ESPN Reaches Multi-Year, Multi-Platform Rights Agreement with Big West

ESPN has reached a multi-year, multi-platform rights agreement with Big West to bring more than 600 live events to ESPN+, and for ESPN Networks to continue carrying Big West Sports, including Men’s Basketball Regular and Postseason games.

What’s Happening:

ESPN and the Big West have announced a multi-year, multi-platform media rights agreement, enhancing ESPN’s college sports portfolio with the addition of hundreds of Big West live events. More than 600 Big West events in both men’s and women’s sports will stream on ESPN+. ESPN networks will continue to present the men’s semifinals and title game of the Big West Basketball Championship, as well as nine regular season live events across its networks, including five men’s basketball contests.
The long standing relationship between the Big West and ESPN goes back decades, with the conference’s men’s basketball matchups part of ESPN’s Big Monday presentation when it premiered in the late 1980s. Over the following decades, the Big West consistently delivered high-caliber men’s basketball action across ESPN networks, with the Big West Championship Game showcased in ESPN’s Champ Week programming.
About the Big West
The Big West Conference was formed in 1969 and is a member of NCAA Division I with 11 academically and athletically prominent institutions consisting of Cal Poly, CSU Bakersfield, Cal State Fullerton, CSUN, Hawai‘i, Long Beach State, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UC San Diego and UC Santa Barbara.
The conference sponsors 18 sports at the NCAA Division I level: baseball, softball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s volleyball, women’s beach volleyball, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s and women’s track and field and women’s water polo.

What They’re Saying:

Dan Margulis, ESPN senior director, programming and acquisitions: “The Big West has been a mainstay of our men’s basketball programming for decades, and we’re excited to further highlight the conference, its student-athletes and member institutions with this new, dynamic media rights agreement. ESPN platforms will now be the destination for the best of the Big West’s 18 sponsored sports.”
Big West Commissioner Dan Butterly: “The exposure generated in this agreement sets a new standard by delivering a tenfold increase in the number of Big West games and content available to our fans on ESPN networks. Aligning the Big West with the strongest and most innovative sports media company in the world, as well as the creativity and storytelling of Disney, is an unmistakable opportunity for us to engage our fan base with compelling content both live and on demand.”