Under an agreement between the Big 12 Conference and ESPN, multiple Kansas State athletic events – including exclusive football, men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball, soccer and baseball games – will be available on ESPN+, the direct-to-consumer subscription sports streaming service, the conference office and ESPN announced Wednesday.
As part of the agreement, all ESPN+ events will be produced and presented under a Big 12-branded offering to be develop by the conference and ESPN, and it will be launched on ESPN+ ahead of the start of the 2019-20 athletics season.
“The Big 12 Conference is in the midst of one its most steady and successful periods in its history, and this new partnership with ESPN on a branded digital network is another sign of growth and solidarity for our league and 10 institutions,” K-State Athletics Director Gene Taylor said. “For the first time ever, fans will be able to follow all live Big 12 action in one location as we continue to evolve and be a leader in the ever-changing world of technology and broadcasting options, while putting ourselves in solid position for the future with all of our media and sponsorship rights aligning. We appreciate the work of Commissioner Bowlsby and the executives at ESPN for working together and maintaining the Big 12’s position as one of the premier athletic conferences in the country.”
“Our institutions are thrilled with the exposure all 10 athletics programs will receive through this Big 12-branded offering,” Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby said. “I appreciate the efforts of ESPN’s Burke Magnus, Nick Dawson and Pete Derzis in bringing this to fruition. Building on our relationship with ESPN and Disney DTCI allows our programs access to cutting-edge technology through the ESPN+ platform, and the ability for multiple live contests to be distributed simultaneously. Our goal was to be forward thinking in the use of technology to create a conference-branded platform and believe this partnership ideally positions the Big 12 now and into the foreseeable future.”
Additionally, ESPN and the Big 12 Conference announced an agreement that ABC or ESPN will now exclusively televise the Big 12 Football Championship every year through 2024 – adding three additional championship games (2019, 2021 and 2023) and bolstering ABC and ESPN’s Championship Saturday lineup each year on the eve of College Football’s Selection Day.
Under the expanded agreement, multiple K-State events annually will be presented on ESPN+, with each participating Big 12 school assigning available rights to ESPN and delivering more than 50 exclusive events per year.
The lineup will include:
K-State’s annual exclusive regular-season football game each season.
All regular-season and exhibition men’s basketball games not distributed on ESPN’s linear networks (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU).
Women’s basketball, volleyball, soccer and baseball games not distributed on ESPN’s linear networks.
Select Big 12 Conference championship events and original content.
K-State’s coaches shows, press conference, all-access series, highlight packages, individual features and other vignettes will remain on K-StateHD.TV and available through the official K-State Athletics social media platforms.
