Sports
Content is still king: Landmark deal with ESPN to boost a broad range of NCAA sports
ESPN used its exclusive negotiating window to reach an eight-year, $920-million deal with the NCAA on Thursday, an arrangement that extends a relationship that began when ESPN was launched in 1979 and has proved lucrative for both parties since.
The new contract — worth $115 million a year — proves that even in a fragmented media landscape, content is king and college sports draw a significant, and growing, television audience on cable and through streaming.
The agreement is worth roughly three times the annual value of the current deal, and the NCAA said production and marketing costs assumed by ESPN would add another $25 million to $30 million per year. Slightly more than half the money — about $65 million a year — will go to women’s basketball, which despite discussions of the sport cutting its own deal remained in the bundle.
The largest audience for a women’s college basketball game was last year’s NCAA championship game between LSU and Iowa, and the same was true for the women’s volleyball final in December between Texas and Nebraska. The basketball game drew nearly 10 million viewers on ESPN+.
The NCAA and ESPN announced that the agreement will take effect Sept. 1, run through 2032 and include 40 NCAA championships — 21 women’s and 19 men’s. Among the increasingly popular sports besides women’s basketball and volleyball are baseball and softball.
Many of the events will be aired on ABC, which, like ESPN, is owned by Walt Disney Co. More than 2,300 hours of NCAA championships will appear on combined linear and digital platforms annually, ESPN said.
The NCAA and ESPN moved quickly to come to an agreement before other potential suitors could join the fray. ESPN had exclusive negotiating rights through the summer.
“The NCAA has worked in earnest over the past year to ensure that this new broadcast agreement provides the best possible outcome for all NCAA championships, and in particular women’s championships,” NCAA President Charlie Baker said in a statement. “Over the past several years, ESPN has demonstrated increased investment in NCAA championship coverage.”
The negotiations were the first since ESPN and the NCAA agreed to a 12-year, $500-million deal in 2011. A clear strategy for the NCAA was to place as many sports as possible on the same platform. The package includes championships in Division I men’s gymnastics and men’s and women’s tennis, as well as Division II and Division III men’s and women’s basketball and women’s volleyball.
“Having one multiplatform home to showcase our championships provides additional growth potential along with a greater experience for the viewer and our student-athletes,” Baker said.
Dealing directly with the NCAA rather than conferences appears to be ESPN’s strategy. The network declined to bail out the Pac-12 with a deal that might have kept the conference from all but disbanding, and also passed on a Big Ten media rights deal, which ultimately was divided among Fox, CBS and NBC.
An exception is the 10-year deal that ESPN cut with the behemoth SEC in December that made the network the exclusive rights holder of the conference’s football and men’s basketball telecasts. Next up for ESPN could be renewing the rights to the College Football Playoff. The current deal ends in two years.
Disney executives Jimmy Pitaro and Bob Iger have indicated a desire to partner with one or more tech companies as ESPN transitions into a sports streaming giant. Locking down a broad range of NCAA content might increase the appeal.
“ESPN and the NCAA have enjoyed a strong and collaborative relationship for more than four decades, and we are thrilled that it will continue as part of this new, long-term agreement,” Pitaro said in a statement. “The ESPN networks and platforms will exclusively present a record number of championships, including all rounds of several marquee events that, together with the NCAA, we have grown over time.”
Missing from the contract is the most lucrative NCAA tentpole event: the Division I men’s basketball tournament, a.k.a. March Madness. Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery have a deal with the NCAA for the event that extends through 2032 and pays nearly $900 million a year to broadcast the games on CBS and the Turner cable networks.
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Folarin Balogun’s teammates came to his defense after the USA World Cup star was given a red card during the team’s 2-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday night.
Balogun received the red card after he stepped on defender Tarik Muharemovic’s right ankle. Brazilian referee Raphael Claus only gave Balogun the card after a VAR review. The red card meant Balogun will not be able to play in the team’s Round of 16 match against Belgium.
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United States’ Folarin Balogun, right, stands by after being issued a red card by Referee Raphael Claus, of Brazil, as United States’ Weston McKennie (8) looks on during the World Cup round of 32 soccer match between the United States and Bosnia in Santa Clara, Calif., near San Francisco, Wednesday, July 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
A FIFA official told The Athletic a team cannot appeal against the red card or the suspension. The official pointed the outlet to a portion of the organization’s rules and regulations, which states, “A sending-off automatically incurs suspension from the subsequent match. The FIFA judicial bodies may impose additional match suspensions and other disciplinary measures.”
Balogun’s teammate, Weston McKennie, called the lack of an appeal process “bogus” and disagreed with the referee’s decision to issue the red card.
Bosnia’s Sead Kolasinac (5) talks to United States’ Folarin Balogun after Balogun was sent off, as Christian Pulisic (10) watches during the World Cup round of 32 match between the United States and Bosnia in Santa Clara, Calif., Wednesday, July 1, 2026. (Julio Cortez / AP)
“Obviously the ref made a decision that he made, but I think it’s questionable,” McKennie said. “I think there’s been many other plays like that throughout the tournament on other players that a card wasn’t given at all. It’s disappointing.”
U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino said Balogun’s act “was never intentional.”
“It’s never a red card. Never. … If the intention is to damage the opponent, OK, I understand. But that never was. It was a normal action in football that you are fighting for the ball and your feet land,” he said.
Balogun is the third player to score in a World Cup knockout match and be sent off. He follows Brazil’s Ronaldinho in 2002’s quarterfinal match against England and France’s Zinedine Zidane in the 2006 World Cup final against Italy.
Referee Raphael Claus of Brazil shows a red card to United States’ Folarin Balogun, right, during the World Cup round of 32 soccer match between the United States and Bosnia in Santa Clara, Calif., near San Francisco, Wednesday, July 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
It’s the fifth red card handed to an American in the squad’s World Cup history.
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Eric Wynalda received one against Czechoslovakia in 1990, Fernando Clavijo got one against Brazil in 1994 and Pablo Mastroeni and Eddie Pope each received one against Italy in 2006.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
While veterans jockey for new contracts during free agency, young players are getting their tryout opportunities with NBA summer league games beginning this week.
First-round draft pick Cameron Carr and second-year forward Adou Thiero highlight the Lakers summer league roster that was announced Wednesday. The 16-man team will be coached by Lakers assistant coach Ty Abbott and begin summer league play Friday against the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center.
The Lakers also face the Miami Heat (July 5, 1:30 p.m.) and San Antonio Spurs (July 6, 4:30 p.m.) in the California Classic before playing in the Las Vegas summer league from July 9-19. The Lakers play Oklahoma City (July 10), Dallas (July 11), the Clippers (July 14) and Chicago (July 16) in Las Vegas’ Thomas & Mack Center.
The Lakers traded up in the draft to get Carr, a 6-foot-5 guard out of Baylor, with the 24th overall pick. He will make his unofficial NBA debut, along with former Indiana State and Saint Louis star Robbie Avila. The 6-10 center became a bespectacled college basketball cult hero known affectionately as “Cream Abdul Jabbar” while leading Indiana State to the NIT championship game in 2024. He transferred to Saint Louis, where he was named Atlantic-10 player of the year as a senior when the Billikens won a school-record 29 wins.
Although he is entering his second season with the Lakers, Thiero will be playing his first summer league games. Persistent knee injuries hampered his rookie season. The athletic 6-7 forward averaged 1.9 points and 1.1 rebounds in 25 appearances last season. He said after the Lakers were eliminated from the playoffs that he wanted to improve on his three-point shooting during his second year. He attempted only five three-pointers during his rookie season, regular season and playoffs, making one.
Lakers summer league roster
Robbie Avila, C, 6-10, 240
Cameron Carr, G, 6-5, 190
Jon Elmore, G, 6-3, 190
Luke Goode, F, 6-7, 210
William Hickey, G, 6-4, 203
Arthur Kaluma, F, 6-7, 225
William Kyle III, C, 6-9, 230
Chris Mañon, G, 6-4, 212
Robert McCray V, G, 6-4, 188
AK Okereke, F, 6-7, 245
Chase Ross, G, 6-5, 210
Zhaire Smith, G, 6-4, 205
Peter Suder, G, 6-5, 215
Adou Thiero, F, 6-7, 234
Anton Watson, F, 6-8, 225
Jacari White, G, 6-3, 180
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U.S. men’s national team star Folarin Balogun received a red card in the second half of their Round of 32 World Cup matchup against Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday night.
Balogun was making a challenge on a ball when he stepped on an opposing player’s leg.
The U.S. men’s national team is down to 10 players for the rest of the match. If the U.S. holds their 1-0 lead, Balogun will have to miss the Round of 16 game.
Balogun scored for the U.S. in the first half.
This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.
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