ESPN and the American Athletic Conference made it official, reaching a 12-year extension for the conference’s global media rights that strengthens the conference’s extensive existing presence on ESPN’s television networks and adds thousands of events on ESPN+, the direct-to-consumer sports streaming service, through 2031-32. The extension begins with the 2020-21 academic year.
Beginning in 2020-21, more than 130 football, men’s and women’s basketball games from The American will be aired annually on ESPN’s television networks, including its most high-profile events – the football championship game, the entire men’s basketball conference tournament and multiple rounds, including the championship game, from the women’s basketball conference tournament. New to ESPN’s TV rights beginning in 2020-21 are all Navy-controlled football games versus Notre Dame, plus first pick of the remaining Navy-controlled football games each year (excluding any games versus Army and Air Force).
The American events on ESPN+ will begin with the start of the new agreement, with more than 500 conference controlled events in 2020-21. Nearly 400 of those events will be football, men’s and women’s basketball and American sponsored Olympic sports championships. The overall number of events will ramp up to 750 the following season, with over 1,000 events annually beginning with the 2022-23 season.
