Kirk Van Houten
Registered User
- May 7, 2019
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Sources: Big East set to unveil six-year media deals
The Big East is on the verge of signing a new media-rights agreement with several networks that will span six years, sources said.
www.sportsbusinessjournal.com
The Big East is on the cusp of formally signing a new set of six-year media rights pacts as soon as this week with Fox, NBC and TNT that will begin with the 2025-26 school year (taking it through the 2031-32 term), sources tell SBJ. Financial terms were still being finalized at presstime, but sources noted the conference will see a significant rights fee uptick. Fox and CBS have one more school year remaining on a 12-year, $500M deal with the Big East (an average annual value of around $41.67M).
Fox will continue as the lead “A” network in the new deal, as it had when it initially signed on with the Big East prior to the 2013-14 school year. Sources tell SBJ the rankings for selections of games have already been decided among the conference’s new media partners. CBS, which had long been a Big East partner, will not return with the conference, as the sides were not able to carve out a smaller fourth package of rights, per sources.
Non-Power Four league media deals nearing expiration:
• Horizon League (deal with ESPN ends after 2025-26)
• Mountain West (deal with CBS and Fox expires after 2025-26)
• Conference USA (deals with CBS and ESPN end after 2026-27)
• West Coast Conference (deal with ESPN ends after 2026-27)
Could easily see TNT Sports get one or two deals done there since they're almost 100% out of the NBA.