The Sun Belt Conference said Thursday that it was extending its television contract with ESPN through the 2027-2028 academic years for all of its athletic events.
The contract, according to the Sun Belt's released statement, also guarantees that the inaugural Sun Belt football championship game Dec. 1, 2018, will be broadcast on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2, and that future championship games will also be televised on one of those networks.
The number of men's basketball broadcasts will jump to a minimum of 100 games for the 2018-2019 season and 150 games for the 2019-2020 season. By the 2020-2021 academic year, every football, men's basketball and women's basketball game will be on an ESPN platform, and a minimum of 500 athletic events a year will be broadcast by ESPN. The minimum number of Sun Belt home football games broadcast on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU will be increased to 10 games a year by 2020-2021.
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The Sun Belt's current contract with ESPN was set to expire after the 2019-2020 academic year.
“The continuation of our agreement with ESPN marks one of the most historic announcements since the Sun Belt’s founding in 1976,” Sun Belt Conference Commissioner Karl Benson said in the statement.
ESPN+, a subscription streaming service, will be launched in spring 2018. The release stated that ESPN+ will be $4.99 a month and will be part of a "completely redesigned ESPN" digital application.
Read Friday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.