Southland Conference Pens New Media Rights Agreement With ESPN, ESPN+

The Southland Conference has announced a new multi-year, multi-platform extension, and expansion of the league’s media rights agreement with ESPN and ESPN+. More than 1,500 Southland events in both men’s and women’s sports will air on ESPN+ through the 2024-25 academic year. In addition, the annual Southland Conference Men’s Basketball Championship game will continue to air on ESPN or ESPN2.

“We are very excited to announce that our long-standing relationship with ESPN, more than 30 years now, will continue well into the future,” said Southland Commissioner Tom Burnett. “In recent years, our broadcast offerings at the Conference and institutional level have grown exponentially, and we greatly appreciate ESPN continuing to see the value in televising and promoting our institutions and student-athletes.”

The Southland Conference relationship with ESPN goes back to the 1988 Men’s Basketball Tournament. As part of this new agreement, select Southland Conference events have already started airing on ESPN+. The 2020-21 schedule will continue with more fall events, the men’s and women’s basketball seasons, and the spring semester sports, including the football schedule which was postponed for most Southland programs. ESPN+ will also offer expanded coverage of other Conference championship events as part of the new agreement.

“Having worked with the Southland Conference for more than three decades, we are delighted to expand our relationship to showcase even more of the member schools and student-athletes in the years ahead across ESPN and ESPN+ through this new agreement,” added Dan Margulis, ESPN senior director, programming and acquisitions.