Bally Sports Detroit (PatrZDZ's vision)

The **Pro-Am Sports System** (better known as **PASS Sports** or simply **PASS**) is an American regional sports network that was launched in 1984. It also serves as an affiliate of the Bally Sports Networks since 1988. Based in Detroit, the channel broadcasts regional coverage of sports events throughout Michigan, mainly covering professional, collegiate and high school sports in the Metro Detroit area and throughout Michigan.

## History

The network launched on April 17, 1984, as one of the first regional sports networks in the United States. PASS was owned by John Fetzer, the Principal owner of the Fetzer broadcast station group. Fetzer was also the previous owner of the Detroit Tigers, having just sold the team months earlier to Domino's Pizza owner Tom Monaghan. For its inaugural year, PASS carried 80 Tigers games (64 home and 16 away) as part of a seven year contract. At its launch it also had an agreement with the Detroit Pistons and to carry a series of local boxing matches. PASS contracted to use WDIV-TV's studios to produce its programming. PASS was offered for $10 per month and marketed using the slogan "Your Season Pass".

In 1986, Detroit Red Wings games were added to the network's sports programming slate, with the remainder of the team's games being shown on independent station WKBD-TV (channel 50). The Red Wings did not join PASS at launch, apparently after Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch—owner of Little Caesars Pizza—was frustrated that he had been bypassed as a buyer for the Tigers in favor of competitor Monaghan. In 1987, Fetzer sold PASS to Tigers owner Tom Monaghan, and in 1988, PASS became an early charter affiliate of the Prime Network group of regional sports networks.

In 1992, Monaghan sold the Tigers to Mike Ilitch and sold PASS to Post-Newsweek Stations. PASS merged its operations with NBC affiliate WDIV-TV (channel 4) and moved its studios and offices from Ann Arbor to WDIV-TV's studios in Detroit. Post-Newsweek also changed it from an evening-only premium cable channel to a basic cable channel and expanded it to 24 hours a day.

In the fall of 1995, PASS expanded its coverage area, adding providers such as C-TEC and Cable Plus. By April 1996, the network had reached 25% (or 22,700) of all cable television households in Metro Detroit and 80% (or 174,000 households) in other parts of its primary coverage area through expanded basic tiers.

## Programming

### Local team coverage

Professional teams

* Detroit Red Wings – PASS holds the exclusive local television rights to 70 Detroit Red Wings regular season games, as well as some preseason games and the first round of the playoffs. Red Wings Live airs before and after all games.
* Detroit Tigers – PASS holds the exclusive local television rights to at least 150 Detroit Tigers regular season games, as well as some Spring training games. Tigers Live airs before and after all regular season games, and after all playoff games.
* Detroit Pistons – PASS holds the exclusive local television rights to up to 70 regular season Detroit Pistons games, as well as some early round playoff games. Pistons Live airs before and after all games.
* Detroit Lions – PASS airs repeats of Detroit Lions preseason games. It also airs Lions Live after regular season games, and the Monday press conference with the Lions' head coach.

Minor league teams

* Grand Rapids Griffins – PASS airs a select number of Grand Rapids Griffins regular season and playoff games.

College coverage

* Detroit Titans men's basketball
* Oakland Golden Grizzlies men's basketball
* Michigan Wolverines and Michigan State Spartans hockey
* Michigan Wolverines and Michigan State Spartans coaches shows and magazine shows
* High school sports
* Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) football playoffs
* MHSAA girls and boys basketball state finals
* MHSAA Championships (for all sports; events are either broadcast on television or streamed on the channel's website)

## Other services

### PASS Extra

PASS Extra is a game-time only alternate feed of PASS. It was launched in 2007 to solve scheduling conflicts, such as those of the Detroit Tigers, Pistons and Red Wings, as well as CCHA games, MHSAA finals for football and basketball, and The Mid-American Conference basketball tournament (via Bally Sports Ohio). It is frequently used for live college football, college basketball, college baseball and tennis telecasts and other events distributed nationally by Bally Sports, to avoid conflicts with local coverage.

PASS Extra has been used for special alternate feeds of local games, such as the annual "¡Fiesta Tigres!" game which celebrates Latin American players, in which alternate announcers conducted Spanish language play-by-play; a "Position-by-position" Tigers game, with the camera isolating on a different defensive player every inning featuring John Keating on play-by-play; as well as a "Social networking" Tigers telecast in which the channel's staff answered viewer questions from Facebook, Twitter, and their own website.