Sports

MAC, ESPN extend rights deal through 2027


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The Mid-American Conference and ESPN have announced a 13-year rights extension deal that runs through 2026-27. The deal is the largest in the 68-year history of the conference.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. A statement from MAC commissioner Jon Steinbrecher highlighted the MAC's midweek football games late in the season as a "significant presence on the ESPN college football calendar" and a key part of the deal.

 

According to a release on the MAC website, the new agreement modifies the remaining three years of an existing deal between the two sides before tacking on a decade-long extension. The agreement provides ESPN with exclusive television and digital distribution rights for all MAC spotting events. 

 

The deal covers every football game and select men's and women's basketball games and Olympic sporting events through 2027.

 

During the month of November, there will be national coverage of 14 mid-week football games on ESPN2, ESPNU and the online streaming network ESPN3. The Marathon MAC Football Championship Game on Friday, Dec. at 7 p.m. will be televised on ESPN2.