Details of the new Conference USA media deal were reported by Sports Business Journal on Wednesday. It is a five-year media rights contract with CBS Sports Network and ESPN.
A big part of the new deal will include a heavy emphasis on midweek games starting with the 2023 season, the first year for Liberty competing in the FBS league. The entire slate of October conference games will be played on midweek evenings, with the majority of those games being played on Tuesday and Wednesday nights and a handful of games also planned for Thursday and Friday. This is very similar to the MAC’s “MACtion” schedule which plays all of its November games during the week.
According to the Sports Business Journal, CUSA member schools will be making around $750,000 per year as part of this media deal. The prior CUSA media deal divided games across four media partners, including Facebook and NFL Network. Now, all the games will be on CBS and ESPN networks.
Alongside Liberty, three other members will join CUSA in 2023 – Jacksonville State, New Mexico State, and Sam Houston State. Current ASUN member Kennesaw State will join the conference in 2024. They will join with the remaining CUSA members – FIU, Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee, Western Kentucky, and UTEP – to form the 10-team league.
From Sports Business Journal: “The arrangement positions CBS with tier one selection status of 18 games during football and 18 games in men’s basketball. CBS also will televise the CUSA football championship game, men’s basketball championship game, women’s basketball semifinals and finals, and championship games in softball and baseball.”
The 2023 conference football slate is expected to be announced soon.
