ESPN Signs Conference USA Deal

ESPN continued to bolster its lineup of college sports content for its upstart ESPN+ digital service by reaching a multi-year agreement with Conference USA.

The deal, announced Thursday, provides ESPN with more than 175 C-USA football and men’s and women’s basketball games, more than 100 of which will be streamed on the ESPN+ direct-to-consumer service, said network officials.

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“As we look forward to the 2018-19 season and beyond, ESPN+ will offer the most expansive college sports lineup in the industry, right alongside professional leagues such as MLB, NHL, MLS and premier events from Grand Slam tennis, Top Rank boxing, UFC, the PGA Tour and more.” said Burke Magnus, ESPN executive vice president of programming and scheduling in a statement. “We are thrilled to grow our relationship with Conference USA and have its 14 member institutions as part of the impressive digital lineup which now features more games from the conference than any other network, including a significant number of post season games.”

In addition, ESPN+ and ESPN3 will serve as the primary home of multiple C-USA Conference Championships across a variety of sports, including men’s and women’s soccer, Volleyball, baseball and softball. Also, ESPN’s digital platforms will spotlight additional conference championships throughout the year with special highlight shows.

ESPN’s digital platforms will also spotlight additional Conference USA Championships throughout the year with special highlight shows. Among the sports expected to be featured include cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field, swimming and diving, golf and tennis.

R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.