(FORTUNE Magazine) – Can there be anyone out there who thinks we need more sports on TV? Amazingly, the answer is yes. College Sports Television (CSTV), a cable network for fans of college games previously thought to be unfit for prime time, has the makings of an unlikely hit.

Launched in 2003, CSTV aims to be must-see TV for devotees of college baseball, hockey, rugby, lacrosse, track and field, gymnastics, softball, sailing, water polo, rodeo, and, er, debate. On a recent week the network showed a Penn State--Lehigh wrestling match and a volleyball game between Stanford and BYU--all repeats, all in prime time. CSTV also shows college football and basketball when it can get rights on the cheap, and it offers news and documentaries about college athletics.

"Our goal is to give college sports fans a network of their own," says Brian Bedol, the 46-year-old CEO of CSTV, "without really worrying about how many people are watching any given game at any given time." Good thing--audiences are small. But if enough fans with a passion for a particular sport, or alumni with old-school ties, decide to subscribe, the network could be a winner.

Some early signs are encouraging. Distribution is by far the toughest hurdle for a new network, especially one not owned by a media or cable giant. CSTV has deals with DirecTV and Time Warner (parent of FORTUNE's publisher), and agreements are imminent with Comcast and Charter Communications, giving it a platform on the biggest pay-TV distributors in America. It's currently available in about 25 million homes, although only those who choose to pay extra for digital channels--perhaps ten million subscribers--can watch CSTV. The network is still too small for Nielsen to rate.

Advertisers have climbed aboard. Coca-Cola, an investor in the channel, is a major sponsor. Nike underwrites a series called Training Camp that gets coaches talking about motivation and strategy. Other sponsors include Miller Lite, Microsoft's Xbox, and Electronic Arts, all targeting young men.

If the business succeeds, Bedol will have twice disproved conventional wisdom. In 1995 he and Steve Greenberg, a former deputy commissioner of Major League Baseball (and son of Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg), started Classic Sports Network, a channel featuring repeats of big sports events. Several years later they sold it to ESPN for $185 million.

This time Bedol, Greenberg, and co-founder Chris Bevilacqua, a former Nike executive, raised about $100 million to start CSTV. In addition to Coke, other investors include Allen & Co., where Greenberg is now a managing director, and private-equity funds run by Bear Stearns and Chilton Capital. Athletes like the NBA's Kevin Garnett, the NFL's Tiki Barber, and sprinter Michael Johnson invested as well.

Given the early signs of success, Fox is also considering starting a college sports channel, as is ESPN. All see profit potential in the growth of video-on-demand, which enables viewers to follow their favorite sports and teams at their convenience. With any luck, Bedol and his team could have more than one buyer knocking at the door. --Marc Gunther