ESPN has signed a TV deal with Mountain West. The deal starts next season and will run through to the 2019–2020 season, covering “select” football and basketball matches. Subscribers to WatchESPN, the Internet television website, will also be able to watch the games.
“ESPN will acquire exclusive worldwide rights to televise up to 16 Mountain West football games, plus every Boise State home game, as well as up to 31 conference-controlled men’s basketball games annually,” ESPN said in a statement. “As part of the deal, ESPN, ESPN2 or ABC will televise a minimum of three Boise State football home games nationally.”
The new deal is unlikely to have much impact on the current agreement between Mountain West and CBS Sports Network. CBS Sports Network and ESPN will each pick alternate games, but CBS Sports Network will get first pick, writes Jordan Mason. Jordan also notes that ESPN will now be “controlling the rights to Boise State home football games”, and that “CBS Sports Network retains the rights to Bronco road football contests.”
StubHub sells college football tickets, and the company is expecting to see an uptick in ticket sales as a result, and, when details are finalized, it will update the College Football Schedule at StubHub! The eBay-owned company expects that the TV rights will bring more media exposure to games, which will bring more money to teams like Boise State.
“Terms of the agreement were not announced but the conference is expected to receive about $18 million in combined revenue from its ESPN and CBS deals,” said the Star Advertiser. “School officials have said that under terms of their membership agreement with the conference, the UH will not get revenues until the football shares of the other 11 members exceed $2.3 million each annually. The other members are expected to average about $1.5 million each annually, depending upon bonuses, from the combined deals with ESPN and CBS.”
ESPN and CBS will be showing over 50 basketball and 40 football matches each year through to the season starting in 2019. The deal will undoubtedly see the two companies working closely together throughout this period.
“The Mountain West and its member institutions are very pleased to be re-establishing a television partnership with ESPN,” said commissioner Craig Thompson. “We had a very successful relationship during the first years of the Conference and have stayed connected over the years through our bowl agreements and other interactions. This new agreement is mutually beneficial and offers great promise for the seasons ahead.”
