The Rivalry: Calvin College vs Hope College

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Calvin-Hope Game Continues on WHT for National Broadcast

Once again this year, the January 30 Calvin-Hope game will be carried live coast to coast via World Harvest Television (WHT), a national affiliate of WHMB-TV 40 in Indianapolis, Ind., part of the LeSea Broadcasting Network. The two schools are grateful for the partnership with WHT, which began last year, so that alumni and friends can continue to enjoy this historic sports tradition all over North America.

The live national broadcast is an extension of the relationship between Hope, Calvin and Grand Rapids PBS affiliate WGVU-TV. In past years, the schools have worked with WGVU to provide an analog satellite signal of the game for organized remote viewing parties sponsored by Calvin and Hope alumni. The gatherings draw over 3,000 alumni nationwide from the two schools each year.

The collaboration with WHT should allow Calvin and Hope fans easy access to The Rivalry, since the station is accessible on cable systems around the country and on satellite via DirecTV (Channel 367).

"WGVU has been a great partner for us for many years now," says Tom Renner, the public relations director for Hope College. "We have been thrilled with their commitment to what we consider the best rivalry in Division III basketball."

Calvin director of alumni relations Mike Van Denend says the combination of WGVU and WHT is a good one for fans of the two colleges.

"We know how important the coast-to-coast broadcast of the rivalry has become for Calvin and Hope alumni," says Van Denend. "It is an annual experience that alumni mark on their calendars. We are pleased to have another outstanding broadcast partner in WHT, and glad that we share a common Christian ministry perspective."

WHT personnel are equally enthused about the nation's best small-college basketball rivalry.

"We really look forward to working with Calvin and Hope colleges," says Steve Butler, senior account executive at LeSea Broadcasting. "The viewing experience for viewers across the country will be seamless."

The Calvin-Hope game has gained national attention in recent years and was recently ranked one of the country’s best rivalries by ESPNU behind only Duke/North Carolina, Connecticut/Tennessee (women's) and Louisville/Kentucky.

The first game between the two schools was played during the 1920-21 season. The rivalry is so big it once preempted a president's state of the union address. Another time the game drew 11,442 people to downtown Grand Rapids at VanAndel Arena and established an NCAA Division III single game attendance record that is not likely to be broken.

Geographic proximity adds to the rivalry as the two colleges are located just 35 miles apart in west Michigan (Hope in Holland on the Lake Michigan shoreline and Calvin 35 miles to the east in Grand Rapids). They also share a common religious heritage with Calvin's denomination (Christian Reformed Church in North America) and Hope's denomination (Reformed Church in America) growing from the same Dutch immigrant roots in the 1800s.

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