Central Michigan University Athletics
MAC Announces ESPN Deal
Aug. 25, 2003
Mid-American Conference Commissioner Rick Chryst and MAC Council of Presidents Chairman Dr. John Peters (Northern Illinois University) announced a comprehensive five-year programming and production agreement with ESPN, Inc., today from the league office in Cleveland.
The new agreement, effective with the upcoming 2003 college football season, guarantees the MAC a minimum of 100 nationally-televised regular and post-season appearances in football and men's basketball over the term of the agreement (2003-04 thru 2007-08). On average, between 12-15 MAC football and men's basketball contests will be televised in each of the five years of the agreement.
"We have had a tremendous relationship with the MAC," said John Wildhack, senior vice president, ESPN. "We look forward to growing our partnership with the conference and providing national coverage to its member schools."
"This level of commitment to the MAC by ESPN, the recognized national leader in sports programming, is just tremendous," said Dr. Peters. "The growth of the conference -- fueled in so many respects by the increased national and regional television attention -- has been extremely exciting for our programs, our universities and our student-athletes."
Highlighting the agreement is continuing national coverage of the MAC Football and Men's Basketball Championships, as well as a commitment to the MAC guaranteeing participation in ESPN's new "Bracket Buster Saturday" college basketball showcase. Further, ESPN will maintain the MAC men's basketball championship on the final weekend [Saturday or Sunday] of the college basketball regular-season.
"The breadth of the agreement, including the regional syndication and production commitment, the GamePlan and FullCourt packages, and the many other programming platforms that ESPN delivers to the sports fan, is unparalleled for our conference," said MAC Commissioner Rick Chryst. "In an ever-changing national landscape, we simply could not be with a better partner."
As it has for the last four years, ESPN Regional Television ("ERT") will continue to coordinate the MAC's regional television package in football, men's and women's basketball. In addition to the nationally-televised events on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2, approximately 25 games are syndicated annually across the MAC geographic footprint on both regional sports cable networks and over-the-air broadcast stations. Also included under the ERT agreement are non-conference football and basketball contests with the Big Ten and Big East conferences.
A record 17 national television appearances highlight the 2003 MAC football season. Over the last five years (1999-2003), a total of 23 regular-season football games will be nationally-televised. In the 13 years prior to that, the MAC did not have a single regular-season national telecast.