ESPN+, Oklahoma Sooners Reach Multi-Year Content Deal for SoonerVision
ESPN+, Oklahoma Sooners Reach Multi-Year Content Deal for SoonerVision
Boomer Sooner! The University of Oklahoma and ESPN+ have reached a historic, multi-year deal first reported by the Sports Business Journal that will see the sports streamer carry more than 100 live OU sporting events, including one football game every year on a school-specific channel called SoonerVision.
The streamer will also broadcast multiple men’s and women’s basketball games every season as well as games and matches from across OU’s athletic department; the streamer will also produce exclusive studio shows focused on Sooner sports. SoonerVision on ESPN+ will have its own landing page within the service that will launch in August in time for the football season and will feature archived content in addition to the live games.
The deal will see ESPN+ air games that are not selected for linear broadcasts which had previously aired via Bally Sports Oklahoma and Bally Sports Southwest channels. The deal is the largest between the sports giant’s streaming service and a single school.
While the financial terms were not disclosed, OU athletic director Joe Castiglione told SBJ that “it would be worth more than what we’ve had previously.”
100+ annual live events, studio programming and archival content.
— Oklahoma Sooners (@OU_Athletics) May 5, 2022
𝙎𝙤𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙑𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙣 𝙀𝙎𝙋𝙉+ coming August 2022.
📺 https://t.co/xOnRsXsdlQ#BoomerSooner pic.twitter.com/jbmmsxAVld
This deal comes ahead of Oklahoma and archrival Texas leaving the Big 12 Conference and joining the Southeastern Conference no later than 2025; not coincidentally, ESPN owns all of the SEC’s media rights and runs the SEC Network. The University of Texas and ESPN have been partners on Longhorn Network since 2011.
“This deal is about access and reach,” Castiglione told SBJ. “I’m just happy that we’re going to be able to continue to offer more than 1,000 hours annually of live content.”
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