Berg, Conrad lean on ESPN to offer Bison playoff

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — Two members of North Dakota's congressional delegation turned their attention Friday to football.

Democratic Sen. Kent Conrad and Republican Rep. Rick Berg blitzed ESPN with phone calls to help persuade the network to offer Saturday's college playoff in Fargo on its GamePlan subscription package.

ESPN had previously planned only to offer the game on ESPN3, an Internet-only feed that is not widely available.

The Bison play visiting Lehigh in Saturday's quarterfinal game.

Berg, an NDSU graduate, said a press release Friday afternoon that he was “happy to announce that ESPN heard our request, allowing Bison fans across our state and the nation to come together and cheer on NDSU.”

A spokesman for Conrad told The Forum newspaper (http://bit.ly/tRxDus) that the senator worked on the issue for most of the day.

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