spokane for this event,” he said, “that excludes somebody else from bidding on the event. To provide somebody with the opportunity to wrest that away from Spokane would not be seen as very popular.”

In Spokane, no. Yakima, however, might view it as being only fair.

Q-6 has been on the other side of exclusivity, Lee pointed out. KXLY is locked in with Bloomsday “and that contract has never been put up for bid,” he contended. KREM has Hoopfest, though Lee said “we made a number of proposals for live coverage.”

But to argue over how much tape can be shown of games Q-6 has no intention of showing in full is absurd. In the end, whatever channels 2 and 4 air winds up being advertising for an event 6 will air Saturday night.

It’s not as if anyone intends to televise those weekday games, right?

Wrong. Espinoza would love to bid for the rights because he has a cable channel - KXLY Extra that could air the full slate. Lee fully envisions farming out early round games to cable in the future.

Are you ready for taped replays of Tacoma Baptist and Davenport at 3 a.m.?

Obviously, somebody figures more money can be mined from the little old B. We can only imagine the other excesses to follow.

Surely Q-6 will televise a half-hour “Sunday Draw Special,” showing Hank Coplen pulling numbers out of a hat.

Northwest Christian coach Danny Beard finagles the B’s first shoe contract. Naselle’s Lyle Patterson gets a socks contract.

St. John Hardware and Implement becomes the title sponsor of the new Spokane Arena, a deal that includes cash and hauling off what the rodeo leaves behind each February.

Summit’s starting five makes a rap record.

Authentic jerseys of tournament legends - Blaze Burnham’s No. 34, Tammy Tibbles’ No. 24 - are sold in the new “B Image” store in the concourse. Ex-players whine about their royalties.

And bring their lawyers.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = John Blanchette The Spokesman-Review