ADVERTISEMENT

MU PRESS RELEASE C-USA Announces TV Rights Partnership

Mike Gwinn

Mike Gwinn

I'd rather be fishing.
Feb 26, 2002
27,627
4,475
113
Beckley, WV
For immediate release

Date: May 25, 2016

Marshall-WKU Football Game to be Aired by ESPN Platform as C-USA Announces TV Deal

ESPN Continues Coverage of C-USA Football Championship; CBS Sports Network to Carry Basketball Championships; beIN SPORTS and ASN Will Televise Multiple C-USA Sports


IRVING, Texas – Conference USA Commissioner Judy MacLeod announced Wednesday that the league had reached a new multiyear, comprehensive national television agreement with four networks – ESPN, CBS Sports Network, the American Sports Network (ASN) and beIN SPORTS.

As part of that agreement, ESPN confirmed that Marshall’s Nov. 26 football game at Edwards Stadium against WKU will be carried by one of its networks (ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU).

This is the first time in three meetings that the two schools will meet on a Saturday and will be the first regular-season Saturday finale for the Herd since a 34-27 overtime victory over East Carolina in 2011.

“We explored a number of traditional, digital and additional outlets during the negotiation process,” MacLeod said. “Our interests are aligned and we are very excited about the potential of these partnerships. All parties will reap the benefits of these agreements.”

An ESPN network will televise its 12th consecutive C-USA Football Championship game in 2016 and 2017. Additionally, ESPN will provide season-long coverage of the league, airing five regular-season football games this season and in 2017 across its networks.

CBS Sports Network will continue to provide a variety of marquee Conference USA events, airing the 2017 C-USA Men’s Basketball Championship title game for the first time, as well as the Women’s Basketball Championship game. In addition, CBS Sports Network will carry six football and six men’s basketball contests during the regular-season.

American Sports Network (ASN) returns for its third season as a Conference USA partner. ASN is a division of Sinclair Networks Group, owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc., one of the largest and most diversified television broadcasting companies in the country with 173 television stations it owns, operates and/or provides services to in 81 markets, broadcasting 483 channels, including pending transactions. The terms of the agreement guarantees ASN will showcase a minimum of 15 regular-season football games, 13 regular-season men’s basketball games and two women’s basketball games per season. Furthermore, it has the option to select additional inventory up to 15 football, 42 men’s basketball, three women’s basketball and 10 Olympic sport events and conference championships. This January, ASN launched a 24/7 channel in nine markets and is currently found within 20 markets.

Conference USA becomes the first collegiate conference to partner with beIN SPORTS, a global leader in sports content distribution and the No. 1 growing Nielsen-rated cable network in the United States above all networks. With 45 million subscribers, beIN SPORTS and beIN SPORTS en Español are proud to be the fastest growing independent sports cable network in the business. beIN SPORTS also plans to expand its multiplatform offerings, live programming and studio shows to further cultivate interactivity of fan favorites, in their language of choice, and more fervently reflect their commitment to North American sports fans. The multi-year deal consists of 10 football games, 10 men’s and 10 women’s basketball games, 12 baseball and 12 softball games, 10 men’s and 10 women’s soccer matches and ten (10) women’s volleyball games.

“We are proud to expand our U.S. coverage and provide our viewers with the best in sports programming,” said Yousef Al-Obaidly, Deputy CEO of beIN Media Group. “Our partnership with Conference USA is a first for our network entering the U.S. college sports arena, reflecting our commitment to American sports fans.”

The complete C-USA football television schedule will be announced next week.

The conference's footprint spans 10 states with 14 member schools, including campuses that are located within nine of the top 50 media markets in the nation, including four in the top 25.


ABOUT CONFERENCE USA
Conference USA is an NCAA Division I athletic conference based in Irving, Texas, that services 14 institutions of higher education – Charlotte, FIU, Florida Atlantic, Louisiana Tech, Marshall, Middle Tennessee, North Texas, Old Dominion, Rice, Southern Miss, UAB, UTEP, UTSA and WKU. Now in its third decade, Conference USA has adapted to the ever-changing landscape of collegiate athletics with an unwavering commitment to excellence, integrity and leadership in competition, academics and community.

ABOUT ESPN
ESPN, the world’s leading sports entertainment company, features more than 50 assets – eight U.S. television networks, ESPN International, ESPN Radio, ESPN.com, ESPN The Magazine, and more. ESPN is 80 percent owned by ABC, Inc. (an indirect subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company) and 20 percent by The Hearst Corporation.

ABOUT CBS SPORTS NETWORK
CBS Sports Network, the 24-hour cable home of CBS Sports, airs more than 400 live games annually, showcasing an array of college and professional sports, as well as in-depth studio shows, documentaries, original programs and extensive shoulder programming around CBS Sports’ Championship events, including the Super Bowl, The Masters and PGA Championship.

CBS Sports Network is available across the country through local cable, video and telco providers including Verizon FiOS Channel 94 and AT&T U-Verse Channel 643 (1643 in HD) and via satellite on DirecTV Channel 221 and Dish Network Channel 158. For more information, including a full programming schedule and how to get CBS Sports Network, go to www.cbssportsnetwork.com.

ABOUT AMERICAN SPORTS NETWORK (ASN)
ASN is a division of Sinclair Networks Group, owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc., one of the largest and most diversified television broadcasting companies in the country with 173 television stations it owns, operates and/or provides services to in 81 markets, broadcasting 483 channels, including pending transactions. In addition, ASN’s content is also syndicated to other broadcasters and regional sports networks. ASN, which launched in August 2014, produced 250 college events in nine sports in its first year and plans to air nearly 400 events before the 2015-2016 academic year is over. ASN launched a 24/7 channel in nine markets in January and it has increased that total to 20 by mid-April.

ABOUT beIN SPORTS USA
Launched in 2012, beIN SPORTS is the fastest growing global sports network in the U.S. and is offered on nine of the largest 10 cable/satellite TV providers in the U.S., as well as other systems across the country. beIN SPORTS offers viewers premium sports content and entertainment across multiple platforms including TV channels beIN SPORTS and beIN SPORTS en Español and live streaming on beIN SPORTS CONNECT. A cornerstone of beIN SPORTS is its unrivaled live soccer coverage, which includes live matches from LaLiga, Serie A, Ligue 1, NASL, and CONMEBOL/CONCACAF/CAF World Cup Qualifiers, as well as news and in-depth analysis of all the top leagues from around the world. In addition to soccer, beIN SPORTS serves as a haven to fans of motorsports, tennis, rugby, volleyball and boxing, among others. With the recent addition of Conference USA coverage, beIN SPORTS will also broadcast College Football, Men’s and Women’s Basketball and Soccer, Baseball, Softball and Volleyball. Thru beIN SPORTS CONNECT, authenticated subscribers can also enjoy all the exciting action from the two networks and stream live overflow matches offered in HD on your computer, tablet or smart phone. For more information, please visit www.beINSPORTS.com. Follow us on Twitter @beINSPORTSUSA and/or @ESbeINSPORTS and like us on Facebook beIN SPORTS USA and beIN SPORTS En Español for breaking news and real-time updates.

---HerdZone.com---
 
This is the breakdown from the CUSA website:

Football:
ESPN 5 games plus title game.
CBSSN: 6 games.
ASN: 15 games plus option for up to 15 more.
BeIn: 10 games

Basketball:
CBSSN: 5 games plus conference final.
ASN: 13 games plus option for up to 42 more.
BeIn: 10 games

Women's Basketball:
CBSSN: conference final
ASN: 2 games plus option for 3 more.
BeIn: 10 games

Other sports:
ASN: 10 games in any sport of its choosing.
BeIn: 12 baseball, 12 softbal, 10 men's soccer, 10 women's soccer, 10 women's volleyball.

Mattsarz's blog, and he usually knows his stuff very well, says that the full football schedule will be out by next week and that he speculates this covers 36 of the 80 FB games that CUSA has rights to (home teams own rights). He speculates that any school that is willing to produce a game to "ESPN's standards" on its own $, can get the games there, or these will be shown on institutional websites.

I am assuming that much of the "optional" ASN material will be MU games. Lots of games on ASN last year were clearly only there because MU paid the freight (ads were all from Huntington businesses, even the score bug was for Cabell Huntington or St. Mary's, with no ads sold for the other school.

It is what it is.
 
ESPN's games:

Indiana @ FIU 9/1 7:30 ESPNU (Thursday night) (Pillow Fight of the Year)
Baylor @ Rice 9/16 8:00 ESPN (Friday night)
Arizona State @ UTSA 9/16 ESPN2 (same Friday night)
Louisana Tech @ So. Miss. 11/25 TBA TBA (Friday night)
WKU @ Marshall 11/26 TBA TBA (Saturday)
Championship 12/3 TBA TBA (Saturday)
 
BeIn Sports has streaming included for smart phones (Apple and Android), tablets, and computers if you have TV service that includes BeIn Sports channel with the following providers: AT&T, Atlantic Broadband, Bright House, Cox, DirecTV, DISH, Hotwire, Optimum, RCN, and Time-Warner. It is also available, along with a lot more soccer channels, for $10/month on something called fubo.tv, which is available on Roku, Chromecast, Apple TV, and Amazon Fire TV, and on smart phones and tablets running Apple or Android OS.
 
so 17 MWC games on ESPN, 17 MAC games on ESPN, and 5 CUSA games on ESPN......................................................................................


edit: how much $$$ did we lose from the previous deal?
 
andy4theherd said:
so 17 MWC games on ESPN, 17 MAC games on ESPN, and 5 CUSA games on ESPN......................................................................................


edit: how much $$$ did we lose from the previous deal?
Click to expand...



if this is to believed, a whole f'ing bunch...
 
is that $7M per year for 2 years or $7M TOTAL for 2 years?

if it's the later we are fvcked... the previous deal was $14M...
 
andy4theherd said:
is that $7M per year for 2 years or $7M TOTAL for 2 years?

if it's the later we are fvcked... the previous deal was $14M...
Click to expand...

i'm not sure, i'm thinking it's $3.5m per year. the speculation is espn paid $0 and cbssn paid $1m per year
 
Mattsarz 's blog is reporting that each network has streaming rights to its own games (meaning ESPN games are on Watch ESPN, CBSSN games on on CBS Sports ap, and BeIN games on on the BeIN ap. ) And, ASN has the right to stream its content. Which sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't. It also could sell the streaming rights to a third party (such as ESPN3, Amazon, whatever. But the Virginian-Pilot's speculation that ESPN3/Watch ESPN would get, as in the MAC, the rights to all of the non-televised games to be school produced at school expense and show on that service was wrong. Rather a seperate deal for digital rights will be sought. I don't think that affect MU football anyway, no way any of our games are passed on.

Matt also notes that CBSSN may be forced to choose between MU-Loserville and WKU-Vandy on the same day. Shame if our game falls to ASN. No ASN station in Loserville, BTW.

I find it impossible to believe that ESPN paid " $0 ". It was widely reported that Fox had declined to match ESPN's bid. WTF would Fox decline to match a $0 bid. It could pay 5 cents and get 6 football games and passed? Nah.
 
Damn, I was hoping ESPN would move our Louisville game to Friday night. Would be mind-boggling if that game fell to ASN.
 
Do teams have a say in things like that? Maybe they would view it as an extra day to prepare for Clemson.
 
terrible deal but I think everyone knew it was coming. I think this might be the beginning of the bursting of the college football bubble.
 
Gochneaur645 said:
Do teams have a say in things like that? Maybe they would view it as an extra day to prepare for Clemson.
Click to expand...

they have a say, they could've paid a minimal buyout and picked up eku that weekend if they didn't like it.
 
The Real SamC said:
Mattsarz 's blog is reporting that each network has streaming rights to its own games (meaning ESPN games are on Watch ESPN, CBSSN games on on CBS Sports ap, and BeIN games on on the BeIN ap. ) And, ASN has the right to stream its content. Which sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't. It also could sell the streaming rights to a third party (such as ESPN3, Amazon, whatever. But the Virginian-Pilot's speculation that ESPN3/Watch ESPN would get, as in the MAC, the rights to all of the non-televised games to be school produced at school expense and show on that service was wrong. Rather a seperate deal for digital rights will be sought. I don't think that affect MU football anyway, no way any of our games are passed on.

Matt also notes that CBSSN may be forced to choose between MU-Loserville and WKU-Vandy on the same day. Shame if our game falls to ASN. No ASN station in Loserville, BTW.

I find it impossible to believe that ESPN paid " $0 ". It was widely reported that Fox had declined to match ESPN's bid. WTF would Fox decline to match a $0 bid. It could pay 5 cents and get 6 football games and passed? Nah.
Click to expand...

I don't think it has been widely reported that Fox refused to match ESPN's bid. What has been reported widely and accurately reported is that Fox declined to bid. Since this is a multi-partner contract, no-one was bidding "against" anyone else and selection order was not necessarily based on fees paid.
 
I see the distinction, and I have seen it reported both ways. But really, zero? So being on ESPN for nothing is better than being on CBSSN for $1 or Fox or, heck Animal Planet?

But if the conference actually GAVE games to ESPN, then it is fundamental malpractice at HQ. And the only way to say it is not is to admit that those of us who have been saying that ESPN colors its coverage (SportsCenter, talking head shows, Gameday, et al) were right all along.

It will be interesting to see how much more mention CUSA gets from the "journalists" at ESPN.
 
All I can say is...............nothing. Whether this is good or not, I guess its to be seen. Personally I am glad we are getting some games back on ESPN, all 5 of them, but its terrible that we are having to settle for peanuts financially in all this mess. What did we expect, we can't turn into Sunbelt 2.0 and expect CUSA 2.0 benefits. I knew this market strategy was bunk when it was utilized, it just will not work that way with a G5 conference. You have to have performing programs, market be damned.

Whether its the timing or whatever, some terrible decisions were made in realignment......and here we sit, lower than the MAC, a conference we once left behind. Its like leaving your average wife for a hot one, only for the hot one to put on 300 lbs a few years later.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Elkview and GeauxHerd
The Real SamC said:
I see the distinction, and I have seen it reported both ways. But really, zero? So being on ESPN for nothing is better than being on CBSSN for $1 or Fox or, heck Animal Planet?

But if the conference actually GAVE games to ESPN, then it is fundamental malpractice at HQ. And the only way to say it is not is to admit that those of us who have been saying that ESPN colors its coverage (SportsCenter, talking head shows, Gameday, et al) were right all along.

It will be interesting to see how much more mention CUSA gets from the "journalists" at ESPN.
Click to expand...

If it has indeed been reported that way, then the reporter knew nothing of what he reported......so it likely wasn't a reporter, but perhaps an internet blogger or message board poster.

And, by the way, hard to blame CUSA current management...... you can't create bids that just aren't there. They solicited hard!!
 
dshoe123 said:
If it has indeed been reported that way, then the reporter knew nothing of what he reported......so it likely wasn't a reporter, but perhaps an internet blogger or message board poster.

And, by the way, hard to blame CUSA current management...... you can't create bids that just aren't there. They solicited hard!!
Click to expand...
Im surprised that Fox Jumped ship. This Bein thing will be an interesting venture.
 
dshoe123 said:
If it has indeed been reported that way, then the reporter knew nothing of what he reported......so it likely wasn't a reporter, but perhaps an internet blogger or message board poster.

And, by the way, hard to blame CUSA current management...... you can't create bids that just aren't there. They solicited hard!!
Click to expand...


We can blame cusa management for adding 4 extra teams we didn't need. We can blame them for choosing multiple start up programs.

You guys just wait 79 years Charlotte, FIU, and ODU will be big time.
 
  • Like
Reactions: beefcake0520 and mufan08
FlyHawk98 said:
We can blame cusa management for adding 4 extra teams we didn't need. We can blame them for choosing multiple start up programs.

You guys just wait 79 years Charlotte, FIU, and ODU will be big time.
Click to expand...

I did say current management. They were left with a bad situation in a number of areas.
 
So does anyone know where and when our games get posted for start times and coverage?

I am curios too as to why FOX just bolted. This hurts and is why the AAC should be looked at if we get invited.
IF.
 
TheGreenhouseEffect said:
So does anyone know where and when our games get posted for start times and coverage?

I am curios too as to why FOX just bolted. This hurts and is why the AAC should be looked at if we get invited.
IF.
Click to expand...

TV schedule is supposed to be released by the league this week.

Fox was "marshalling" their resources for what became RECORD financial bid (successful btw) fort he Big Ten.

AAC won't just invite MU, Marshall would need to decide to approach the AAC and make a strong case with them. There will be several CUSA schools already in line, btw. We just aren't on their current radar.
 
dshoe123 said:
TV schedule is supposed to be released by the league this week.

Fox was "marshalling" their resources for what became RECORD financial bid (successful btw) fort he Big Ten.

AAC won't just invite MU, Marshall would need to decide to approach the AAC and make a strong case with them. There will be several CUSA schools already in line, btw. We just aren't on their current radar.
Click to expand...
That is a travesty if true. I don't necessarily advocate abandoning ship but one has to wonder if no move or a move to somewhere else would be in the best interest of Marshall. Crawling back to the MAC turns my stomach a little, but lets play devils advocate here. What if EMU and a few others dropped? Would it be attractive to rejoin Ohio, Toledo, Bowling Green, NIU vs. FAU, FIU, etc etc? I am beginning to think that answer might be yes but then again would that hurt recruiting? If not it would surely make you think. Before someone argues mid week games, 2 people in the stands etc, well the last one is no different than CUSA schools outside of a few, mid week games are probably the only decent way G5 gets in the spotlight for a day. We made a name for ourselves playing those games. Had we pulled a few MAC teams in instead of stupidly bringing in Charlotte, FIU etc, could be a very different feeling.

Lastly, if other CUSA schools are pimping and we know a few are, we better be proactive and pimp too. We offer as much or more than USM so why not. If USM was to leave us here, I personally would have lost a great deal of interest in this conference as they are one of the few remaining schools that I respect. We didn't sign up for Sunbelt 2.0 when we left the MAC just to be put back in a pre 2005 MAC situation again.
 
MAC: The OU radio guy does a segment on Dave Weekly's radio show during the season and he is pretty sure that the MAC is heading for a break up. There was also a segment on the same issue on HBO's Real Sports show. The whole "cost of attendence" idiocy is unaffordable and some MACers are going to hit up the students once again just for the "we are a I-A school" prestige, and some are looking at I-AA or just dropping football. Grabbing some legitimate teams might be OK in such a case, but understand that no matter what G5 league you are in, when the TV deal runs out, this is what you are looking at.

AAC: Heard Tubberville on XM the other day. Yes, the guy is a POS and a certified liar, but his whole 20 minute interview could be summed up as "Please, please, please, please, let us in the Big 12" peppered with idiotic shots at Ohio State and UK (AKA the top 2 most popular teams in, umm, Cincinnati). If two teams or even just one get out of the AAC, then I still don't see what that does for us. It is leaving a leage of teams that are afterthoughts in their own home towns for another league of teams that are afterthoughts in their own home towns. And when their TV contract runs out, it is the same thing. I don't care if Memphis won ONE game ONCE and Memphis has 1.7 M people (1.69M of which do not care about Memphis football) in it. It is the same deal. It is trading a 98 POS Chevy for a 98 POS Ford.
 
The Real SamC said:
MAC: The OU radio guy does a segment on Dave Weekly's radio show during the season and he is pretty sure that the MAC is heading for a break up. There was also a segment on the same issue on HBO's Real Sports show. The whole "cost of attendence" idiocy is unaffordable and some MACers are going to hit up the students once again just for the "we are a I-A school" prestige, and some are looking at I-AA or just dropping football. Grabbing some legitimate teams might be OK in such a case, but understand that no matter what G5 league you are in, when the TV deal runs out, this is what you are looking at.

AAC: Heard Tubberville on XM the other day. Yes, the guy is a POS and a certified liar, but his whole 20 minute interview could be summed up as "Please, please, please, please, let us in the Big 12" peppered with idiotic shots at Ohio State and UK (AKA the top 2 most popular teams in, umm, Cincinnati). If two teams or even just one get out of the AAC, then I still don't see what that does for us. It is leaving a leage of teams that are afterthoughts in their own home towns for another league of teams that are afterthoughts in their own home towns. And when their TV contract runs out, it is the same thing. I don't care if Memphis won ONE game ONCE and Memphis has 1.7 M people (1.69M of which do not care about Memphis football) in it. It is the same deal. It is trading a 98 POS Chevy for a 98 POS Ford.
Click to expand...

What you say is true, but even in the G5 there is a prestige level. We had the better prestige in CUSA 2.0.

MAC: if a few schools are "breaking up" which ones other than EMU? who would be left. That could do more good for that conference than bad depending on who we are talking about here.
 
andy4theherd said:
looks like the ODU speculation from April was just about spot-on...

http://pilotonline.com/sports/colle...cle_b52006e3-ebea-528c-bbde-f00cae3db1b7.html
Click to expand...

Reading the Virginia Pilot article...I saw ODU has set aside about $700,000 for (1) their $8.4 Million basketball TRAINING FACILITY......and (2) improvements to their FOOTBALL facility.

Basketball Training Facility...what is this all about? I wish we could create better lighting in The DARK Cam & get air conditioning....NOT in my Lifetime...

HerdZilla22 in Charlotte
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

R

Bowl projections Week 9...

Replies
3
Views
717
Old Fairfield - Premium Forum
RhinoD
R
BleedsGreen33

For the Curious. Here are the P5 and G5 transfers that Stony Brook has.

Replies
3
Views
649
Old Fairfield - Premium Forum
Catfanatic1979v1
Catfanatic1979v1
T

Unlimited Tudor's

Replies
1
Views
736
Herd Nation
PeytonwGill
P
T

House v, NCAA

Replies
0
Views
1K
Herd Nation
The Real SamC
T
R

If You Could Do it Again

Replies
43
Views
979
Pullman Square - Non Sports Talk
i am herdman
i am herdman
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest posts

ADVERTISEMENT
Top Bottom
Back