One day after ESPN made its media rights deal official with the “old” Big East, Fox Sports announced its expected rights agreement with the “new” Big East.
The 12-year agreement begins with the 2013-14 academic year. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The agreement grants Fox Sports rights to all conference-controlled men’s basketball games, select rights to women’s basketball, all Olympic sports and extensive rights for highlights and to produce ancillary programming.
The primary outlet will be the recently-announced national cable sports network Fox Sports 1, which will show over 100 hours of Big East men’s basketball games, including the entire Big East Tournament that will continue to be held at New York’s Madison Square Garden. FS1 is scheduled to bow on August. 17. Also included in the agreement is a full slate of “TV Everywhere” rights on FoxSports.com and Fox Sports Go, the mobile offering that will launch alongside with FS1 in August.
With the agreement, Fox Sports now holds media rights associated with five major college conferences: Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and Conference USA.
“We applaud all the Big East schools for taking responsibility for their own destiny and forming what is clearly one of the top college basketball leagues in the country,” said Randy Freer, Fox Sports copresident and COO. “The quality of the competition is obvious. Five teams who will play in the renewed Big East next season are playing in this year’s NCAA tournament, and seven qualified for postseason play overall. We’re extremely proud and fortunate to offer college basketball of this caliber on FS1 next season and for many seasons to come.”
The new Big East conference features the “Catholic 7” schools that broke away from the conference earlier this month. The seven schools will keep the “Big East” moniker, with the “old” conference undergoing a name change. The new Big East will feature those seven schools and add Xavier, Butler and Creighton.
“Today we relaunch the Big East,” said Father Dennis Holtschneider, president of DePaul University, during the announcement held in New York Tuesday morning.
Source: Multichannel News, 3/22/13
