With the Bucks currently fighting to hold onto the eight seed in the Eastern Conference (also known as the right to be destroyed by the Miami Heat in the first round of the playoffs) and the Brewers days into the season, Fox Sports Wisconsin is sure to pull in tremendous ratings. The network will broadcast 150 Brewers games this year and most of the remaining regular-season contests of Milwaukee’s ragtag NBA outfit.
These broadcasts serve local sports fans and bring revenue to the teams. But they also present a platform for prominent Wisconsin companies such as Klement’s, Travel Wisconsin, Wisconsin Lottery, Leinenkugel’s, Menards, Culver’s and various others to purchase commercial time. Moreover, local sponsorship is affixed to in-game items like the Powerball’s Home Run Leader Board and Miller Lite’s Tavern of the Game. Really, the network and its ad sales team do a great job in lending a local connection to almost all elements of its broadcasts – even if said involvement is the result of being given payment to do so.
But Fox Sports Wisconsin is missing an element: local music. In its decidedly Wisconsin-oriented package, the network ignores local bands altogether.
In many segments – before and after commercial breaks, game coverage and highlight packages – the network uses music. But not local music. The music hails from a variety of middle-of-the road pop-punk bands, a bevy of buttrock bands and lower-tier hip-hop acts – each with the song name, artist and (more often than not) a name of a major record label all prominently featured in a lower corner of the screen.
This is a relatively small opportunity for an already-signed national artist, but that 15-second clip and a televised mention would be invaluable for a Wisconsin act. And, unless God-rockers Skillet or L.A. rapper Kid Ink, radio-rock fodder Finding Clyde or Rivers Monroe truly help drive home the post-commercial montage of Larry Sanders blocks or Marco Estrada strikeouts, nothing would be lost from utilizing homegrown music resources. If the band or performer is already an act which few (if any) viewers know or generally care about, what’s the harm in looking inward to fill these brief blocks of time?
I can’t pretend to know what the agreement is between Fox and these record labels financially (and requests to the network went unanswered), but I’m sure countless Wisconsin-based bands and emcees would gladly offer free use of their songs if it meant increased publicity. A “Have your song on FS Wisconsin”-type contest could be generated, with acts vying for limited slots during broadcasts. In state, it’d likely bolster ratings from bands and their fans tuning in to hear their song broadcast throughout the state and in parts of Minnesota. It could help bands get exposure, sell records and remind viewers that there’s a menagerie of talent musicians right under their nose.
Unsurprisingly, bands agree. “Lack of exposure is the bane of bands,” says Mike Nelson, who plays bass in Milwaukee rock band City Of Ghosts. “All you really need to keep you going is for more people to hear, enjoy and hopefully, support your music. Sports are hugely popular in our state, so the opportunity to be heard by potentially hundreds of thousands of people is a huge one for a band.”
In a state that, to most residents, still hinges its music reputation on the BoDeans, Violent Femmes and “I think Steve Miller from Steve Band is from here,” this presents an obvious win-win for the network, a host of talented Wisconsin musicians and, most importantly, for viewers. “Wisconsin fans have a deep affection for their sports teams, which includes a real sense of ownership and pride,” says Tony Memmel, a Milwaukee-area singer-songwriter. “If music featured during a broadcast were written and recorded by Wisconsin-based bands, I think that would be a great way to feature that bond even further.”
Fox Sports Wisconsin does a lot of things right in its coverage and its Sconnie-centric branding. This seemingly small, inexpensive, low-risk incorporation of oft-undervalued musicians could mean the world for skilled and hard-working performers and further legitimize the local credibility for a network whose tagline is “We Are Wisconsin.”
“It’s a nice motto and all, but if they really mean it, reaching out to artists in their own state should be an obvious first step,” Nelson says. “Wisconsin may not have the greatest music scene in the world, but there are plenty of quality artists around who deserve some exposure.”
Kid Ink and Finding Clyde will be just fine.
