Big East Basketball Finds New TV Partners
The Big East men’s and women’s college basketball games are on the verge of getting a new television partner. According to sources, NBC Sports and TNT Sports are expected to join Fox Sports in broadcasting games starting from the 2025-26 season.
While Fox Sports will remain the top partner, NBC Sports and TNT Sports are anticipated to add a large number of games to their roster. The financial terms of the expected new agreements are not yet known, and the agreement is not yet formalized. CBS Sports, which currently holds a smaller package of games, is still in discussions.
Big East men’s and women’s college basketball games are getting a new TV partner
The potential moves by NBC Sports and TNT Sports continue their buying sprees, which are centered around the competition over the rights to the NBA. NBC is joining ESPN and Amazon Prime Video in completing legal paperwork to make it partners with the NBA on 11-year deals.
TNT Sports, which has owned NBA rights for nearly four decades, is still trying to hang on to the league with either a smaller regular-season and postseason package or it may try to invoke matching rights that potentially could lead to a legal confrontation with the league. TNT Sports has one season remaining on its current NBA rights agreement.
TNT Sports recently added sublicensed college football playoff games from ESPN that begin this season, as well as the French Open. The Athletic reported last week that throughout the 10-year agreement for the two-week French Open, TNT Sports will pay on average $65 million a year.
NBC just concluded a 12-year contract averaging $12 million a year with it peaking this just concluded tournament at around $18 million, while Tennis Channel was outlaying $7 million for this year.
Fox Sports is expected to retain the Big East Tournament championship and games, though NBC/Peacock could have some tournament games, according to sources briefed on the deal. Peacock and NBC already have rights to Big Ten basketball, as does Fox Sports.
NBA rights are at the center of the competition between NBC Sports and TNT Sports
TNT Sports has previously added the Hall of Fame college basketball tipoff games with the defending national championship South Carolina women facing Michigan and Texas facing Ohio State on the men’s side.
The addition of NBC Sports and TNT Sports to the Big East men’s and women’s college basketball games is expected to bring more excitement to the league. With the new television partners, fans can expect to see more games and more coverage of the league.
The Big East men’s and women’s college basketball games are getting more coverage with new TV partners
