MVC TV Deal with Gray Media

[crich1]

The MVC games that we have been accustomed to seeing on regional sports networks will be no more as the MVC struck a deal with Gray Media to air a package of games on over the air TV. This will include men's and women's basketball as well as the opening round and quarterfinals of Arch Madness. Since Gray owns KCRG, the games will air on 9.2 as some Panther games have for the past few years. Gray owns stations in 22 markets in the MVC footprint and the press release said that there would be thrid party broadcast partners in non-Gray markets. Gray owns stations in all of the areas MVC schools are in except Chicago and Des Moines so they will need to find a clearance there. The games will be available on ESPN+. With the slow and steady demise of cable, the pending shutdown of NBC Sports Chicago and the uncertain future of Diamond Sports/Bally Sports, this is a good move. https://mvc-sports.com/news/2024/9/1...agreement.aspx

[BCPanther]

The biggest news is that there won't be ESPN+ blackouts anymore.

This is a really forward looking deal from a league that has always understood TV and media rights.

[PantherAlum09]

Yeah I was reading through this and was a bit confused on what this means for the Des Moines market. Sounds like that's still up in the air a bit?

[crich1]

Yeah I was reading through this and was a bit confused on what this means for the Des Moines market. Sounds like that's still up in the air a bit?

That is correct. The package will be made available to the stations there since Gray doesn't own any in Des Moines. One would presume that someone will pick it up to place on one of their subchannels.

[MVCBeat]

But we can watch all the games on ESPN+?

[BCPanther]

But we can watch all the games on ESPN+?

Yes. The move away from the RSNs ends all blackouts.

[MVCBeat]

Yes. The move away from the RSNs ends all blackouts.

Is Gray Media interested in MLB rights haha?