The Missouri Valley Conference is set to see more national coverage of its men’s basketball programs thanks to a new agreement with CBS Sports. The deal will last until the 2019-2020 season.
It marks the first time in conference history that both semi-final games of the MVC men’s basketball tournament will be broadcast nationally. It also means the MVC championship game will continue to be televised nationally, which has been the case for the last ten years.
Doug Elgin is the conference’s commissioner. He says successful programs like Wichita State University and the University of Northern Iowa have catapulted the conference into the national spotlight.
“It’s testimony to the fact that this is a great league—a basketball-centric conference—that can line up with any of the major programs in this country in the month of March,” Elgin said.
The agreement also means eight regular-season games will be televised on CBS Sports each year.
Elgin wouldn’t disclose how much the deal was worth.