ST. LOUIS -- Now in its 114th season, the Missouri Valley Conference will have an exclusive 51-live event package on ESPN networks during the 2020-21 academic year, Commissioner Doug Elgin announced today.     

PDF Release

The Valley, which is in the seventh year of a 10-year agreement with ESPN, will clear a total of 29 men’s basketball games on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3, as well as ESPN+ -- the industry-leading sports streaming service.

Another 20 Missouri Valley Conference events -- both regular-season and post-season tournament coverage of women’s basketball -- are featured in the package.

Additional regular-season men’s and women’s basketball games produced by MVC institutions will be delivered exclusively by The Valley on ESPN -- the league’s co-branded digital network with ESPN available through the ESPN App.

“Our relationship with ESPN is the cornerstone of our linear and digital video initiatives and vital to our continued success,” said Elgin who is in his 33rd year with the Conference and the longest-tenured commissioner in league history.

“In these uncertain times, we are grateful for our increased exposure from numerous live-event and original-content opportunities which have added to the Conference’s tremendous tradition and storied history.  Through The Valley on ESPN, we have the ability to reach our fans through multiple platforms, and that is more critical now than ever.”

In terms of regular-season MVC men’s basketball games, the league will have four games on ESPN2 and a total of six contests on ESPNU with network selections to be finalized.

The remaining two ESPNU telecasts will be Valley regular-season baseball contests which have yet to be confirmed.

With host institutions providing the production and transmission, the league has selected men’s and women’s basketball packages for distribution on The Valley on ESPN -- via computers, smartphones, tablets and TV-connected devices to fans who receive their high-speed internet connection or video subscription from an affiliated service provider.

The MVC men’s basketball package, which includes 16 league productions, starts on Monday, Dec. 28, with Missouri State visiting defending MVC regular-season champion Northern Iowa. 

The opening round on March 4 and the first two quarterfinal games on March 5 from the 2021 State Farm MVC Men’s Basketball Tournament in St. Louis will also be shown on The Valley on ESPN. 

The State Farm MVC Tournament semifinals on March 6 and the title game on March 7 will be shown on CBS Sports Network and CBS Sports, respectively, as part of a sublicense agreement between ESPN and CBS Sports.

The women’s league slate, which includes 11 Conference productions, begins Friday, Jan. 1, when defending MVC regular-season champion Missouri State travels to Northern Iowa. 

Last season, The Valley women finished 8th nationally in the final conference RPI ratings and had five teams in the Top 100 -- a first since the 1998-99 season.

The entire women’s basketball tournament -- known as Hoops in the Heartland -- from the TaxSlayer Center in Moline, Illinois, will be shown on The Valley on ESPN, with coverage beginning on Thursday, March 11, with two opening-round contests, four quarterfinal telecasts on Friday, March 12, two semifinal games on Saturday, March 13 and the title contest on Sunday, March 14.

The Conference, which will be conducting its 13th neutral site women’s tournament overall and fifth in the Quad Cities, also plans to televise its 2021 MVC Women’s Basketball Tournament Preview Show on ESPN+, starting at 3:30 p.m. Central on March 11.