FW: 2021 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship Team Media Credentials Information

Mon Mar 8 22:27:09 CST 2021

From: "Nixon, Rick" <rnixon at ncaa.org>
Date: Monday, March 8, 2021 at 9:07 PM
To: "Nixon, Rick" <rnixon at ncaa.org>
Cc: "david.grim at sportssystems.com" <david.grim at sportssystems.com>, "Watsky, Michelle" <mwatsky at ncaa.org>, "Abdur-Rashid, Sahar" <srashid at ncaa.org>
Subject: 2021 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship Team Media Credentials Information

[Logo]

To: Participating Team Sports Information Contacts
Subject: 2021 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship Team Media Credentials Information

If you are not the women’s basketball contact at your school or conference, we would appreciate it if you would forward this to the appropriate person.

Hello everyone; I trust all is well with each of you. First and foremost, thanks to each of you for all your hard work during this unique season. We greatly appreciate everything you’re doing for the national office and for college basketball in general. Obviously with the different circumstances with which this season has been played, there is going to be carry over to the 2021 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship. Hopefully the information below will answer some of your questions. After the bracket is announced, we’ll have more information for the 64 SIDs whose teams that make the tournament.

As in a normal year, each sports information office is responsible for providing media members who cover their team with a link  (Team Media List Application – Landing Page<https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fclients.sportssystems.com%2Fclients%2Fncaa%2F2021%2Fwomen%2Fteammedia-open.htm&data=04%7C01%7CKyle_Robarts%40baylor.edu%7C74900ce399224f2b74e008d8e2a83279%7C22d2fb35256a459bbcf4dc23d42dc0a4%7C0%7C0%7C637508560383005227%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=BSfSw8IFakA4ornnCGA3QWcdNAr3IMSTn%2FaMXWKsSBM%3D&reserved=0>) they will go to sign up for placement on your team media list. This link should only go to people who have regularly covered your team during the season. SIDs will be responsible for making approvals, or denials. For the 2021 championship, SIDs are asked to identify a limited number of team media who will come to San Antonio to cover your team. Because of health and safety protocols, which includes limiting the number of people allowed in each venue, we will only be allowed to have 20-25 media attend each tournament game. This includes team, national and local media. Team media will only be allowed to attend your games. If you’d like, you may change any of the media on your list who will attend the games between rounds. It’s important to note that health and safety protocols will prevent any direct interaction with any of your coaches or student-athletes. For the rest of the media members on your list, they will be able to cover the tournament virtually. We will have a Digital Media Hub that will house press conference links, stats, notes, quotes, Stat Broadcast links and more. Additional details will be shared with tournament SIDs after the bracket is announced.

The 2021 Championship Selection Show will air on Monday, March 15 at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN. Team media list applications will begin at 8 p.m. ET that night. On Tuesday morning SIDs will be provided a direct link to access and approve their team’s applications. Media members have until 5 p.m. ET on Wednesday, March 17 to sign up on your team list; you’ll have until 6 p.m. that night to make your approvals or denials, and identify your team media list. Team SIDs will then work directly with their team media to identify coverage should the team advance (i.e. from second-round to a regional semifinal, etc.).

Your approval process will be completed with just a couple of clicks and should take you just a few minutes. We have contracted with Sports Systems, Inc., to handle these applications. David Grim, who is copied on this email, is our point person. Here is a link to a pdf to help you with the approval process: Team List Approvals - Quick Start Guide (PDF) <https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fclients.sportssystems.com%2Fclients%2Fncaahelp%2FSID-Credential%2520System.pdf&data=04%7C01%7CKyle_Robarts%40baylor.edu%7C74900ce399224f2b74e008d8e2a83279%7C22d2fb35256a459bbcf4dc23d42dc0a4%7C0%7C0%7C637508560383015184%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=GKsos0YWHGHKd5Rwn9fZfzqgVQHW0zOs38H6ikJlbDE%3D&reserved=0>  Once you finish the approval/denial process, your list is automatically sent to the NCAA’s media coordination team, which includes myself, Sahar Abdur-Rashid and Michelle Watsky. They will share the lists with the appropriate onsite media coordinator at each venue hosting first- and second-round games. It is important to let us know if you have any changes to your team media list after each round.

Your team media members will receive a link to a block of hotel rooms at The Menger<https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mengerhotel.com%2F%3Futm_source%3Dgoogle%26utm_medium%3Dorganic%26utm_campaign%3Dbusiness_listing&data=04%7C01%7CKyle_Robarts%40baylor.edu%7C74900ce399224f2b74e008d8e2a83279%7C22d2fb35256a459bbcf4dc23d42dc0a4%7C0%7C0%7C637508560383015184%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=KzVjbVj9GXXpfbOW7sidDR%2Bd8QWkdxJZb2D4ckGNF1M%3D&reserved=0> and Emily Morgan<https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hilton.com%2Fen%2Fhotels%2Fsatemdt-the-emily-morgan-san-antonio%2F%3FSEO_id%3DGMB-DT-SATEMDT%26y_source%3D1_MTM3MjYzOC03MTUtbG9jYXRpb24uZ29vZ2xlX3dlYnNpdGVfb3ZlcnJpZGU%253D&data=04%7C01%7CKyle_Robarts%40baylor.edu%7C74900ce399224f2b74e008d8e2a83279%7C22d2fb35256a459bbcf4dc23d42dc0a4%7C0%7C0%7C637508560383025130%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=OEhUDsv79MtatTqnVnpUX36E2LKpXyN6AMnZumdsK8Y%3D&reserved=0> in downtown San Antonio. Given the limited attendance at the games and with the WBCA Convention not taking place, finding hotels downtown and around the city, with reasonable rates, will not be a challenge. Media will be responsible for making their own arrangements.

Some other points of interest:

  *   Team Radio. Each school will identify up to 34 people who will be part of the Tier 1 official team travel party. It is up to each institution to identify those 34 individuals. However, please note that your team’s radio station personnel may not be part of that official team travel party. This is due to their seating location, which will not be in the Tier 1 zone. Therefore, please include your team’s radio station personnel on your team media list. This should consist of a maximum of three people.
  *   Team Videographer/Photographer. Your school photographer and/or videographer may appear on your list of 34. If one or both of them are on the list, they will have a spot near your team bench for your game. FYI, there are 25 bench seats for your coaches, players and managers. The other nine individuals will be seated together near the bench, and that space will include the photographer and videographer should your school include them on your list of 34. We will not have space for your photographer or videographer should your school not include them on the list of 34.
  *   NCAA Photos. For those who do not send a photographer, please note that our partners from Getty and NCAA Photos will be courtside for every game from the Sweet 16 through the Women’s Final Four and will be adhering to all health and safety protocols. Their photos will be available on the Digital Media Hub via a Courtesy Handout Images system that will allow entities to use those photos for editorial purposes.
  *   Conference Office Credentials. There is no need to include personnel from conferences offices on your team media list. They will not be credentialed this year and will be provided tickets instead.
  *   Printed Materials. No printed materials will be distributed within the venues. All media guides, team notes, etc. will be housed within the Digital Media Hub. Links, checklists and instructions for uploading will be provided to the 64 selected teams.
  *   Virtual Press Conferences. If you are included in the official travel party (i.e. Tier 1), you will not have in-person contact with anyone outside of the controlled environment, including people in Tier 3 or Tier 4 and any media members. All interviews, press conferences and media availability must take place virtually (including any contact with team radio, even if they make the trip to San Antonio).  However, you’ll be instrumental in the postgame press conferences by escorting your coach and designated student-athlete to the assigned press conference room and handling communication with the onsite host media coordinator. No host media coordination staff are in Tier 1, so they will be unable to facilitate any team movement. In the event that an SID doesn’t travel, someone else within the travel party should be prepared to handle postgame press conference duties. For pre-tournament and off-day press conferences (prior to the Sweet 16), media availability will be handled by the team SID using the location and technology (Zoom, Teams, etc.) of choice. Further instruction will be provided to the 64 tournament teams.

See attached media information for the 2021 championship and let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks,

Rick

[NCAA]
Rick Nixon
Associate Director, Championships and Alliances / Media Services
w: 317-917-6539 | c: 317-440-3059 | ncaa.org<https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncaa.org&data=04%7C01%7CKyle_Robarts%40baylor.edu%7C74900ce399224f2b74e008d8e2a83279%7C22d2fb35256a459bbcf4dc23d42dc0a4%7C0%7C0%7C637508560383025130%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=Os5GnwIC%2BX1zZaYxYgPuZd5DHFJiq%2BPuCDK%2BYOdk6l4%3D&reserved=0>
P.O. Box 6222, Indianapolis, IN 46206-6222

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