What Conferences Have TV Networks?

The Big Ten Conference and the Mountain West Conference are the only college athletic conferences with their own television networks. However, many other conferences have deals with existing television networks to televise some of their games -- sometimes a large number of their games -- but none except the Big Ten and the Mountain West operated their own networks entering the 2010-11 academic year.

  1. Mountain West Sports Network

    • The MountainWest Sports Network was the first network ever created around a single college athletic conference when it was launched in 2006. Comcast Sports Group and CBS College Sports Network own the network, which is available largely in the western United States. According to the network's website (themtn.tv), a major impetus for the formation of the network was because existing networks often asked the conference to schedule games at difficult or inconvenient times in order to have them televised. The network shows live and taped games and other conference programming.

    Big Ten Network

    • The Big Ten Network covers more than 350 live sports events each year and operates all day, every day, focusing on Big Ten athletics. In addition to live coverage, the network also televises repeats of games and offers original programming, such as a "Big Ten Icons" series that celebrates some of the conference's great athletes of the past. More than 300 events not on the network are streamed through the network's website. Conference members also contribute programming to the network.

    Conference Network Arrangements

    • Conferences such as the SEC, the ACC and the Big 12 have extensive arrangements with networks to broadcast their games. For instance, the Big 12 and the SEC have branded networks called the Big 12 Network and the SEC Network, respectively. Games that are broadcast through these networks are distributed through a range of stations, but they are not broadcast on a single network. For example, the Big 12 Network's games are shown through ESPN Regional Television and are carried by regional networks, such as the YES Network in New York and MASN in Washington.

    The Longhorn Network

    • The University of Texas became the first college in the United States to have its own network when it launched the Longhorn Network with ESPN in August 2011. The network will broadcast a mixture of athletic programming, including live games, original series, studio shows, events and old games. Pregame and postgame shows for football and basketball games will be featured, and the network will program coaches' shows for each Texas team. Non-athletic coverage is also planned, including lectures and visiting speakers and commencement ceremonies. The network is independent of Texas' conference, the Big 12.

    Pac-12 Network

    • The Pac-12 Conference has announced its plans to launch a new network called the Pac-12 Network that will begin broadcasting in August 2012. The network deal includes a national network and six regional networks, and it will broadcast athletic contests of all kinds involving members of the Pac-12 Conference, as well as other conference-related programs. Organizers called it the first collection of networks created by a collegiate conference. Each of the networks will be owned by the Pac-12.