Big East, ESPN reunite with 6-year media rights deal
Jul 8, 2025, 11:17 AM
FILE - Members of the UConn women's basketball team celebrate from a bus during a parade celebrating the Huskies' NCAA women's college basketball championship, April 13, 2025, in Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill, File)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS
(AP Photo/Jessica Hill, File)
The Big East Conference and ESPN announced a six-year digital media rights deal on Tuesday.
Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman said in a statement that the agreement gives 鈥渁ll 22 of our sports 鈥� especially women鈥檚 basketball and Olympic sports 鈥� the visibility they鈥檝e earned and the access our fans expect.鈥�
鈥淭his exciting partnership with ESPN reinforces our commitment to placing Big East teams front and center on the leading digital sports platform,鈥� Ackerman said.
ESPN had the rights to the Big East from 1980 to 2013. The revived partnership comes after ESPN lost Big Ten media rights to Fox, NBC and CBS in 2022.
鈥淲e鈥檙e pleased to welcome the Big East back to ESPN,鈥� Nick Dawson, the network’s senior vice president of programming and acquisitions, said in a statement. 鈥淭his agreement returns one of the country鈥檚 premier conferences and its tradition of excellence to ESPN platforms. We look forward to this new chapter in our relationship with the Big East.鈥�
ESPN+ will stream over 300 Big East events annually. Financial terms of the deal were not included in the announcement.
The Big East wrapped up a competitive 2024-2025 campaign led by the UConn women鈥檚 basketball team, which won its 12th national title in April. The St. John’s men’s basketball team had a strong regular season, earning a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament before being eliminated in the second round by No. 10 Arkansas.
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