K-State Athletics announced today an enhanced third-tier television package that includes regional, national and world-wide distribution as a result of a new multi-year agreement between FOX Sports and Learfield Sports, the multimedia rights holder for K-State Athletics.
FOX Sports will televise nearly 60 broadcasts, including up to 28 live K-State sporting events this season with regional distribution on FOX Sports Kansas City and FOX Sports Midwest, some national distribution on FOX College Sports (FCS) and world-wide distribution on K-StateHD.TV. A complete schedule of live game telecasts and the various FOX platforms carrying the telecasts will be released in the coming weeks.
“This a big win for the K-State Nation and the Wildcats’ fan base throughout the Midwest and beyond,” said Learfield Sports’ Chief Content Officer Joe Ferreira. “Millions of viewers on a variety of platforms will now be able to catch K-State games and coaches’ shows, resulting in a much greater volume of programming for the Wildcats with a broader distribution than ever before.”
Fans in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and other parts of the nation will see K-State events, which may include approximately eight K-State men’s basketball games, up to 20 women’s basketball, baseball and volleyball games, and additional non-game programming mutually selected by FOX Sports and K-State on FOX Sports platforms including FOX Sports Kansas City and FOX Sports Midwest each year during the multi-year agreement. Selected programming may include the following shows throughout their respective seasons: the Bill Snyder Show, the Bruce Weber Show and the Deb Patterson Show, as well as a preseason football special. FOX Sports Kansas City has been the television home of K-State sports since 2003.
The new groundbreaking agreement also allows K-State Athletics to stream events on K-StateHD.TV that are not selected for distribution by FOX Sports or any FOX-designated platform. Debuting in 2011, K-StateHD.TV is an exclusive high-definition network providing Kansas State Athletics and Kansas State University a world-wide connection for live athletics and academics events, classic games, press conferences, original programming, as well as on-campus performances and/or lectures. A joint venture with the university, K-StateHD.TV is ranked first in viewership among all CBS College Network schools.
“We are pleased to announce this new multi-year agreement which will maximize the exposure and visibility of our programs and student-athletes throughout Kansas, the Midwest and the entire country,” K-State Athletics Director John Currie said. “This partnership with FOX, as well as our continued growth with K-StateHD.TV, will afford our fans significant opportunities to watch and support the Wildcats.”
“We’re excited to extend our relationship with K-State into a second decade,” said FOX Sports Kansas City and FOX Sports Midwest Senior Vice President/General Manager Jack Donovan. “We enjoy working with K-State and its student-athletes and are pleased to showcase more K-State coverage as part of our new multi-year agreement.”
Learfield Sports’ K-State Sports Properties oversees all aspects of the K-State relationship. Learfield Sports, which manages multimedia rights for more than 50 collegiate institutions and associations including four additional Big 12 Conference members – Iowa State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech – also titles the prestigious Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup. The company’s multi-media rights encompass numerous content distribution platforms to deliver the passion of college athletics across radio, television and digital networks to fans globally. Today, Learfield Sports’ exclusive sports programming reaches more than 50 million television households nationally and delivers nearly 17,000 hours of radio programming on more than 1,000 radio stations.
FOX Sports Kansas City, a regional sports television network, is the leading provider of local sports in Kansas and western Missouri. FOX Sports Kansas City and FOX Sports Midwest combine to reach more than 6 million television homes and produce more than 2000 hours of local programming each year, including Kansas City Royals baseball, Big 12, Kansas State, University of Missouri and Missouri Valley Conference sports, St. Louis Cardinals baseball, St. Louis Blues hockey and much more. For more information visit FOXSportsKansasCity.com.
FOX College Sports is seen by viewers in the nation’s 25 largest cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas and Atlanta. FCS is available on DirecTV and most major cable companies including AT&T U-verse, Charter, Comcast, Insight, Time Warner and Verizon FiOS. For complete cable provider information and availability log, click here.