The Missouri Valley Conference has signed a ten-year extension to its media rights deal with ESPN that will include increased exposure on the network’s on-line platform ESPN3. MVC Commissioner Doug Elgin says the new deal will lead to more than 800 Valley events being produced on an annual basis. Elgin says they’ve had 7 or 8 different contracts with ESPN through the years and this one allows many more sports to get some exposure — especially the Olympic sports.
Elgin says the new deal will have no impact on local and regional television deals for Missouri Valley basketball as he says outside the 5-state footprint, ESPN3 will still carry the games.
Drake University Associate Dean David Wright says the new deal also opens up educational opportunities because the on-line content will rely heavily on student run productions.