The Nevada Sagebrush

The Western Athletic Conference reached an agreement Wednesday with the networks of ESPN that would more than double exposure to football, quadruple the exposure to basketball and telecast women’s basketball, volleyball and softball games.

“The WAC’s success has been tremendous and well documented,”ESPN Senior Vice president Burk Magnus said. “We recognized the need to reward them.”

Magnus said that the WAC’s performance, two Bowl Championship Series appearances in the last two years and Fresno State’s College World Series championship this summer, all played a factor in reaching an agreement with the WAC.

The deal includes 300 regular season games and 45 conference championship games to be aired on the ESPN networks through April of 2017. The finances of the agreement could not be discussed yet, WAC Commissioner Karl Benson said.

“It’s an extension,”Benson said. “I’m not comfortable discussing the financial aspect which is confidential.

“I will say it is a significant financial increase.” 

The WAC’s previous deal, which paid $900,000 per year, was set to expire in the 2009-10 season and only included a minimum of three football telecasts per year.

The new football deal guarantees a minimum of 10 games on ESPN and ESPN2. It also includes a minimum of six WAC games on ESPNU with the possibility of some ABC telecasts. 

The men’s basketball deal guarantees every WAC team will play at least one game on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU or ABC.

The Women’s sports deal guarantees six regular season events this year (volleyball, softball, basketball), seven next year and eight in 2010. The WAC championships for volleyball and basketball will be aired on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU.

“This truly shows that the WAC has established itself as one of the premier conferences in the country,”Benson said. 

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