Home

Where I-A Games Are Televised

ACC
- ABC is the primary rights holder for the ACC. They signed a new television deal starting 2005 to provide greater exposure and additional games, including the ACC Championship Game. The contract runs through the 2010 season.

   - The ACC has a multi-tiered deal with ESPN that started in 2005. The ACC will be guaranteed a specific number of appearances on Thursdays and the ACC has been provided additional appearances through ESPNU. This contract also runs through the 2010 season.

- Jefferson Pilot Sports is the exclusive regional provider of ACC football. Raycom became a partner in this regional venture starting 2005. This contract also runs through the 2010 season.

Any game not selected for television can be selected for a pay-per-view broadcast. With the new options available for the ACC, the number of PPV broadcasts should decrease sharply.

Big East
- The Big East has a contract with ABC that ends in 2007.

   - The Big East’s primary TV contract is with ESPN Networks. Additional TV appearances were added with a new arrangement with ESPNU. This contract also expires in 2007.

- Games not selected by the Big East’s cable and over-the-air partners revert to the control of ESPN Regional Television (aka ESPN+). ESPN Regional Television produces a Big East Game of the Week and can produce additional local telecasts or sell them to other outlets to be produced. This contract expires in 2007.

Big Ten
- The Big Ten has a long term contract with ABC that guarantees at least one Big Ten game during the season. This is the Big Ten’s primary television conference. This contract expires in 2007.

   - The Big Ten has a long term contract with ESPN Networks to provide for several prime-time and afternoon appearances during the season. Additional TV appearances were added with a new arrangement with ESPNU where the game designated as the Big Ten Game of the Week would usually be simulcast on ESPNU. This contract expires in 2007.

- Games not selected by the ABC and ESPN Networks revert to the control of ESPN Regional Television (aka ESPN+). ESPN Regional Television produces a Big Ten Game of the Week and most other games where a Big Ten team is the home team will also be televised locally through ESPN+. This contract expires in 2007.

Big XII
- The Big XII has a contract with ABC that provides for at least one Big XII game to be televised each week throughout the season and includes the Big XII championship. This contract expires in 2007.

- FSN and TBS will share the primary pay television contract for the Big XII. FSN owns this contract and sells TBS a set of Big XII games each season. This contract expires after the 2011 season.

- FSN is the rights holder for the Big XII Game of the Week and airs the game and just about all of their regional networks. This contract ends after the 2011 season.

If a game is not selected for television, a game may be selected to air via pay-per-view. FSN will approve and produce all PPV telecasts.

Conference USA
  - ESPN owns the primary selections of Conference USA football in a restructured contract starting in 2005 and lasting through the 2010 season. They will air 10-12 games on ESPN and ESPN2 and the Conference USA championship game. No games will appear on ESPNU.

  - CSTV is the owner of all Conference USA games not selected by ESPN and began broadcasting Conference USA football in 2005 lasting through 2010. In the new contract, CSTV was required to provide for several over-the-air telecasts of C-USA football and they have bought time on Independent Television (aka “i”, formerly known as PAX). CSTV also provides for a package of regional C-USA games through a package available online and through some cables companies and satellite providers called C-USA All Access. These regional games can be purchased from CSTV for local broadcasts.

Mid-American
   - The MAC signed a deal with ESPN Networks to provide for several weeknight appearances plus the MAC championship game. Additional appearances were provided with an expanded agreement with ESPNU. The initial MAC contract ends in 2007.

- ESPN Regional Television will produce four or five telecasts per season for airing within the MAC footprint. Most of these games will air on regional sports networks (FSN Ohio, Comcast SportsNet Chicago, Comcast Local Michigan). This contract also expires in 2007.

All other telecasts revert back to the conference and telecasts can be produced by the institutions themselves.

Mountain West
- ABC has the ability to select a limited number of non-conference and conference games. 2005 is the final season ABC has a contract with the conference.

  - ESPN Networks shares their contract with ESPN Regional TV and ABC to guarantee a specific number of total appearances by the MWC. The conference is also guaranteed a specific number of appearances on Thursday nights. No games will appear on ESPNU. This is the final year of the contract.

- ESPN Regional TV will provide for a MWC Game of the Week during the conference season. These appearances are counted in the total for the MWC-ESPN Networks contract.

All other games not chosen revert to the local institutions for point-to-point telecasts. Most teams in the conference use SportsWest for point-to-point telecasts while Utah uses KJZZ, Colorado St. uses FSN Rocky Mountain and TCU uses ESPN Regional Television.

In 2006, CSTV will be the rights holder for all MWC games.

PAC-10
- ABC is the over-the-air rights holder for PAC-10 football. 2006 is the final season between ABC and the PAC-10 under their current contract.

- FSN is the rights holder for PAC-10 pay television games. They sell a set of games to TBS each season. This contract expires in 2007.

All telecasts not selected for ABC and FSN/TBS telecasts revert to the institutions. Many of these institutions have agreements in place with some of the FSN regional networks other providers.

The conference extended their contract to 2011 with ABC and the agreement now provides for a limited number of games on ESPN Networks starting in 2007.

SEC
- CBS is the exclusive over-the-air provider of SEC football. They will telecast 12 conference games a season to a national audience and two non-conference game involving SEC teams and the SEC championship game. This contract runs through the 2008 season.

  - ESPN Networks are the rights holder for SEC football on pay television. They can televise up to 12 games and must guarantee the conference a specific number of prime time telecasts. No games will be on ESPNU and the games must be televised on Saturdays. This contract expires after the 2009 season.

- Jefferson Pilot Sports is the exclusive provider of the SEC Game of the Week to the SEC footprint and select local stations in the US. This contract expires after the 2009 season.

All games not selected for television revert to the institutions. Many of these institutions choose to air these games on a pay-per-view basis.

Sun Belt
   - The Sun Belt has a multi-year agreement with ESPN Networks that includes a limited number of games on ESPN and ESPN2. A deal was completed starting in 2005 for expanded Sun Belt coverage via ESPNU. This contract runs through the 2007 season.

- ESPN Regional Television produces a Sun Belt Game of the Week during the conference season that is generally sent only to the competing institutions. This contract also runs through 2007.

All games not selected revert to the institutions for local telecasts.

WAC
- ABC does not have a contract with the WAC, but has the ability to select games from the conference.

   - The WAC signed an expanded contract with ESPN in 2004 and will last through the 2009 season. The conference was also offered additional exposure through ESPNU starting in 2005.

- SportsWest is the regional provider of WAC games. SportsWest was recently purchased by CSTV and may be renamed “Mountain West TV” starting in 2006. The contract itself ends in 2005.

All other games revert back to the institutions for local telecasts.

Independents
- NBC is the rights holder for all Notre Dame home games. This agreement ends after the 2010 season.

- ESPN Networks is the rights holder for all Army home games (except the Army-Navy neutral site game). They will have one prime-time appearance per season on either ESPN or ESPN2. The balance of the schedule will be split between ESPNU and ESPN Classic. This contract expires after the 2009 season.

- CSTV is the rights holder for all Navy home games and neutral site games designated as home games, except for the Army and Notre Dame games. The HD rights to these games are owned separately by HDNet ending in 2006. The CSTV contract expires after the 2009 season.

Temple has no contract in place with any national networks. They sell their games locally in Philadelphia to CN8, a local cable company.