Three-Year Streaming Deal For 2021-22 Featuring Women’s Basketball, Olympic Sports And Original Content Complements Conference’s Extensive FOX Sports National Television Lineup
Austin, Texas and New York, NY (August 11, 2022) – The BIG EAST Conference has announced a three-year extension to its agreement with leading sports streaming service FloSports, the home of the BIG EAST Digital Network (BEDN) presented by SoFi. BEDN on FloSports featured more than 600 BIG EAST events during the 2021-22 season, which included Olympic sports and women’s basketball game coverage, while also showcasing original content such as “Shootaround” and “Fast Break,” the Conference’s weekly men’s and women’s basketball feature shows. The multi-year agreement also provides access to discounted subscriptions for BIG EAST member institution students and faculty.
The BIG EAST-FloSports partnership began with coverage of the 2020-21 women’s basketball season before the addition of Olympic Sports and original content in 2021-22. The streaming platform complements the BIG EAST’s robust national television deal with FOX Sports, which offers comprehensive annual coverage of regular season men’s and women’s basketball games, including the BIG EAST Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments presented by JEEP, as well as BIG EAST Olympic sport championships. CBS Sports Network also annually airs select BIG EAST men’s and women’s basketball games along with several Olympic sport contests. Additionally, SNY annually airs upwards of 18 UConn women’s basketball games.
“We’re excited to extend our partnership with FloSports, which has been a great home for the BIG EAST Digital Network,” said Vince Nicastro, BIG EAST Deputy Commissioner. “FloSports has been a fantastic platform to showcase our women’s basketball and Olympic Sports programs, as well as the original content our outstanding in-house digital team creates throughout the year. We are committed to further enhancing the quality of the over 600 events the Conference office and institutions produce every year, with Scott Hecht, our new Senior Associate Commissioner of Broadcasting, spearheading that initiative in collaboration with FloSports. We are eager to deliver top-notch programming to our fans which will highlight the incredible student-athletes, coaches and programs of the BIG EAST.”
“With a shared belief in delivering outstanding college sports to a wider audience through digital platforms, FloSports is proud to continue our successful partnership with the BIG EAST,” said Michael Levy, Vice President, Global Rights Acquisition, FloSports. “Since the onset of this partnership, we’ve seen steady, consistent growth both in viewership and engagement for BIG EAST athletics. We look forward to another three years of collaboration with Scott and the BIG EAST team that will put a spotlight on the talented athletes and coaches that are the definition of excellence in college sports.”
BEDN on FloSports is expected to produce more than 225 events in 2022-23, with a focus on women’s basketball, which accounts for over 75 streamed games per season. The BIG EAST’s 11 member institutions will also provide FloSports with additional regular-season streams, bringing the expected total number of events to over 600 for the year. Sport-by-sport event schedules for FloSports will be announced throughout the year, prior to the start of each season.
The BIG EAST:
The BIG EAST Conference is an association of 11 nationally prominent colleges and universities that foster healthy athletic competition, community service and the pursuit of excellence in academic environments. The athletic programs of BIG EAST institutions provide national-caliber participation opportunities for more than 4,100 student-athletes on over 200 men’s and women’s teams in 22 sports. Established in 1979 and headquartered in New York City, the BIG EAST’s members are located in eight of the country’s top 36 largest media markets and include Butler University, University of Connecticut, Creighton University, DePaul University, Georgetown University, Marquette University, Providence College, St. John’s University, Seton Hall University, Villanova University and Xavier University. For more information, visit www.bigeast.com.
The BIG EAST Digital Network presented by SoFi:
The BIG EAST Digital Network (BEDN), which launched in September 2014, is the home of 225 live regular season and championship events annually for the BIG EAST Conference, spanning women’s basketball, men’s and women’s soccer, volleyball, field hockey, men’s and women’s lacrosse, softball and baseball. Additionally, BEDN produces live championship coverage for indoor and outdoor track & field, men’s and women’s swimming and diving and, for the first time this year, men’s and women’s tennis. SoFi became the presenting sponsor of BEDN in 2017-18.
FloSports:
Founded in 2006, FloSports is a subscription video streaming service dedicated to sports, offering live and on-demand access to hundreds of thousands of competition events across 25+ vertical sport categories in the US and abroad. FloSports’ vision is to give underserved sports the love they deserve. With a growing library of more than 300,000 hours of premium content including news, expert commentary, films, documentaries and more, FloSports has established itself as an innovator and leader in sports streaming. Finally, your sport has a home. For more information, please visit: flosports.tv.