Big Sky Conference Announces Multi-Year Partnership With ESPN
Jun 9, 2021, 10:38 AM | Updated: Dec 7, 2022, 3:42 pm
Noah Atagi #79 of the Weber State Wildcats carries the Big Sky conference championship trophy after their win over the Idaho State Bengals April 10, 2021 at Stewart Stadium in Ogden, Utah. (Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images)
(Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images)
FARMINGTON, Utah – The Big Sky Conference announced that they have agreed to a new multi-year, multi-platform media rights agreement with ESPN.
ESPN will carry more than 600 Big Sky events in both men’s and women’s sports on ESPN+ and the ESPN app. Also part of the agreement is that ESPNU will televise two football games each year, along with one regular season men’s basketball game. The Big Sky Conference men’s and women’s basketball tournament championships will be televised on the ESPN networks.
“This landmark agreement for the Big Sky and our membership rightfully aligns the nation’s preeminent FCS conference with the strongest media brand in sports,” Commissioner Tom Wistrcill said. “We are absolutely thrilled to join the ESPN family and deliver an elevated viewing experience with hundreds of Big Sky contests on ESPN+ each year. In addition, the numerous linear opportunities on ESPN networks now available to us is unprecedented among our peers, and yet another way that we will enhance the brand of the Big Sky.”
We are proud to announce our new partnership with @ESPNPlus 🤝 Streaming #ExperienceElevated, starting this July 📈 @DavePasch x @BigSkyCommish pic.twitter.com/fXuwGobAN3
— Big Sky Conference (@BigSkyConf) June 9, 2021
The first event that will be broadcast on ESPN networks that will begin the new media rights agreement is the Big Sky Conference’s annual football kickoff, which will be streamed on ESPN+ on Monday, July 26.
“The Big Sky Conference consistently delivers compelling storylines and high-caliber competition across all 16 of its sports, and we’re thrilled to have the opportunity to further highlight the student-athletes and member institutions as we showcase hundreds of matchups each year across our ESPN platforms,” said Dan Margulis, ESPN senior director, programming and acquisitions.
“Many thanks to our media rights consultant, CSMG, for the deliberate and strategic 18-month-long process on which they led us that resulted in greater exposure and revenue than ever before for our conference,” Wistrcill said. “We will continue to be aggressive about providing high-quality and easily accessible broadcasts for all Big Sky fans.”
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