{"id":575690,"date":"2024-01-05T20:05:40","date_gmt":"2024-01-06T03:05:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=575690"},"modified":"2024-01-05T20:05:40","modified_gmt":"2024-01-06T03:05:40","slug":"espn-ncaa-agree-to-eight-year-rights-deal-worth-920-million","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/espn-ncaa-agree-to-eight-year-rights-deal-worth-920-million\/","title":{"rendered":"ESPN, NCAA Agree to Eight-Year Rights Deal Worth $920 million"},"content":{"rendered":"

ESPN, NCAA Agree to Eight-Year Rights Deal Worth $920 million<\/strong><\/p>\n

ESPN and the NCAA on Thursday announced<\/a> a new eight-year rights agreement to broadcast championship events, including swimming.<\/p>\n

The deal begins in September and runs through the end of the 2031-32 academic year. It covers events on broadcast, cable and streaming, with an agreement to \u201cmaximize exposure opportunities on ABC and ESPN.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reports indicate<\/a> that the total amount is $920 million, an annual amount of $115 million. The deal includes the coverage of swimming and diving championships and both men\u2019s and women\u2019s water polo championships<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The deal covers 40 NCAA championships \u2013 21 women\u2019s, 19 men\u2019s \u2013 extending right agreements that ESPN already had in place. It adds Division I men\u2019s and women\u2019s tennis championships and collegiate men\u2019s gymnastics coverage while expanding lower-division coverage in football and basketball in particular. ESPN already broadcasts more than 2,300 hours on all platforms yearly with more than 800 hours on linear networks.<\/p>\n

It includes a \u201csignificant increase in value,\u201d particularly from the women\u2019s basketball tournament, which will lead to the NCAA to exploring new revenue distribution models. (Reporting<\/a> from The Wall Street Journal<\/em> indicates that the value of the women\u2019s basketball tournament has grown from $6-$7 million a year to more than $60 million.)<\/p>\n

The deal governs the following:<\/p>\n