The Colonial Athletic Association is "still in search of multimedia-rights partners" for the '17-18 academic year, as the conference's current contracts "all end within the coming weeks as the academic year comes to an end," according to Greg Madia of YAHOO SPORTS. The CAA in '14 "started a three-year agreement with the American Sports Network of the Sinclair Broadcast Group, and the league also has worked with NBC Sports regional networks to broadcast football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball games." CAA Commisioner Joe D'Antonio said, "The large rights fees that pay the conferences are more than likely going in a downward direction and it’s certainly not going upward. So it’s incumbent upon us to stay up with the times and get the best deal we can for the conference and our member institutions by combining whatever the linear and digital possibilities are going forward." D'Antonio added that he does "not have a timetable set for when a rights deal could get done." Madia noted the CAA in October "entered a multiyear partnership with Van Wagner Sports & Entertainment to manage and market the CAA’s multimedia rights." One factor attributing to the slow pace of "securing a multimedia partner is that the American Sports Network will no longer exist like it did over the past three years" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 5/3).
