ESPN and the Missouri Valley Conference have announced a 10-year extension to their current media rights agreement that will provide increased coverage of conference events across ESPN platforms through the 2023-24 academic year.
As part of the deal - which continues a business relationship that began in 1986 - ESPN, the Missouri Valley Conference and its 10 member institutions will work jointly to develop in-house production capabilities at each campus that will provide significant national coverage for multiple sports on ESPN3 and hands-on educational opportunities for students. As a result, ESPN3 will showcase a minimum of 820 events a year (a minimum of 70 men's basketball) in the final six years of the agreement.
ESPN also retains the rights to the Men's Basketball Tournament semifinals and championship and Women's Basketball Tournament championship each year. The agreement will continue to feature multiple men's basketball and Olympic sports game telecasts across ESPN, ESPN2,
ESPNU and
ESPNEWS each year.
Missouri Valley Conference
The Missouri Valley Conference, the nation's second-oldest NCAA Division I conference, continues to be a leader in college athletics and is one of the nation's most progressive conferences, celebrating its 109th season in 2015-16. League members have worked together to focus on common goals and objectives, placing a high value on league harmony, while continuing to invest in athletic programs to compete at the highest level. League all-sport members include Bradley, Drake, Evansville, Illinois State, Indiana State, Loyola Chicago, Missouri State, Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois, and Wichita State.
ESPN, Inc.
ESPN, Inc., is the world's leading multinational, multimedia sports entertainment company featuring a portfolio of more than 50 multimedia sports assets. The company is comprised of seven U.S. 24-hour television networks (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNEWS, ESPNU,
ESPN Classic,
ESPN DEPORTES and
Longhorn Network (with the SEC Network launching August 2014) and five HD simulcast services (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU,
ESPNEWS and
ESPN Deportes). Other businesses include
ESPN Regional Television,
ESPN International (24 networks, syndication, radio, digital),
ESPN Radio (broadcast, satellite, digital, a growing category led by ScoreCenter), digital services (ESPN.com plus a variety of sport-, college-, and market-specific sites; multi-screen WatchESPN and ESPN3; plus mobile TV and video, apps, alerts and messaging),
ESPN The Magazine, consumer products and espnW. Based in Bristol, Conn.,
ESPN is 80 percent owned by ABC, Inc., which is an indirect subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. The Hearst Corporation holds a 20 percent interest in ESPN.
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