The Southern Conference (SoCon) and ESPN have announced a multi-year extension to their current media rights agreement, which will now run through the 2031-32 season.
Under the new extended agreement, SoCon home football games will continue to be streamed live across ESPN digital platforms.
Beyond linear coverage, the agreement ensures a minimum of 750 live SoCon events annually across ESPN digital platforms. In addition to all SoCon football and basketball home games, ESPN platforms will continue to stream hundreds of contests in major Olympic sports, including championship coverage for men’s and women’s soccer, volleyball, indoor and outdoor track and field, wrestling, softball, and baseball, as well as early rounds of the men’s and women’s basketball championships.
“This six-year extension with ESPN enhances national exposure opportunities for our member institutions, reinforcing ESPN’s confidence in Southern Conference athletics and our commitment to excellence,” said SoCon Commissioner Michael Cross. “The enhanced agreement ensures our student-athletes are featured on ESPN’s industry leading digital and linear networks, offering SoCon athletics a national home where ‘It’s All Here.’ We are grateful to Mallory Kenny and Nick Dawson at ESPN for their continued support and vision, and we look forward to continuing our collaboration into the next decade.”
Tennessee Tech officially joins the Southern Conference in football this fall. Returning football members include Chattanooga, ETSU, Furman, Mercer, Samford, The Citadel, VMI, Western Carolina, and Wofford.
“ESPN is pleased to extend our long‑standing relationship with the Southern Conference,” said Mallory Kenny, ESPN Director of Programming & Acquisitions. “This updated agreement reaffirms ESPN’s commitment to highlighting the achievements of SoCon student‑athletes and its member institutions, and to ensuring their stories continue to reach a broad audience across our networks. For more than two decades, we have worked closely with the conference and we look forward to building on that history in the years ahead.”
I smell more conference members coming to the SoCon
I smell more FCS games on Television.