UCF Football
2009 Online Media Credential System

Welcome to the UCF 2009 Football Season Credential System. We ask that you review the credential guidelines below before continuing. At the bottom of this page is the link to the Credential Form to fill out for each of the home games this season. Please enter your information and your requests for season passes or individual game passes.

Please be prepared to request all credentials for your media outlet at this time (including credentials for other departments). Individual game credentials need to be submitted no later than 5 p.m. E.T. the Wednesday prior to the game.

Please note: Due to the high number of applications, it is not possible to accommodate all requests. Credentials will be issued based on the credential guidelines below.

If you have questions regarding your application, please contact Doug Richards at (407) 823-2142 or by e-mail at drichards@athletics.ucf.edu. Thank you for your interest in UCF Football.

Credential Guidelines

Requests for all working media credentials for all UCF football home games shall be directed to the UCF Athletics Communications office. This is the department of record designated by the University of Central Florida Athletics Association, Inc. (UCFAA) as the sole authority and provider of media credential access to UCF football home games at Bright House Networks Stadium.

A "press agency" for purposes of these criteria shall mean a daily or weekly publication, cable system, radio or television station and network requiring immediate news coverage. "Immediate news coverage" for purposes of these criteria shall mean that the editorial, audio and/or visual deadline for the game action being documented occurs no later than 48 hours after the competition at the site has been completed.

Membership in a writers or broadcasters association does not automatically qualify an agency or individual for credentials to UCF football home games. Credentials will not be issued to persons solely for the purpose of writing or gathering material for books. Credentials will also not be issued to persons for the purpose of blogging or any other sort of live in-game coverage that may interfere with the television, advertisers or sponsors’ contracts with the home institution or conference.

The proximities of the working sideline space at Bright House Networks Stadium place the UCF Athletics Communication office in a position to highly scrutinize media credential access to the sidelines. The credential guidelines in this section have been modified since the 2007 season and we ask for your full review prior to your application for 2009 credentials.

Subject to limitations of space and at the UCF Athletics Communications office sole discretion, credentials at Bright House Networks Stadium shall be assigned in accordance with the following policies:

Print

Separate publications sharing common ownership may not be combined for purposes of meeting circulation or other criteria. A credential may be issued only to an authorized full-time, salaried representative of, or a representative who regularly and customarily performs services for, such an entity. Credentials will not be issued to persons solely for the purpose of writing or gathering materials for books. Credentials are non-transferable. To be eligible for media credentials for UCF football home games, the following criteria are set:

  1. A news agency, regardless of circulation, that has staffed all UCF home football games from the press box in the previous 2008 season. This includes newspapers or other periodicals specifically designed to cover the activities and events the UCFAA.
  2. A press agency with a minimum daily circulation of 25,000 to 199,999 shall be eligible for one (1) working press credential. Other press agencies may receive more than one (1) credential at the discretion of the UCF Athletics Communications office.
  3. A national weekly or monthly publication that has a circulation over 500,000 may receive up to two (2) seats. Publications that have a minimum circulation of three million may receive a maximum of two (2) seats.
  4. A specialty publication that covers college football and does not meet the criteria listed above may be eligible for one (1) credential at the discretion of the UCF Athletics Communications office.
  5. At the discretion of the UCF Athletics Communications office, no more than one (1) credential may be issued to a reporter representing the news side of a major press agency.

Print Photographers

Sports editors shall request all photography credentials for UCF football home games. If not done so, the UCF Athletics Communications office requires proof and/or samples of employment with the press agency.

Subject to limitations of space, photography credentials shall be assigned to agencies requiring immediate news coverage in accordance with the following priorities:

  1. One (1) staff photographer certified by the visiting institution, who will be the sole representative of all its institutional media organizations, affiliated with the visiting institution and all media organizations whose coverage primarily is directed by such institution and its activities.
    1. Employed UCFAA staff photographers do not need to apply for a media access credential. Sideline Sports, Inc. is the official photographer of UCFAA athletics. Freelance photographers without a press agency assignment will not be credentialed, per the UCFAA agreement with Sideline Sports as the official photographer.
  2. The primary press agencies of UCF athletics and its visiting opponent that cover college football on a regular basis may receive a maximum of two (2) credentials.
  3. Other national outlets such as the Associated Press and USA Today may receive two (2) credentials. National photo services and agencies such as Reuters, All Sport and Getty Images, at the discretion of the UCF Athletics Communications office, may receive a one (1) credential.
  4. A press agency with a minimum daily circulation of 350,000, a weekly circulation of 500,000, or a monthly circulation of one million may receive one (1) credential.
  5. A specialty publication that covers college football and does not meet the criteria listed above may be eligible for one (1) credential at the discretion of the UCF Athletics Communications office.

On-Line Media

Other than the official website of each participating institution and contractual rights-fee paying media, representatives staffing web sites shall be accredited for UCF football home games on the following guidelines:

  1. At the discretion of the UCF Athletics Communications office and per availability, one (1) credential may be assigned to a website that is affiliated with a press agency.
  2. An on-line entity not associated with another media agency that covers college football on a daily basis may qualify for one (1) credential.
  3. An on-line entity not associated with another press agency that covers UCF athletics or that of its opponent may qualify for one credential.
  4. Each participating institution may receive one credential for its official on-line site.

Couriers/Runners

The role of courier or runner will receive a higher level of scrutiny for UCF football home games at Bright House Networks Stadium. At the discretion of the UCF Athletics Communications office and based on space availability a credential may be available to news agencies using print photography for "immediate news coverage."

Television

  1. A television station or regional cable network from the Central Florida market, which has staffed at least 80 percent of UCF’s home games, may be represented by one (1) crew. A crew is defined to include one (1) talent and one (1) photographer. One (1) "limited access" credential may be provided to a network, cable system or station for a technician who is responsible for maintenance of the satellite truck that may be parked at the stadium.
    1. At the discretion of the UCF Athletics Communications office and based on space availability one (1) additional crew is may be credentialed if the focus represents multiple, regularly scheduled news programs.
  2. A television station or regional cable network from the opponent’s home market may be represented by up to one (1) crew. A crew is defined to include one (1) talent, one (1) photographer and one (1) audio technician or producer. One (1) "limited access" credential may be provided to a network, cable system or station for a technician who is responsible for maintenance of the satellite truck that may be parked at the stadium.
  3. A television station in a market area estimated to have a minimum of one million U.S. television households the previous year by the A.C. Nielsen Company, which may be represented by one (1) crew. A crew is defined to include one (1) talent, one (1) photographer and one (1) audio technician or producer. One (1) "limited access" credential may be provided to a network, cable system or station for a technician who is responsible for maintenance of the satellite truck that may be parked at the stadium.
  4. An individual or one (1) crew designated by a national television network, which may include separate requests from the sports, news, entertainment and affiliate divisions, or cable system that originates a daily sports news program (e.g., ABC, CBS, NBC, ESPN, FOX, CNN.) A crew is defined to include one (1) talent, one (1) photographer and one (1) audio technician or producer. One (1) "limited access" credential may be provided to a network, cable system or station for a technician who is responsible for maintenance of the satellite truck that may be parked at the stadium.
  5. At the discretion of the UCF Athletics Communications office, no more than one (1) credential may be authorized to other news services that have news and sports programming.

Radio

  1. Exclusive broadcast and on-line streaming rights for all UCF football home games are owned by UCF-ISP Sports Properties.
    1. Other radio and web streaming broadcasts that do not conflict with those rights already established by UCF-ISP Sports Properties may be credentialed based on space availability.
  2. National radio networks may be authorized to have one (1) credential at the discretion of the UCF Athletics Communications office.
  3. One (1) credential may be assigned to a radio station in the Central Florida market or visiting team that regularly covers college football games and that person has a daily "sports talk" program.
  4. Exclusive broadcast and on-line streaming rights for all UCF football home games are owned by UCF-ISP Sports Properties.
    1. Other radio and web streaming broadcasts that do not conflict with those rights already established by UCF-ISP Sports Properties may be credentialed based on space availability.

Credential Application
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