ESPN and Liberty Athletics Sign a New Five-Year Exclusive Deal

Liberty Athletics and ESPN have reached a new five-year extension giving the network exclusive media rights to home games for Liberty football starting in 2021.

(ESPN)

What’s Happening:

Liberty Athletics and ESPN have reached a deal, having Liberty home football games exclusively on the network from 2021 through 2025.
The new agreement will have all Liberty home football games air on ESPN with a guarantee that one game each year will air on an ESPN linear network.
As part of the agreement, Liberty’s 30-min weekly sports show Flames Central will be available on ESPN digital platforms and the ESPN app.
ESPN will also have the right to choose a non-traditional day (non-Saturday) for a second linear network telecast, with remaining games on ESPN digital platforms.
Fans can catch home games against Campbell on September 4, and Old Dominion on September 18 on ESPN3 followed by matchups against Middle Tennessee (Oct. 9), UMass (Oct. 30), Louisiana (Nov. 20) and Army (Nov. 27) at Williams Stadium.

What They’re Saying:

Dan Margulis, senior director of programming and acquisitions, ESPN: “We are pleased to continue to showcase Liberty home football games exclusively on ESPN platforms in the years ahead through this multi-year extension of our rights agreement which began in 2018. The recent success of the Flames has made them one of the more intriguing programs in college football the past few seasons.”
Ian McCaw, Liberty Director of Athletics: “We are extremely grateful to have such a strong relationship with ESPN. ESPN platforms afford Liberty the best opportunity to tell our story of the fastest rising college football program in the country to Flames Nation and beyond.”