MVC to Distribute 80-Game Package on ESPN+ This Spring

[VU2014]

https://twitter.com/MVCsports/status/983435159755161602

MVC TO DISTRIBUTE 80-EVENT PACKAGE ON ESPN+

ST. LOUIS -- The Missouri Valley Conference announced today that selected regular-season digital productions plus post-season championship coverage in May will be distributed on ESPN+ -- the first-ever multi-sport, direct-to-consumer subscription streaming service from The Walt Disney Company Direct-to-Consumer and International group in partnership with ESPN.

Fans can subscribe to ESPN+ for just $4.99 per month (or $49.99 per year) and cancel at any time.

Launching on Thursday, April 12, ESPN+ will be an integrated part of a completely redesigned ESPN App.  The new ESPN App will be the premier all-in-one digital sports platform for fans and is a showcase of the company's culture of innovation.

The Valley, which is in the fourth year of a 10-year national rights-holding agreement with ESPN, will start its programming schedule on ESPN+ on April 13, when Evansville plays host to Bradley in a 6 p.m. Central baseball game at Braun Stadium in Evansville, Indiana.

Another 79 MVC events -- all originally slated for distribution on ESPN3 -- will be featured on ESPN+.

Regular-season softball (32) and baseball (22) plus post-season championships for those sports as well as outdoor track and field comprise the 2017-18 league offerings on ESPN+.

"Reaching current as well as future audiences is the top priority for our linear and digital video endeavors, and ESPN continues to position its place as a leader in the industry," said MVC Commissioner Doug Elgin, who is the longest-tenured commissioner (30 years) in the 111-year history of the league.

"Utilizing mobile devices to stay as up-to-date as possible on every one of our athletic programs is nothing new for our fans, and the redesigned ESPN App will give sports fans an unmatched, one-stop digital sports platform."

The new, redesigned and re-imagined app will include three core offerings to fans -- 1) News, Scores, Highlights & Audio, 2) TV Everywhere streaming and 3) ESPN+.

News, Scores, Highlights & Audio will feature the same services that millions of fans turn to the ESPN App for today -- through a new, dynamic and more personalized user interface.

TV Everywhere streaming will continue to provide authenticated access to ESPN's linear networks and ESPN3 for pay TV subscribers.

ESPN+ will offer fans more sports, more leagues and more games -- as well as original shows, films and an unmatched on-demand sports library.

ESPN+ will not include access to stream ESPN's existing linear networks and ESPN3.

For the remainder of the Spring 2018 term, other Conference-produced live content will continue to be available on The Valley on ESPN3 -- the league's co-branded digital network with ESPN.

In addition to the 80 MVC events that will be available on ESPN+, an additional 33 softball and 23 baseball productions will also be shown on ESPN3.

"The Missouri Valley Conference's inclusion in an exciting venture like ESPN+ would not be possible without the dedication and support shown by our production units on league campuses," said MVC Associate Commissioner Jack R. Watkins, who oversees The Valley's linear and digital video operations.

"The Valley on ESPN3 was created in the spring of 2015, and since that time through the end of this academic year, the Conference will have produced nearly 1,800 exclusive live events -- inclusive of 14 league sports -- all distributed nationwide by ESPN."

The 2018 MVC Softball Tournament from Ron Buel Field at Des Moines, Iowa, on Thursday-Saturday, May 10-12, will be the first of three league championships to be distributed on ESPN+.

The 2018 MVC Outdoor Track and Field Championship will be shown on ESPN+ from Gibson Track and Field Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana, on Friday-Sunday, May 11-13.

The league will conclude its 2017-18 post-season tournament schedule on Wednesday-Saturday, May 23-26, as the 2018 MVC Baseball Championship will be shown on ESPN+ from Horner Ballpark in Dallas, Texas.

The site of a 2015 NCAA Division I Baseball Regional, Horner Ballpark will play host to its first-ever MVC Tournament and mark the first time in league history that an affiliate Valley member -- Dallas Baptist University -- has played host to the league's post-season baseball championship.

This event also denotes the seventh consecutive year that games from the tournament have been shown on an ESPN digital platform -- ESPN3 or ESPN+ -- beginning with the 2012 event from Hammons Field in Springfield, Missouri.

[FieldGoodie05]

How does this change our ability to view Valpo MBB games live on ESPN3 in season? 

I tried reading the announcement and making any sense of it.  To my logic it should remain unchanged.  But for $4.99 subscription you get all sports which means nothing to me at this time. 

Anyone know more about these type of programming packages to lend their knowledge on cause and effect?  Will this new subscription service put MBB games behind yet another type of pay wall? Or is it simply added coverage for more $$

[valpotx]

It only makes sense that it would move to a paid service.

[mvandersee]

How does this change our ability to view Valpo MBB games live on ESPN3 in season?  I tried reading the announcement and making any sense of it.  To my logic it should remain unchanged.  But for $4.99 subscription you get all sports which means nothing to me at this time.  Anyone know more about these type of programming packages to lend their knowledge on cause and effect?  Will this new subscription service put MBB games behind yet another type of pay wall? Or is it simply added coverage for more $$

This release from the Valley doesn't seem to include any information on MBB moving to ESPN+, so it remains to be seen how they will address that. The Sun Belt recently signed an extension with ESPN which moved all of their ESPN3 content over to ESPN+, while leaving all of their agreements for games on ESPN's regular channels in place, so I would imagine a similar approach will be taken with the MVC.


So far the content for ESPN+ is looking like it will start with:

   
• College sports content that was on ESPN3 previously
• One game per day of both MLB and NHL
• All out of market, non-national TV games for Major League Soccer (MLS) and United Soccer League (USL)
• UEFA Nations League and English Football League matches
• Access to all 30 for 30 films
• Top Rank Boxing events
• Coverage of 20+ PGA Tour events
• Tennis Grand Slam coverage of matches not on regular TV
• International Rugby and Cricket matches

Here's the full press release from when they announced the launch of ESPN+
https://espnmediazone.com/us/press-releases/2018/04/espn-to-launch-april-12-bringing-sports-fans-more-live-sports-exclusive-originals-and-on-demand-library-all-for-4-99-per-month/

[FWalum]

Still not sure I understand any of this.  When I go to view ESPN3 content I have to sign in with my satellite provider information, giving me free access.  Does this mean that I will no longer have access through my satellite provider??? If that is the case, why not just have basic cable or cut the cord all together?? The main reason I have the package that I watch is for sporting events. If I have to pay 5 bucks a month additional for ESPN streaming content then I think this will hurt the cable and satellite providers and I can't imagine they are very happy about this development.

[vu72]

I think this line from the announcement indicates that if you get ESPN via a paid tv package that you will still be able to access all the stuff we have had previously,for free.  Who knows?

TV Everywhere streaming will continue to provide authenticated access to ESPN's linear networks and ESPN3 for pay TV subscribers.

[mvandersee]

ESPN+ is a completely different subscription service from ESPN3 or any of the ESPN cable channels (linear networks). If you stick with just your TV subscription you will not receive any ESPN+ content (But you will continue to be able to stream content from ESPN's cable channels and ESPN3). If you choose to only get ESPN+ and not have a cable subscription with ESPN included then you will only have access to ESPN+ content and not any of the ESPN channels. So they're trying to get people to pay for both in order to gain access to all of ESPN's (the company, not the channel's) available content

[a3uge]

If ESPN really wants to make more money, they should spend millions on hosts who talk about politics more than sports. Not sure why they haven't tried that yet

[FieldGoodie05]

If ESPN really wants to make more money, they should spend millions on hosts who talk about politics more than sports. Not sure why they haven't tried that yet

Well said! 😔

[VU2014]

If I'm paying for ESPN with my cable bundle I'd hope I get access to all of ESPN's content.

If the cable bundle doesn't cover the MVC basketball games then it will push me over the edge to cut the cord and I'd probably just pay for ESPN+ service from November-March.

[FWalum]

ESPN+ is a completely different subscription service from ESPN3 or any of the ESPN cable channels (linear networks). If you stick with just your TV subscription you will not receive any ESPN+ content (But you will continue to be able to stream content from ESPN's cable channels and ESPN3). If you choose to only get ESPN+ and not have a cable subscription with ESPN included then you will only have access to ESPN+ content and not any of the ESPN channels. So they're trying to get people to pay for both in order to gain access to all of ESPN's (the company, not the channel's) available content

If this is true then how do you explain the quote vu72 placed in his post from the "announcement"

I think this line from the announcement indicates that if you get ESPN via a paid tv package that you will still be able to access all the stuff we have had previously,for free.  Who knows?

TV Everywhere streaming will continue to provide authenticated access to ESPN's linear networks and ESPN3 for pay TV subscribers.

[mvandersee]

Quote from: mvandersee on Today at 01:50:48 PM ESPN+ is a completely different subscription service from ESPN3 or any of the ESPN cable channels (linear networks). If you stick with just your TV subscription you will not receive any ESPN+ content (But you will continue to be able to stream content from ESPN's cable channels and ESPN3). If you choose to only get ESPN+ and not have a cable subscription with ESPN included then you will only have access to ESPN+ content and not any of the ESPN channels. So they're trying to get people to pay for both in order to gain access to all of ESPN's (the company, not the channel's) available content If this is true then how do you explain the quote vu72 placed in his post from the "announcement" Quote from: vu72 on Today at 11:11:30 AM I think this line from the announcement indicates that if you get ESPN via a paid tv package that you will still be able to access all the stuff we have had previously,for free.  Who knows? TV Everywhere streaming will continue to provide authenticated access to ESPN's linear networks and ESPN3 for pay TV subscribers.

That's exactly what I tried to explain, I might have made it more complicated and wordy than necessary the first time.


The things that come with the TV subscription (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNNews, ESPN3, ESPNDeportes, SEC Network, LHN, etc) are one package while ESPN+ is a completely different package that is not available through your TV provider. There will be content that was previously a part of ESPN3 that will be moved to ESPN+ when it launches April 12th, but content will not overlap between the two packages.


Hopefully that makes a little more sense, if not here's the press release which includes the TV Everywhere Video vs ESPN+ explanation at the bottom: https://es.pn/2uELiHf

[aleavitt]

I've put together a brief story on our website regarding ESPN+ and the redesigned ESPN app, covering some of these questions. If there's any other questions regarding ESPN+, I can try to answer those as well.

http://www.valpoathletics.com/athletics/news/2017-18/18167/espn---what-you-need-to-know/

[VU2014]

I've put together a brief story on our website regarding ESPN+ and the redesigned ESPN app, covering some of these questions. If there's any other questions regarding ESPN+, I can try to answer those as well.

http://www.valpoathletics.com/athletics/news/2017-18/18167/espn---what-you-need-to-know/

I think what most people want to know, is ESPN going to force fans to pay for ESPN+ to watch the MVC Men's Basketball games in November-March?

Any word on how ESPN+ will affect how we view Valparaiso Men's Basketball games?

[aleavitt]

I've put together a brief story on our website regarding ESPN+ and the redesigned ESPN app, covering some of these questions. If there's any other questions regarding ESPN+, I can try to answer those as well.

http://www.valpoathletics.com/athletics/news/2017-18/18167/espn---what-you-need-to-know/

I think what most people want to know, is ESPN going to force fans to pay for ESPN+ to watch the MVC Men's Basketball games in November-March?

Any word on how ESPN+ will affect how we view Valparaiso Men's Basketball games?

That is still up in the air - as the last question reflected, schedules of which games are on which service should be available in the months leading up to the start of the seasons going forward. My guess would be (and this is just my guess based on the info we've received/heard about ESPN+ so far, nothing official) that MVC men's basketball games will be split between ESPN3 and ESPN+, with a greater number on ESPN+.