SNY has aired a package of UConn men's and women's basketball games since '12GETTY IMAGES
SNY President Steve Raab believed that UConn's move back to the Big East "could be good news" for the school's relationship with the net, according to Alex Putterman of the HARTFORD COURANT. SNY has "aired a package of UConn men's and women's basketball games" since '12 as "part of a sub-licensing agreement with ESPN." The future of that relationship "came into question earlier this year, when the AAC signed a new deal with ESPN that called for hundreds of conference events to stream" on ESPN+. UConn's move to the Big East means SNY "must pursue a new agreement not with ESPN but instead with Fox, which has rights to Big East events" through the '24-25 season. Unlike ESPN, Fox has "only three networks to spread games across (Fox, FS1, FS2) and does not have a streaming service to drive customers toward." Those factors "could make the network a more willing partner for SNY than ESPN seemed to be." Raab said that the Big East's geographic concentration in the Northeast "could be convenient for SNY." UConn AD David Benedict said that he "couldn't estimate the likelihood of UConn renewing its relationship with SNY but noted that Fox has engaged in sub-licensing deals in the recent past." Meanwhile, Raab indicated that SNY would also be "willing to consider broadcasting UConn football, if that program went independent and needed a partner to air its games" (HARTFORD COURANT, 6/28).
