US college sport’ Southern Conference (SoCon) has secured an extension to its domestic media rights partnership with Disney-owned sports platform ESPN that will see its national visibility increase over the next six years.
The new deal, running through the 2031-32 academic year, will see ESPN expand its coverage of SoCon’s athletic programs across its various platforms, with a larger lineup of regular-season matches and championship events aired on its linear networks (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU), as well as its digital platforms (ESPN+, ESPN app).
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
Mallory Kenny, ESPN’s director of programming and acquisitions, said: “This updated agreement reaffirms ESPN’s commitment to highlighting the achievements of SoCon student‑athletes and its member institutions, and to ensuring their stories continue to reach a broad audience across our networks.
“For more than two decades, we have worked closely with the conference, and we look forward to building on that history in the years ahead.”
The biggest upgrade to ESPN’s SoCon coverage comes with its basketball package, which will see the men’s tournament championship game aired on ESPN’s flagship network, while semi-final matches will rotate between ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNU.
Regular-season men’s basketball games will be broadcast on ESPN or ESPN2 for the first time, while the women’s tournament final will be aired on ESPNU.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalDataThe agreement will also see a minimum of 750 live SoCon events aired annually across ESPN’s digital platforms from its soccer, volleyball, track, and field, wrestling, softball, and baseball programs, as well as the early rounds of both the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments.
SoCon Commissioner Michael Cross said: “This six-year extension with ESPN enhances national exposure opportunities for our member institutions, reinforcing ESPN’s confidence in Southern Conference athletics and our commitment to excellence.
“The enhanced agreement ensures our student-athletes are featured on ESPN’s industry-leading digital and linear networks, offering SoCon athletics a national home where ‘It’s All Here.’”
The new agreement comes a month after rival Mountain West Conference announced a new domestic media rights package that will see its games featured across broadcasters CBS Sports, Fox Sports, the CW Network, and Kiswe.
The conference’s rights agreement with networks CBS Sports and Fox Sports, as well as streaming service Kiswe, runs for six years, covering the 2026-27 and 2031-32 seasons, while CW Network's package will last for five years, running through the 2030-31 season.
Last year, meanwhile, the rebuilt Pac-12 conference consolidated its domestic coverage by landing a five-year deal with USA Sports, the sports division of Versant, the cable company recently spun off from media giant NBCUniversal.
The deal completed the Pac-12’s next domestic rights cycle, which coincides with the conference’s expansion this year. USA Sport is the league’s biggest broadcast partner, with The CW and CBS also broadcasting Pac-12 action.
CW renewed its rights agreement last August, taking its contract through the 2030-31 season, while CBS also secured a separate rights extension with Pac-12 that also runs through the 2030-31 academic year.
