ESPN and Conference USA (C-USA) have entered into an
exclusive eight-year deal beginning with the '01 football
season and the '01-02 basketball season that incorporates
ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Regional TV, ESPN.com and ESPN Classic.
Features of the deal include: ESPN and ESPN2's coverage of
C-USA weeknight football games; televising future Conference
USA Football Championship Games on ABC Sports; men's
basketball coverage Fridays on ESPN and Wednesdays on ESPN2;
syndication and network rights for the conference's football
and basketball coverage through ESPN Regional TV; marketing
rights and more (ESPN). In Houston, David Barron writes
that the new deal will include "at least" four football
games each year on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and a "potential"
title football game on ABC. Univ. of Houston AD Chet
Gladchuk said the deal will mean "millions of dollars" to
each C-USA institution over the life of the deal. C-USA
Commissioner Mike Slive, on the deal: "We were looking for
two things -- exposure and revenue -- and we're pleased with
both." C-USA football will move from FSN to ESPN/ESPN2,
which will show ten games per year. The league also agreed
to grant broadcast rights for a future football championship
game to ESPN and to syndicate additional C-USA football
games through ESPN Regional TV for viewing on local over-
the-air stations and on pay-per-view through the ESPN
GamePlan package (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 12/12). In Ft. Worth,
Arthur Garcia writes that the deal includes men's and
women's basketball and although financial terms of the deal
were not disclosed, it "could rival" the seven-year deal
ESPN signed with the Mountain West Conference in '99 (FT.
WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 12/12). The Mountain West deal was
valued at approximately $48M (THE DAILY). USA TODAY's Rudy
Martzke writes that the move comes as ESPN "already
televises" college football games on 12 Thursdays in
addition to 13 Saturdays. ESPN's John Wildhack: "I don't
think it's too much football." ESPN's Thursday football
telecasts "slumped" 21% this year, but the 1.9 average "is
the same as for all ESPN games" (USA TODAY, 12/12).
