Fresno State to make history at its home opener against Eastern Washington

The Fresno State Bulldogs’ Sept. 9 home opener against Eastern Washington will be broadcast locally by UniMás, making it the first FBS college football game to be carried on a Spanish-language network.

Play by play will be handled by Jessi Losada, with a 6 p.m. kickoff time. An English-language streaming broadcast will be available on the Mountain West Conference Network, with the team of Paul Loeffler (play by play), Pat Hill (analyst) and Cameron Worrell (sideline reporter).

“This is a historic partnership for our university and our athletics department, as it aligns perfectly with our strategic priorities,” Fresno State president Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval said in a release from the athletics department. “Univision’s reach and impact in our region is unparalleled and our collaboration enables us to build a solid pathway for our youth in our Valley to engage with Fresno State, now and in the future.”

The Bulldogs moved their opening game against Cal Poly to a Thursday night last season to accommodate a national television broadcast, kicking off Labor Day weekend.

But their home games against FCS opponents have in most years been broadcast by local stations, by streaming services or on radio only. Fresno State played Cal Poly on CW59 in 2021, a game against Sacramento State was available online and on radio on 2019 and it played Idaho on Facebook in 2018. The Bulldogs’ opener in 2017 against Incarnate Word, the debut of coach Jeff Tedford, was available only on radio.

UniMás, a Univision network, can be found in the Fresno-Visalia market on digital channel 23 and virtual channel 61 and in the Bakersfield market on digital channel 31. It is also available on YouTubeTV, fuboTV, DirecTV, and Dish Network on channel 271. UniMás can be streamed at tv.univision.com or the Univision Now app.

The game also will be available on Learfield’s Varsity Network app, with the Bulldog Sports Network radio broadcast linked with the UniMás television broadcast.

The Bulldogs’ home opener was the only game this season that had not been picked up by one of the Mountain West Conference television partners - of the remaining 11 games six will be televised on the Fox networks, four on CBS Sports Network and the Sept. 2 season opener at Purdue will be carried by the Big Ten Network.

“As the lone FBS institution in California’s Central Valley, it is incredibly important to our efforts to continually engage with and grow the Red Wave from Sacramento to Bakersfield, and of course right here in Fresno County,” athletics director Terry Tumey said. “With the majority of the demographic make up of the Central Valley population being proudly Hispanic, this is a partnership that aligns perfectly with our fan engagement priorities and we are grateful for the on-going support from the Univision network as we both create history in this space.”

Fresno State football schedule

Sept. 2 - at Purdue, 9 a.m., BTN

Sept. 9 - Eastern Washington, 6 p.m., UniMas

Sept. 16 - at Arizona State, 7:30 p.m., FS1

Sept. 23 - Kent State, 7:30 p.m., CBSSN

Sept. 30 - Nevada, TBD, Fox networks

Oct. 7 - at Wyoming, TBD, Fox networks

Oct. 13 - at Utah State, 5 p.m., CBSSN

Oct. 28 - UNLV, TBD, Fox networks

Nov. 4 - Boise State, 7 p.m., CBSSN

Nov. 11 - at San Jose State, 7:30 p.m., CBSSN

Nov. 18 - New Mexico, TBD, Fox networks

Nov. 25 - at San Diego State, TBD, Fox networks