The Colonial Athletic Association has announced comprehensive media rights agreements with CBS Sports and FloSports.
The CAA signed a new four-year extension with CBS Sports, providing the conference with more nationally-televised basketball games than ever before. Starting in 2023-24, CBS Sports Network will televise at least 20 CAA regular-season men’s basketball games in addition to the semifinals and finals of the CAA Men’s Basketball Championship and the title game of the CAA Women’s Basketball Championship.
Along with the 20 televised regular-season contests in men’s basketball, the new agreement with CBS Sports includes the possibility of additional regular-season games in men’s and women’s basketball based on schedule availability.
CBS Sports Network has televised the semifinals and finals of the CAA Men’s Basketball Championship since 2017 and has aired regular-season contests for the past four years. The CAA Women’s Basketball Championship game will be shown on CBS Sports Network for the first time this March.
“The CAA has been a key partner for the past six years, and we are pleased to expand our relationship with this extension,” said Dan Weinberg, Executive Vice President, Programming, at CBS Sports. “We look forward to showcasing more CAA games than ever before, and to crowning the champions of both the CAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships.”
The conference also extended its wide-ranging media partnership with FloSports to serve as the exclusive world-wide digital platform for live and on-demand coverage of CAA sports through 2026-27. The new eight-figure agreement with FloSports is the most lucrative media rights deal in league history and will see over 1,200 games air annually, including the majority of conference championships.
All games which are produced by the CAA’s 14 member institutions will continue to air on FloSports on the digital side with schools retaining the rights for local linear television distribution. The contract includes new requirements that will enhance the quality of broadcasts across all streamed sporting events.
“FloSports is proud to strengthen and extend our partnership with Commissioner D’Antonio and the Membership of the Colonial Athletic Association,” said Mike Levy, FloSports Vice President, of Global Rights Acquisition. “Our aligned vision will further enable multi-platform viewership growth, broad collaboration across production and storytelling, and deeper engagement across CAA athletics as we collectively spotlight the student-athletes and teams across the Conference.”
The CAA and FloSports have been partners since 2019 when the CAA became the first collegiate conference to select a streaming OTT, direct-to-consumer company as its primary media partner. Over that time more than 3,000 CAA events have been streamed on FloSports, building the exposure of CAA sports by making events available to a global audience. FloSports currently has partnerships with nine collegiate athletic conferences, including the BIG EAST.
“The CAA is excited to be able to both renew and expand its partnerships with CBS Sports and FloSports,” said CAA Commissioner Joe D’Antonio. “The ability to work with two tremendous partners that understand the strategic goals of the Conference has allowed the CAA to provide its membership with one of the most comprehensive media rights packages in the country among mid-major Conferences relative to exposure through CBS Sports Network’s national telecasts as well as revenue and flexibility through our groundbreaking deal with FloSports.”
The partnership expansion deals with both CBS Sports and FloSports were each negotiated by Collegiate Sports Management Group.
Courtesy: CAA
