SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (SUMMIT) — The Summit League announced new three-year media rights agreements with CBS Sports and Midco Thursday that will provide expanded national linear distribution on CBS Sports Network.
Over the past 12 months, the League organized a media rights committee, made up of membership constituents, to assess the history of media rights within the Summit League, the current linear and digital rights landscape, and future opportunities. The committee established four key priorities throughout the process: expansion of national linear distribution, increased revenue, enhanced fan affinity and experience, and protection of member local/regional relationships.
“The Summit League is ecstatic to announce a new relationship with CBS Sports and an expanded partnership with Midco. This is a historic moment for the League, and these relationships will give fans a better experience to consume Summit League content, with more national exposure on CBS Sports Network and enhanced digital content through Midco,” said Summit League Commissioner Josh Fenton. “In an ever-changing and complicated landscape of media rights, we believe the unique combination of CBS Sports and Midco helps the League and membership align with these established priorities.”
The new partnership with CBS Sports will boost the profile of The Summit League by providing more nationally televised basketball games than ever before. Starting with the upcoming basketball season, CBS Sports Network will televise at least six Summit League regular-season men’s basketball games with an opportunity to add an additional six men’s or women’s games. The schedule of regular season contests to air on CBS Sports Network will be released in the fall. Member institutions will retain the local linear distribution rights for any games not on CBS Sports Network.
In addition to the regular season, CBS Sports Network will televise select games during the 2024 Summit League Basketball Championships. The Women’s Championship semifinals and final, along with the Men’s Championship final will air on CBS Sports Network in the traditional tournament slots. This is the first time in the history of the Summit League that the semifinals will be televised nationally.
Both Summit League finals in 2025 and 2026 will be televised by CBS Sports Network with the men’s and women’s semifinals in those years having the potential to be televised based on scheduling availability.
“We are excited to begin this partnership with The Summit League,” said Dan Weinberg, Executive Vice President, Programming, CBS Sports. “This deal allows us to add live games throughout the regular season to our CBS Sports Network schedule, as well as two automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament with the Men’s and Women’s Championship finals.”
Summit League championships for each of the team sports listed above along with the cross country, indoor/outdoor track and field, and swimming and diving championships will also be streamed on the Summit League Network.
ABOUT CBS SPORTS NETWORK
CBS Sports Network, the 24-hour home of CBS Sports, is widely available through all major cable, satellite, and telco distributors as well as via OTT streaming service providers YouTube TV, fuboTV, DirecTV and Hulu. Additionally, a live CBS Sports Network stream is available through CBSSports.com and the CBS Sports App by authenticating with select providers. For more information, including a full programming schedule, go to www.cbssportsnetwork.com.
