ESPN and Missouri Valley Conference, Inc. have announced a five-year extension to their current media rights agreement that will provide enhanced coverage of Conference events across ESPN platforms through the 2028-29 academic year.
“The five-year extension of the ESPN-MVC media rights agreement emphasizes a long-term collaboration that has worked successfully for decades,” said Commissioner Jeff Jackson who is in his fourth year with the league. “While there is an unprecedented climate of change in our industry, particularly in the linear and digital live-event production space, our relationship with ESPN continues to be one of cooperation, innovation and brand promotion.”
ESPN retains the rights to the State Farm Men’s Basketball Tournament semifinals and title game and MVC Women’s Basketball Tournament each year. The agreement will continue to feature multiple men’s basketball and Olympic sports game telecasts across ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU each year.
The Missouri Valley Conference Men’s Basketball Championship game will continue to be broadcast on CBS and streamed live on Paramount+. This upcoming year will be the 20th consecutive season CBS Sports has presented the Championship game. CBS Sports Network will televise the Arch Madness semifinals – which it has aired for the past nine seasons – as well as a package of regular-season games each year.
As part of the deal – which continues a business relationship that began in 1986 – ESPN, the Missouri Valley Conference and its 12 member institutions will continue to work collaboratively to develop and improve the league’s co-branded digital platform –
The Valley on ESPN – which has produced and distributed more than 6,300 exclusive live events since its launch in August 2015.
The content includes national coverage for multiple sports on ESPN+ and provides hands-on educational opportunities for students. In the new contract, ESPN+ will showcase a minimum of 875 events per year of the agreement.
Jackson added: “ESPN continues to embrace our vision to tell our story in the best way possible with nuances like the use of the Wildcard Selection process for our ESPN2 and ESPNU men’s basketball games, programming choices like MVC regular-season baseball on ESPNU involving NCAA Tournament participants like Indiana State and Evansville, and placement of the MVC Women’s Basketball Tournament title game on either ESPNU or ESPN2 for the past three seasons. Those elements combined with the continued priority for
The Valley on ESPN confirm the recognition by ESPN of the strength of the Missouri Valley Conference brand.”
About Missouri Valley Conference, Inc.
The Missouri Valley Conference -- the nation’s second-oldest NCAA Division I conference -- continues to be a leader in college athletics and is one of the nation’s most progressive conferences, celebrating its 118th season in 2024-25. The Valley brand remains very strong, both regionally and nationally, and the great athletic tradition of the Conference remains a compelling force in recruiting student-athletes and in marketing all the MVC programs. League members have worked together to focus on common goals and objectives, placing a high value on league harmony, while continuing to invest in athletic programs to compete at the highest level. League all-sport members include Belmont, Bradley, Drake, Evansville, Illinois Chicago (UIC), Illinois State, Indiana State, Missouri State, Murray State, Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois and Valparaiso.
About ESPN
ESPN, the world’s leading multiplatform sports entertainment brand, features eight U.S. television networks, the leading sports app, direct-to-consumer ESPN+, leading social and digital platforms,
ESPN.com, ESPN Audio, endeavors on every continent around the world, and more. ESPN is 80 percent owned by ABC, Inc. (an indirect subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company) and 20 percent by Hearst.
About ESPN+
ESPN+ is the No. 1 sports streaming platform, serving fans in the U.S. with exclusive access to more than 32,000 live sports events each year, an unmatched library of on-demand replays and acclaimed original content, and premium written articles by the top reporters and analysts from ESPN.com. Fans sign up to ESPN+ for just $10.99 a month (or $109.99 per year) at ESPN.com, ESPNplus.com or in the ESPN App on mobile and connected devices.
Contacts
ESPN: Amanda Brooks at (704) 973-5042; amanda.d.brooks@espn.com
ESPN+: ESPNPlusPR@espn.com