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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The Kentucky Wildcats basketball team may still make the NCAA Tournament, but Dick Vitale thinks this iconic program should be much better than their 19-12 record this season considering their whopping $22 million roster.
The legendary ESPN college basketball analyst didn’t hold back his feelings about the Wildcats as they played Florida during Saturday’s prime SEC matchup. After the Gators hit some free throws to extend their first-half lead to 26-19, Vitale started to lay into the Wildcats.
Head coach Mark Pope of the Kentucky Wildcats in a game between the Florida Gators and the Kentucky Wildcats on March 7, 2026, at Rupp Arena in Lexington, KY. (Jeff Moreland/Icon Sportswire)
“I’m going to say this right here, I’ve done several Kentucky games, win or lose, $22 million this team [which has been reported] in terms of the NIL for their players,” he said, per Awful Announcing. “I think in $22 million, they could have put together a better roster than they did. I really do.”
The Wildcats ended up losing by a score of 84-77, and Vitale continued about Kentucky near the end of their 12th loss of the season.
“I’ll tell you one thing, you don’t want to walk out of here thinking you got a moral victory,” Vitale said, referencing a hard-fought game against the No. 5-ranked Florida team. “Moral victories don’t count at this level of basketball. And you hear some of the people, ‘We played them close. We played them tough.’
“The bottom line is you’re Kentucky. You’re Kentucky. And you’ve got to leave here with a win, especially at home. There are no moral victories. Come on. I don’t want to hear that.”
Collin Chandler and Jasper Johnson of the Kentucky Wildcats celebrate in the first half against the Ole Miss Rebels at Rupp Arena on Jan. 24, 2026 in Lexington, Kentucky. (Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
The Wildcats were once the top program in the country under former Coach John Calipari, who left for Arkansas after being unable to make a long March Madness run in recent seasons, including a shocking first round upset to the Oakland Golden Grizzlies in the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
The Wildcats have been coached by Mark Pope since, and they made the Sweet 16 in last year’s tournament before losing to Tennessee.
Kentucky Jasper Johnson in action vs Michigan State at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY on Nov. 18, 2025. (Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated )
But this year, Kentucky is 10-8 in SEC play, and now face the No. 9 seed in the upcoming tournament this week. The winner of each conference earns a tournament berth, but the Wildcats know good seeding in the NCAA Tournament requires a strong run heading into Selection Sunday this upcoming weekend.
The Wildcats will start their SEC Tournament play on Wednesday against No. 16 LSU.
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The Chargers bolstered their efforts to protect quarterback Justin Herbert all while diversifying their offense by agreeing to a multiyear deal with veteran fullback Alec Ingold on Sunday, the team announced.
Ingold’s deal with the Chargers reportedly is for two years and $7.5 million.
Ingold will be no stranger to the Chargers’ plans on offense. He played the past four seasons in Miami under coach Mike McDaniel, the Chargers’ new offensive coordinator. Last year he caught eight passes for 52 yards and ran the ball twice in 17 games.
Ingold caught 47 passes for 372 yards and rushed for 34 yards in 20 carries in four seasons with the Dolphins. He also had two rushing touchdowns and a receiving touchdown.
Before his time in Miami, Ingold played three seasons with the Raiders.
The deal comes two days after the Chargers signed veteran center Tyler Biadasz to take over for the retiring Bradley Bozeman. They agreed to terms on a one-year deal with edge rusher Khalil Mack on Saturday.
With the free agency negotiation period set to begin Monday at 9 a.m. PDT, the Chargers remain in strong position to be significant players in the free-agent market. They rank among the top-five teams in salary cap space, per Overthecap.com.
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Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott and his fiancée, Sarah Jane Ramos, reportedly broke up with their wedding around the corner.
Prescott and Ramos’ relationship had been “rocky” in the weeks leading up to the breakup and things exploded between the two at their joint bachelor and bachelorette parties, TMZ Sports reported on Saturday.
Dak Prescott and Sarah Jane Ramos attend the Farrah Fawcett Foundation Tex-Mex Fiesta on Oct. 30, 2025 in Dallas, Texas. (Omar Vega/Getty Images for Farrah Fawcett Foundation)
Ramos shared pictures of her trip with her friends on Instagram on Friday.
“I truly believe you can get through anything in life as long as you have really great friends. I love these girls so much,” Ramos captioned the collage of snaps.
Prescott was not pictured in any of the 16 photos and videos posted to her social media account.
Sarah Jane Ramos and Dak Prescott pose for a photo before Dak Prescott’s Faith Fight Finish Foundation Gala on May 17, 2024 in Dallas, Texas. (Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images for Faith Fight Finish Foundation)
Ramos also posted photos of her bridal shower back on Feb. 23. There were no photos of Prescott in the carousel either.
“The most intimate and beautiful bridal shower of my dreams,” she added on Instagram. “So grateful for my aunts who hosted it and my girlfriends and family that came to celebrate. I love you all so much and can’t wait to marry the love of my life with all of you by my side.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Prescott’s representative for comment.
Prescott posted a series of photos on his Instagram of Ramos and his family on July 20, 2025. There’s only a September advertisement posted on his account since.
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott and Sarah Jane Ramos pose on the NFL Honors Red Carpet before Super Bowl LX at Palace of Fine Arts on Feb. 5, 2026. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
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The NFL star and Ramos announced they were engaged on Oct. 18, 2024. The couple have two children together.
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