News

Tuesday October 2, 2012

Exposure X 2

New Atlantic 10 TV deals double men's and women's hoops national exposure. In 2013-14, the A-10 media footprint will cover a third of the nation.

The Atlantic 10 Conference has secured eight-year partnerships with ESPN, CBS Sports Network and NBC Sports Group for its media and television rights. The agreements more than double the men’s and women’s basketball national exposure for the A-10 membership and will begin in 2013-14.

The agreements provide more than 192 total basketball exposures, 146 for men’s basketball and 46 for women's basketball, including the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals of both the men’s and women’s basketball championships.

There will be 30 potential men’s basketball appearances on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU, 54 on CBS Sports Network and 50 on NBC Sports Network. The A-10 also receives additional commitments from NBC Sports Network Regional outlets.

A-10 women's basketball will see a 77 percent increase in exposure.

Provisions of the new agreements also provide for national exposure for a variety of Olympic sports events.

The NBC Sports Group agreement, the first between the A-10 and the new network, also includes a six-game package for the upcoming 2012-13 season. Originally listed on the 2012-13 schedule as A-10 TV, it includes one non-conference game and five conference contests spread out among seven different A-10 member institutions. The games will include significant promotion of the partnership between the Atlantic 10 Conference and NBC Sports Network.

The new agreements will give the league unprecedented reach, distribution and marketing. The A-10 is in seven of the top 25 media markets, including four of the top 10. Beginning in 2013-14, all 14 conference members will be in the nation's top 65 media markets and the Atlantic 10 media footprint will reach about 33 percent of the U.S. television market.

“This announcement is another example of where the Atlantic 10 separates itself from the basketball-centric conferences and lands squarely in any discussion about the top basketball leagues in the country,” University of Dayton Vice President and Director of Athletics Tim Wabler said. “Roughly 90 percent of our men’s basketball games have been on television through local, regional and national coverage for several years now. But this new agreement will expand our exposure into many more homes and markets than ever before.”