ST. LOUIS -- Celebrating its 113th season, the Missouri Valley Conference will have an exclusive 51-event package on ESPN's networks during the 2019-20 academic year, Commissioner Doug Elgin announced today.
The Valley, which enters the sixth year of a 10-year agreement with ESPN, will clear 29 men's basketball matchups on ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3, as well as ESPN+ -- the leading direct-to-consumer sports streaming service.
Another 22 Missouri Valley Conference events -- both regular-season and post-season tournament coverage of women's basketball plus the league's indoor track and field championship -- are featured in the package.
Additional regular-season men's and women's basketball games produced by Conference institutions will be delivered exclusively by The Valley on ESPN -- the league's co-branded digital network with ESPN available through the ESPN App. The complete basketball schedule for The Valley on ESPN productions will be announced later this month.
"Our relationship with ESPN is the cornerstone of our linear and digital video initiatives and vital to the league's continued success," Elgin said.
"Each year, our increased exposure from numerous live-event and original- content opportunities have added to the Conference's tremendous tradition and storied history. We continue to be grateful for the vehicle we have in The Valley on ESPN and the ability to reach our fans through multiple platforms."
The ESPN men's basketball package starts with Missouri State's participation in the Charleston Classic in South Carolina on Nov. 21-22 and 24. The Bears open with Miami (Fla.) on Nov. 21 with a 10:30 a.m. Central contest.
In terms of regular-season MVC men's basketball games, the league has three tilts on ESPN2 -- Northern Iowa at Bradley (Jan. 18), Bradley at Loyola (Feb. 1) and Northern Iowa at Loyola (Feb. 15).
The final MVC exposure on Saturday, Feb. 29, will use the Wildcard selection process (picking one of four games) to determine which match-up is shown. Match-ups under consideration include Loyola at Bradley, Northern Iowa at Drake, Southern Illinois at Missouri State and Valparaiso at Indiana State.
The Valley's regular-season men's basketball package on ESPNU will feature one Saturday and five Sundays. For four of the Sundays, ESPN will utilize the netflex selection process (one game appearing on ESPN3 and the other on ESPNU), with the remaining ESPNU contest being a Wildcard selection.
The remaining two ESPNU telecasts will be Valley regular-season baseball contests which have yet to be determined. In 2019, all three MVC participants in the NCAA Baseball Tournament reached their respective regional finals.
With host institutions providing the production and transmission, the league has also selected men's and women's basketball packages for distribution on The Valley on ESPN -- via computers, smartphones, tablets and TV-connected devices to fans who receive their high-speed internet connection or video subscription from an affiliated service provider.
The MVC men's basketball package, which includes 16 league productions, starts on Monday, Dec. 30, with Valparaiso playing host to back-to-back MVC regular-season champion Loyola.
The opening round on March 5 and the first two quarterfinal games on March 6 from the 2020 State Farm MVC Men's Basketball Tournament in St. Louis will also be shown on The Valley on ESPN outside the states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska.
The statewide blackout of Illinois, Indiana and Iowa, however, will be lifted for the 6 and 8:30 p.m. Central quarterfinals on March 6, so that fans in those states can consume the games on a live basis.
"Due to scheduling conflicts, we were not able to deliver live linear coverage for part of the league's footprint during Arch Madness in 2019," said MVC Associate Commissioner Jack R. Watkins, who is in his seventh year as Arch Madness tournament manager. "We are taking this step in 2020, so that fans in the league's four-state footprint have the ability to watch live coverage for the two opening-round contests and all four quarterfinals."
The State Farm MVC Tournament semifinals on March 7 and the title game on March 8 will be shown on CBS Sports Network and CBS Sports, respectively, as part of a sublicense agreement between ESPN and CBS Sports.
The women's league slate, which includes 11 Conference productions, begins Friday, Jan. 3, when three-time defending MVC regular-season champion Drake entertains Northern Iowa.
The final women's basketball production will utilize the Wildcard selection process to determine which game will be distributed on either Feb. 27 or 28, with the determination of that selection being announced on Friday, Feb. 7.
Last season, the Conference sent two teams -- Drake and Missouri State -- to the NCAA Tournament, with Missouri State advancing to the Sweet Sixteen with wins over DePaul and third-seeded and 13th-ranked Iowa State.
"Since the launch of The Valley on ESPN in 2015-16, our women's basketball has benefitted greatly from the additional exposure, and we've had two multiple NCAA Tournament-bid seasons (2017 and 2019) in that span," said Watkins, who has been the league's coordinating producer for the platform since its inception. "And we are poised for another successful campaign in 2020, culminating with our post-season tournament in the Quad Cities."
The entire women's basketball tournament -- known as Hoops in the Heartland -- from the TaxSlayer Center in Moline, Illinois, will be shown on The Valley on ESPN, with coverage beginning on Thursday, March 12, with two opening-round contests, four quarterfinal telecasts on Friday, March 13, two semifinal games on Saturday, March 14 and the title contest on Sunday, March 15.
The Conference also plans to televise its 2020 MVC Women's Basketball Tournament Preview Show on March 12, beginning at 3:30 p.m. Central.
Winter sports coverage also includes the 2020 MVC Indoor Track and Field Championship from the UNI-Dome on Feb. 29 and March 1. It will mark the sixth-consecutive year the Conference has produced the event for digital distribution.
