Valley Men’s Basketball Back on ESPN Networks

Editor: The following is part of a press release from mvc-sports.com.

(St. Louis, MO) – The Missouri Valley Conference will have an exclusive 35-live event men’s basketball package on ESPN networks during the 2022-23 academic year, Commissioner Jeff Jackson announced today.

The Valley — in its ninth year of a 10-year agreement with ESPN — will clear productions on ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3, as well as ESPN+ — the industry-leading sports streaming service.

Additional regular-season men’s basketball games produced by MVC institutions will be delivered exclusively through The Valley on ESPN — the league’s co-branded digital network with ESPN available through the ESPN App.

Men’s basketball coverage begins in November, as three MVC schools will compete in ESPN-controlled, neutral site events.

New MVC member Murray State will play in the Myrtle Beach Invitational (Nov. 17, 18 and 20), while both new league member Belmont and Drake will participate in the Paradise Jam (Nov. 18-21) in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Murray State — 31-3 overall and winner of a 2022 NCAA Tournament First Round game with San Francisco — will meet Texas A&M in an ESPN2 first round contest on Nov. 17 with a possible second match-up against Colorado or UMass on Nov. 18 on either ESPN2 or ESPNU.  The Racers final game will be on Nov. 20 against either Boise State, Charlotte, Loyola Chicago or Tulsa.

Belmont — 25-8 overall and a 2022 NIT participant — will play Tarleton State, and Drake — 25-11 overall and a 2022 CBI participant — will meet Buffalo on Nov. 18 with both games on ESPN3.

In terms of Missouri Valley Conference regular-season tilts, the league will have four games on ESPN2 and a total of six contests on ESPNU.

The MVC telecast schedule tips off prior to the start of the year, as Belmont plays host to Valparaiso (Dec. 1) at the Curb Event Center in Nashville, Tennessee, on ESPNU in the only pre-determined show in the linear package.

The Valley has also selected a 16-game digital exclusive men’s basketball package for distribution on ESPN+ and/or ESPN3 — via computers, smartphones, tablets and TV-connected devices to fans who receive their high- speed internet connection or video subscription from an affiliated service provider.

The slate, which includes 16 league games, starts with Bradley visiting 2022 NIT participant Missouri State at Great Southern Bank Arena in Springfield, Missouri, on Dec. 3, and Valparaiso playing host to Murray State at the Athletics-Recreation Center in Valparaiso, Indiana, on Dec. 4.

Postseason coverage from the 2023 State Farm MVC Men’s Basketball Tournament — known uniquely as Arch Madness — in St. Louis includes four opening-round games on March 2.

In 2020, the Missouri Valley joined the Big East (New York City) as the only Division I athletics conferences to conduct their men’s basketball tournaments in the same city for 30 or more consecutive years.