<p>From ESPN Communications.
Jan. 16, 2007</p>
<p>ESPNU, the 24-hour college sports network, has reached an agreement (through 2008) with the Patriot League for coverage of men's and women's basketball across ESPN's multimedia entities; it was announced by Burke Magnus, vice president and general manager, ESPNU, and Patriot League Executive Director Carolyn Schlie Femovich. In addition, ESPNU has recently announced deals with the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) and the Horizon League.</p>
<p>ESPNU and the Patriot League Overview:
- Each year of the agreement, ESPNU will televise at least 12 regular-season college basketball games.
- ESPNU will also air several Olympic sport events through 2008.
- ESPN or ESPN2 will televise the Men's Basketball Championship, while ESPNU will televise the Women's Basketball Championship. This year, the men's will air Friday, Mar. 9 on ESPN2 at 4:45 p.m. ET and the women's will air Wednesday, Mar. 7 on ESPNU at 6 p.m.
- Each Patriot League school will be eligible to participate in ESPNU BracketBusters through the 2007-2008 college basketball season.</p>
<p>"Patriot League basketball has been a part of our college schedule for many years and we are pleased to have established an alliance that will offer additional exposure to the schools and its student-athletes through ESPNU," said Magnus.</p>
<p>"We are pleased to announce our agreement with ESPNU and look forward to the additional exposure it will provide for our men's and women's basketball
programs and student-athletes," said Schlie Femovich. "The brand identity that comes with the ESPN name will elevate Patriot League basketball and enhance the visibility of all eight Patriot League institutions."</p>
<p>The new pact also includes distribution rights for Patriot League programming across multiple ESPN platforms, including ESPNU.com, ESPN360, ESPN.com, ESPN Pay-Per-View, ESPN Video-on-Demand, ESPN HD, ESPN2 HD, ESPN Deportes and more.</p>
<p>Upcoming Patriot League Basketball Games On ESPNU and ESPN2</p>
<p>Date, Time (ET), Game, Network
Sat., Jan. 20, 2 p.m., Colgate at Bucknell, ESPNU
Sun., Jan. 21, 12 p.m., Navy at Army, ESPNU
Sun., Jan. 21, 2:30 p.m., Navy at Army (women), ESPNU
Fr., Jan. 26, 9 p.m., Lehigh at Holy Cross, ESPNU
Fri., Feb. 2, 9 p.m., Bucknell at Navy, ESPNU
Tues., Feb. 6, 5 p.m., Holy Cross at Army (women), ESPNU
Fri., Feb. 9, 4:30 p.m. Holy Cross at Bucknell (women), ESPNU
Fri., Feb. 9, 7 p.m., Holy Cross at Bucknell, ESPNU
Sun., Feb. 11, 1 p.m., American at Colgate, ESPNU
Sun., Feb. 18, 12 p.m., Lehigh at Lafayette, ESPNU
Fri., Feb. 23, 9 p.m., Lafayette at American, ESPNU
Wed., Mar. 7, 6 p.m., Women's Basketball Championship, ESPNU
Fri., Mar. 9, 4:45 p.m., Men's Basketball Championship, ESPN2</p>
<p>ESPNU
ESPNU was launched in March 2005. The network features extensive studio programming and live coverage of games, including college football, college basketball and other Olympic sports from over 20 Division I conferences such as the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Atlantic 10, Big 12, BIG EAST, Big South, Big Ten, Horizon League, Mid-American Conference, Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), Missouri Valley Conference (MVC), Ohio Valley Conference (OVC), Southland, Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) and more. In addition, the network has a wide-ranging, long-term agreement with the NCAA calling for enhanced coverage of 22 NCAA Championships, showcasing sports from each of the three collegiate seasons. ESPNU also has exclusive re-air rights to games on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPN Regional television programming.</p>
<p>In addition, ESPNU.com, the companion to the ESPNU college sports television network, is the online destination for college sports content, including news, information, extensive online video and audio and more. ESPNU has secured distribution agreements with Cox, DIRECTV (Channel 609), Echostar's DISH Network (Channel 148), Insight Communications, Mediacom, Verizon, several smaller affiliates and is close to distribution agreements with others. The 24-hour television network is the key component of the multimedia ESPNU initiative that will also deliver college sports content across ESPN's family of services, such as ESPN The Magazine, ESPN Radio, ESPN360, merchandising and more.</p>