This week ESPN and the Big 12 network announced a new deal to keep Big 12 games on ESPN and expand its ESPN+ partnership. Now ESPN+ will add a dedicated Big 12 section full of exclusive content.
“Our institutions are thrilled with the exposure all 10 athletics programs will receive through this Big 12-branded offering,” commented Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby. “I appreciate the efforts of ESPN’s Burke Magnus, Nick Dawson and Pete Derzis in bringing this to fruition. Building on our relationship with ESPN and Disney DTCI allows our programs access to cutting-edge technology through the ESPN+ platform, and the ability for multiple live contests to be distributed simultaneously. Our goal was to be forward thinking in the use of technology to create a conference-branded platform and believe this partnership ideally positions the Big 12 now and into the foreseeable future.”
ESPN says this new deal with the Big 12 will mean the following events will be coming to ESPN+:
- An exclusive regular-season football game each season from each participating school, as well as any spring football games;
- All regular season and exhibition men’s basketball games not distributed on ESPN’s linear networks (expected to be upwards of 75 games per year);
- Women’s basketball and other conference sports such as volleyball, soccer, wrestling, softball, baseball and more;
- Select Big 12 Conference championship events and original content.
There are some limitations to this deal according to ESPN:
Eight of the conference’s 10 schools will produce and deliver multiple sports under the new Big 12-branded platform on ESPN+, with schools joining on a rolling basis. Starting in 2019, there will be games from Baylor, Kansas, Kansas State and Oklahoma State, in addition to the select Big 12 Conference championship events. In 2020-21, Iowa State, TCU, West Virginia and Texas Tech will join the lineup. Due to existing long-term rights agreements, Texas (the Longhorn Network) and Oklahoma will not produce and deliver programming included on ESPN+ at this time, but will be featured as road teams in games listed under the new Big 12-branded offering on the service.
So what is ESPN+? ESPN+ offers content not aired on any ESPN Network. With ESPN+ you will find a large collection of sporting events and documentaries about sports for $5 a month.
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