SNY currently airs more than 300 hours of UConn athletics content annuallyGETTY IMAGES
SNY Senior VP/Programming Gary Morgenstern said that he "doesn’t know" if the network will be able to "continue a relationship with UConn that includes televising Huskies’ basketball games and a wide range of related content," according to Mike Anthony of the HARTFORD COURANT. The AAC is expected to formally announce a 12-year agreement with ESPN, which "calls for many basketball and football games to be streamed on its subscription service, ESPN+." Morgenstern said, "We’ve been contacted by ESPN simply to say, ‘There’s a contract, and we’re going to go through it and understand all the components of that.’ But we frankly don’t know what it means for us." Anthony notes SNY has been the "home of UConn women’s basketball for seven years." The network "airs more than 300 hours of UConn athletics content every year" and brings in over $1M, and "priceless exposure, to UConn" (HARTFORD COURANT, 3/26).
HOLD UP: The COURANT's Anthony wrote it would be "irresponsible and shortsighted" to call the AAC's new TV deal with ESPN a "garbage package for UConn." Anthony: "But I can tell you this: it sure could turn out to be." If UConn games and related content "can’t be televised by SNY, if the overall UConn brand can’t be pushed throughout the region by the high-quality and wide-reaching production of the New York-based network, it will be a disaster for the Huskies." Anthony: "Can UConn have a life and presence on SNY moving forward? It is vitally important. Without that assurance or possibility, the deal would be damaging" (HARTFORD COURANT, 3/24).
