In Rights Extension With ESPN, America East Schools To Develop In-House Production Operations

‘The AE on ESPN3’ will lead to significant infrastructure build-outs on campuses

The America East Conference has made a significant commitment to live event production. As part of an 11-year agreement that extends the relationship between ESPN and the AE through the 2026-27 academic year, all nine schools will build out their own in-house production infrastructures.

The build-out will result in a significant increase in national coverage for multiple sports on ESPN3, branded The AE on ESPN3. More than 3,000 America East events will be showcased over the term of the agreement, starting with all men’s and women’s basketball games and adding other sports in the future.

“This extension and creation of a co-branded network, The AE on ESPN3, signifies a historic moment for our conference,” says America East Commissioner Amy Huchthausen. “This initiative represents a significant commitment on behalf of our member institutions, and I’m enormously grateful to our Board of Presidents and Athletics Directors Council for their vision and collaborative leadership to build an infrastructure that will showcase and promote their athletics programs and overall institutions to a wide audience.”

The campus-based production model will follow a similar model that the network has deployed at the Southeastern Conference, the Mid-American Conference, and others (at varied scale) and also promises to provide hands-on educational opportunities and experience for students.

“This new initiative with ESPN is going to elevate each institution but, more importantly, the conference ahead of many of our peers,” says Marty Scarano, director of athletics, University of New Hampshire, and chair of America East’s Athletic Directors’ Council. “This, on many of our campuses, is a cutting-edge advantage and puts us in a completely different place institutionally. The benefits will be reaped not only by athletic departments but across campus as well.”

As part of the agreement, ESPN also retains the rights to the conference’s men’s basketball championship game, which has aired on either ESPN or ESPN2 for 29 years. Additionally, selected regular-season men’s basketball games and other conference championship games, including women’s basketball and men’s lacrosse, will continue to be televised on ESPN linear channels.

“This endeavor is yet another example of our institutions’ commitment to ensure their programs and this conference are well-positioned for the future,” explains Huchthausen. “Knowing that starting this season, we’ll see all of our home men’s and women’s basketball games on The AE on ESPN3, rather than just a select few as we’ve had in prior years, will be an enormous advantage to reach recruits, parents, alums, and fans. I can’t wait to see how our institutions tell their story to a national audience every single night.”

ESPN Expands Deal With the Ivy League
Fifteen regular-season Ivy League basketball games will be televised this season on ESPNU, ONE World Sports, and the American Sports Network (ASN). In addition, ESPN will stream 43 games (21 men’s and 22 women’s) on ESPN3.

ESPNU will televise the highly anticipated men’s matchup between preseason favorite Princeton and Harvard on Friday March 3 in Princeton. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m.

The season begins tonight with 11 Ivy League teams in action, highlighted by the Harvard men taking on Stanford from Shanghai, China, at 11 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

The 22-game ESPN3 slate for women’s basketball gets started with a rematch of last season’s Ivy League title game between Penn and Princeton on Saturday Jan. 7 at 2 p.m. in Princeton. The men’s 21-game ESPN3 schedule begins with Columbia at Cornell on Saturday Jan. 14. All games on ESPN3 will also be simulcast on the ILDN.

Ivy League basketball also makes its debut on ONE World Sports with a men’s matchup between Penn and Princeton on Saturday Jan. 7. ONE World Sports is showcasing all eight schools during 10 men’s games, including one “flex game” on March 4, the final day of the regular season. ONE World Sports will also broadcast the Yale at Princeton women’s game on Jan. 13 at 5 p.m. The game precedes the men’s game, which is scheduled for an 8 p.m. tip.

Ivy League basketball returns to ASN for the third consecutive year. ASN will feature a trio of key league matchups starting with Cornell at Penn on Sunday Feb. 12 followed by Penn at Yale on Sunday Feb. 19 and Brown at Harvard on Saturday Feb. 25.

All games on ONE World Sports and ASN will also be simulcast on the ILDN, now available through the ILDN app on Apple TV and Roku.