The CCAA offers its network service free for the rest of the year. Photo by Chaz Kawamura
By Chaz Kawamura, Senior Editor
The California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) and their network service, CCAA Network, will be free throughout the rest of the year. This directly impacts California State University, Dominguez Hills Athletics.
This is a bonus if fans are not comfortable with going in person to a sporting event. Even though there are COVID-19 protocols in place at CSUDH (masks, testing, and COVID-Vaccination checks), many supporters rather watch at home.
The COVID protocols provided a lot of hardships for the conference and its leaders to develop an initiative to provide a platform for fans to support their schools.
This free service took a while to become a reality. Losing revenue versus expanding reach were the two sides of the debate. This only happened because of the decision made by CCAA Commissioner Mitch Cox and company, who led these ideas and pushed them forward.
“This is a day-to-day thing. We did not know what fan access was going to look like this Fall. We thought that this was a way that benefits folks,” said Cox. “This is really for those folks who are not comfortable with being in-person.”
The decision was made to provide a single subscription instead of paying for each game, such as having a pay-per-view service.
“We felt that this subscription-based service is a great deal for people. If you are watching a basketball game and it costs you seven dollars,” said Commissioner Cox. “When we start charging in January, that gives you access to all the games for an entire month.”
Many supporters of the fall athletics teams at CSUDH are also very enthusiastic about the recent news.
Jonathan Murillo Garcia, a senior at CSUDH, is looking forward to this Fall season and is excited that he gets to watch the Toro’s at home instead of traveling to the campus.
“It is a nice benefit, past years you would have to pay. It’s cool, especially now that things are slowly going back to normal,” said Murillo Garcia. “We can start watching Toro’s in-person again as well as on the network.”
Murillo Garcia also talked about the CCAA, and how they recognized these tough times and realizing that the fans need an alternative due to uncertain times.
“I want to express my gratitude because it is nice to have a platform to enjoy our athletics. I want to say it’s been tough for all of us,” said Murillo Garcia. “It makes watching sports easier if you can’t make it to games due to work, school, or internships.”
In reality, this could be the conference’s initiative to expand across the entire state to grow its brand. With five sports coming for the university this fall, this could mean great exposure for all the CCAA schools, including our own Toros.