FARMINGTON, Utah (May 18, 2022) – Big Sky Conference games will have a big-time presence on local television stations thanks to a new partnership with The E.W. Scripps Company, Commissioner Tom Wistrcill announced today. Scripps stations in markets with Big Sky schools will broadcast football games and men’s and women’s basketball games beginning in the 2022-23 academic year.
“This partnership with Scripps allows Big Sky fans to watch games throughout our entire footprint,” Wistrcill said. “One of the primary objectives with our conference’s media rights is to maximize the number of people who can watch our teams compete, and this deal complements our ESPN relationship by providing extensive television coverage with a renowned media company that has existing relationships across the Big Sky.”
The Big Sky Conference will retain rights to digitally distribute and stream programming via the ESPN+ app both within and outside the league’s footprint, and these broadcasts on Scripps will not be subject to any blackout restrictions.
“We want to deliver content that is of high interest to our audiences, and we know viewers in this part of the country are passionate about their Big Sky sports,” said Brian Lawlor, president of Local Media for The E.W. Scripps Company. “When it’s important to the community, it’s important to us.”
Under the new deal, Scripps will have the rights to broadcast up to 14 conference football games involving Montana and Montana State. Scripps will air the annual “Brawl of the Wild” between the Griz and Bobcats statewide in Montana using Scripps Montana CBS Stations.
As part of this agreement, UM and MSU each will have one home and one away conference football game that will air in primetime. The Big Sky Conference will schedule the balance of the Montana and Montana State football games to air in the afternoon which will air on Scripps Montana CBS, NBC and CW TV stations.
Also under the contract, Scripps will have the first right to broadcast as many as eight women’s or men’s basketball games involving Montana or Montana State. Additional conference football and men’s and women’s basketball games may be added by mutual agreement between the Big Sky Conference and Scripps.
In addition, Scripps will be on-site annually to produce content at the Big Sky’s Football Kickoff, Hall of Fame Ceremony and Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships.
With this new agreement, Big Sky contests will not air on ROOT Sports moving forward. Additional television clearances for Big Sky contests will be announced at a later date.
Follow the Big Sky Conference (@BigSkyConf) on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok for all the latest news around the league and use the hashtag #ExperienceElevated.
About the Big Sky Conference: Founded in 1963,
the Big Sky Conference [bigskyconf.com] is a NCAA Division I conference competing in the Football Championship Subdivision. With 165 teams representing 15 institutions in 16 sports (seven men’s, nine women’s), the Big Sky prides itself on its “#ExperienceElevated” platform that emphasizes the unique traits and lifelong benefits that the conference and its member institutions provide to around 4,000 student-athletes each year. The conference has 11 full members (Eastern Washington University; the University of Idaho; Idaho State University; the University of Montana; Montana State University; Northern Arizona University; the University of Northern Colorado; Portland State University; California State University, Sacramento; Southern Utah University; and Weber State University) located in eight states across the western United States, plus two football affiliate members (California Polytechnic State University and the University of California, Davis) and two men’s golf affiliate members (Binghamton University and the University of Hartford). Conference members have won 12 NCAA championships, including seven in football by five different members as well as five of the last six men’s cross country titles by NAU.
About Scripps: The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP) is a diversified media company focused on creating a better-informed world. As one of the nation’s largest local TV broadcasters, Scripps serves communities with quality, objective local journalism and operates a portfolio of 61 stations in 41 markets. The Scripps Networks reach nearly every American through the national news outlets Court TV and Newsy and popular entertainment brands ION, Bounce, Defy TV, Grit, ION Mystery, Laff and TrueReal. Scripps is the nation’s largest holder of broadcast spectrum. Scripps runs an award-winning investigative reporting newsroom in Washington, D.C., and is the longtime steward of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Founded in 1878, Scripps has held for decades to the motto, “Give light and the people will find their own way.”