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ESPN Events is an American multinational sporting event promoter owned by
ESPN Inc. ESPN Inc. is an American multinational sports media conglomerate majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Hearst Communications as an equity stakeholder. For management and financial reporting purposes, the company is the main entity wit ...
It is headquartered in
Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
, and shares its operations with
SEC Network The SEC Network is an American multinational sports network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which operates the network, through its 80% controlling ownership interest) and Hearst Communications (which holds ...
and formerly with ESPNU. The corporation organizes sporting events for broadcast across the ESPN family of networks, including, most prominently, a group of college football
bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivi ...
s and in-season
college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...
tournaments. ESPN Events previously operated primarily as a syndicator of college sports broadcasts; the company was founded as Creative Sports, a sports programming syndicator that merged with
Don Ohlmeyer Donald Winfred Ohlmeyer Jr. (February 3, 1945September 10, 2017) was an American television producer and president of the NBC network's west coast division. He received notoriety for firing Norm Macdonald from ''Saturday Night Live'' in early ...
's OCC Sports in 1996. After ESPN purchased the merged company, the division was renamed ESPN Regional Television (ERT), which distributed telecasts for syndication on broadcast stations and
regional sports network In the United States and Canada, a regional sports network (RSN) is a cable television channel (many of which are also distributed on direct broadcast satellite services) that presents sports programming to a local market or geographical region. ...
s; these telecasts were also available on the
ESPN GamePlan ESPN GamePlan was an out-of-market sports package offering college football games to viewers throughout the United States. GamePlan began on Labor Day weekend, and continued through the first Saturday in December. It included all regional teleca ...
and
ESPN Full Court ESPN Full Court was an out-of-market sports package in the United States that carried college basketball games. The package consisted of about 150 games annually, from the season tipoff in November to the first two rounds of the NCAA Women's Divis ...
out-of-market sports package In North America, an out-of-market sports package is a form of subscription television that broadcasts sporting events to areas where the events were unable to be seen by viewers on other broadcast and cable television networks due to the games no ...
s. Most of ERT's broadcasts were presented under the on-air branding ''ESPN Plus'' (not to be confused with the current subscription service ESPN+), but this name was later phased out in favor of dedicated on-air brands for each package, such as SEC Network (later renamed SEC TV as to not be confused with the then-upcoming SEC Network cable channel). Following its acquisition of the
Las Vegas Bowl The Las Vegas Bowl is an NCAA Division I FBS annual post-season college football bowl game held in the Las Vegas area. First played in 1992, the bowl was originally held at the 40,000-seat Sam Boyd Stadium in Whitney, Nevada before moving to the ...
in 2001, ERT began to double as an organizer of sporting events. The subdivision, which later began to operate under the name ESPN Events, would acquire and establish other bowl games to provide additional post-season opportunities for
bowl-eligible Bowl eligibility in college football at the NCAA Division I FBS level is the standard through which teams become available for selection to participate in postseason bowl games. When a team achieves this state, it is described as "bowl-eligible". ...
teams. ESPN Events also organizes several pre-season tournaments in college basketball, as well as the season-opening
Camping World Kickoff The Camping World Kickoff is an annual college football game played on the opening weekend of the college football season in Orlando, Florida at Camping World Stadium. The game, a collaboration between Florida Citrus Sports and ESPN Events, debut ...
and
Texas Kickoff The Texas Kickoff was an annual college football game played on the opening weekend of the college football season in Houston, Texas, at NRG Stadium. The game was sponsored by Advocare from 2013 to 2019 and known officially as the Advocare Texas ...
football games. All ESPN Events are broadcast by ESPN's networks. ESPN Regional Television began to wind down its syndication operations in the 2010s, as the proliferation of competing outlets (including other sports channels, conference-specific networks such as ESPN's own SEC Network, as well as digital services such as ESPN's own ESPN3 and
WatchESPN WatchESPN was a branding of the Internet television website and mobile application operated by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which operates the network, through its 80% controlling ownership interest) and Hearst C ...
platforms) took over most of the conference rights and overflow formerly held by the company.


History

The company traces its history to Creative Sports, Inc., a
North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...
-based sports syndicator owned and founded by
Bray Cary Bray Cary, born June 15, 1948, is a Senior Political Advisor as well as a US-based media and sports marketing entrepreneur. He is also the President, Chief Executive Officer, and a member of the Board of Directors of West Virginia Media Holdings, ...
.
ESPN Inc. ESPN Inc. is an American multinational sports media conglomerate majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Hearst Communications as an equity stakeholder. For management and financial reporting purposes, the company is the main entity wit ...
purchased Creative Sports, Inc. and OCC Sports, Inc. in the mid-1990s. On July 22, 1994, ESPN Regional Television was incorporated in
Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...
. ESPN Regional Television was formed in 1996, through ESPN Inc.'s combination of Creative Sports and OCC Sports, under the direction of Chuck Gerber and Loren Matthews. In January 2000, Loren Matthews left ESPN Regional Television for an executive position at sister division
ABC Sports ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Televisi ...
. By February 2000, ERT acquired the production rights to the
Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...
; this included responsibilities for AFL broadcasts on
The Nashville Network The Nashville Network, usually referred to as TNN, was an American country music-oriented cable television network. Programming included music videos, taped concerts, movies, game shows, syndicated programs, and numerous talk shows. On Septembe ...
, which had ESPN retain duties for the events in lieu of its own unit, World Sports Enterprises. In 2001, ESPN Regional Television moved beyond broadcasting college football
bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivi ...
s, when it purchased the
Las Vegas Bowl The Las Vegas Bowl is an NCAA Division I FBS annual post-season college football bowl game held in the Las Vegas area. First played in 1992, the bowl was originally held at the 40,000-seat Sam Boyd Stadium in Whitney, Nevada before moving to the ...
from
Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) is a government agency and the official destination marketing organization for Southern Nevada. It was founded by the Nevada Legislature in 1955. The LVCVA owns and operates the Las Vegas ...
. ESPN Regional did so to help partner conferences that had bowl qualified teams but no bowl available. The company bought four more bowls and started two others. In August 2008, ESPN reached a 15-year, $2.25 billion broadcast rights agreement with the SEC. As part of the deal, ESPN also assumed the syndicated package of games previously held by Raycom Sports; beginning in 2009, ERT syndicated SEC football and basketball under the ''
SEC Network The SEC Network is an American multinational sports network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which operates the network, through its 80% controlling ownership interest) and Hearst Communications (which holds ...
'' brand. The original business of ESPN Regional Television began to grow obsolete with the launch of dedicated networks dedicated to specific conferences, including the Big Ten Network, Pac-12 Network, and the ESPN-operated
SEC Network The SEC Network is an American multinational sports network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which operates the network, through its 80% controlling ownership interest) and Hearst Communications (which holds ...
, since they largely assumed rights to the game packages that ESPN had previously syndicated. As such, the division pivoted to focusing solely on organizing events, particularly within college football and basketball.


Broadcast rights


Former rights

ESPN Plus used to hold the rights to Conference USA football and basketball,
Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations ...
football and basketball, and
Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...
football and basketball, but has lost them as detailed below: *
American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) ...
men's college basketball (starting with the 2008 football season, under the old Big East contract; games were branded as ''Big East Network'', later the ''American Athletic Network'', with
SportsNet New York SportsNet New York (SNY) is an American regional sports network owned by Sterling Entertainment Enterprises, LLC, itself a joint venture between the Fred Wilpon (which owns a controlling 65% interest) Sterling Equities, Charter Communications th ...
as the flagship station). As of the 2019 football season, the AAC entered into a 12-year media rights agreement with ESPN. *
Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...
basketball (telecasts from the conference became branded under the '' Big 12 Network'' name beginning in the 2008–09 season) All Big 12 basketball games moved to ESPN linear channels after the 2013–2014 season.“Big 12 Network syndication coverage concludes after tournament semifinals”
Clones Confidential (Fan site of the
Iowa State Cyclones The Iowa State Cyclones are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Iowa State University, located in Ames. The university is a member of the Big 12 Conference and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding 16 varsity teams (6 men's an ...
), March 2014. Retrieved November 12, 2015.
“Big 12 Network to Tune Out After Conference Tournament”
'' Kansas City Star'' (March 12, 2014).
* Conference USA – Broadcast rights were for regular-season football games.
American Sports Network American Sports Network (ASN) was a sports brand owned by the U.S. television station owner Sinclair Broadcast Group through its Sinclair Networks subsidiary. Formed in July 2014, the multicast network component of ASN produced broadcasts of sp ...
(a unit of
Sinclair Broadcast Group Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (SBG) is a publicly traded American telecommunications conglomerate that is controlled by the descendants of company founder Julian Sinclair Smith. Headquartered in the Baltimore suburb of Cockeysville, Maryland, ...
that initially operated under a very similar model to ERT) began to syndicate other C-USA games with the 2014 season. Currently, its rights are held by CBS Sports Network, ASN's successor Stadium, ESPN, and
NFL Network NFL Network (occasionally abbreviated on-air as NFLN) is an American sports-oriented pay television network owned by the National Football League (NFL) and is part of NFL Media, which also includes NFL.com, NFL Films, NFL Mobile, NFL Now and NF ...
. *
Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great L ...
basketball – Broadcast rights were assumed by
SportsTime Ohio Bally Sports Great Lakes is an American regional sports network owned by Diamond Sports Group, and operates as an affiliate of Bally Sports. The channel, which is a sister network to Bally Sports Ohio, broadcasts statewide coverage of professiona ...
in 2010; Sportstime Ohio lost the rights to American Sports Network in 2015. *
Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations ...
– Broadcast rights to MW football and basketball games are now held by
CBS Sports Network CBS Sports Network (a.k.a. CBSSN) is an American pay television network owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. When it launched in 2002 as the National College Sports Network (later College Sports Television also known a ...
and
Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the F ...
(conference rights were previously held by the now-defunct
MountainWest Sports Network The MountainWest Sports Network, also known as The Mtn. (stylized as the mtn.), was an American college sports television channel. Launched on September 1, 2006, it was dedicated to the Mountain West Conference (MWC), including studio programs fo ...
). *
Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...
Big Ten Network assumed the packages held by ESPN Regional Television upon its launch in August 2007. *
Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...
(SEC) – Broadcast rights to SEC football and basketball games not selected to air on ESPN or CBS were assumed by the
SEC Network The SEC Network is an American multinational sports network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which operates the network, through its 80% controlling ownership interest) and Hearst Communications (which holds ...
beginning in the 2014–15 academic season. The conference rights were previously held by Raycom Sports, and before that
Lincoln Financial Sports Lincoln Financial Media was a subsidiary of Lincoln National Corporation that owned radio stations in the United States. The division was formed in 2006 following the company's acquisition of Jefferson-Pilot's television and radio operations, wh ...
(formerly Jefferson Pilot Sports from 1987 to 2009); from the beginning of ESPN's SEC contract in the 2009–10 season, ERT produced syndicated broadcasts branded as ''SEC Network'' (later rebranded as ''SEC TV'' in 2013 as to not to be confused with the incoming cable network) as a successor to the Raycom Sports SEC package. * Sun Belt Conference football and men's basketball (telecasts from the conference are branded under the ''
Sun Belt Network Comcast Sports Southeast and Charter Sports Southeast (CSS) was an American regional sports network for the Southern United States that was operated as a joint venture between cable television providers Comcast and Charter Communications. In contr ...
'' name). The Sun Belt Network ceased operations in 2014. *
Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington, and Texas. Due to mos ...
– ESPN Plus broadcast WAC men's and women's basketball until 2014, when American Sports Network won those syndication rights, beginning with the 2014–15 season.


On-air staff


College football

*
Cara Capuano Cara Capuano is an American sports anchor for ESPNU. Before joining ESPNU in 2008, she was a former sports reporter for FSN. She joined Fox Sports Northwest in August 2004, as a reporter and anchor for the ''Northwest Sports Report'' and the ' ...
– Southeastern Conference sideline reporter (2009–2012) * Paul Carcaterra – Big East Conference sideline reporter (2012) * Doug Chapman – Mid-America Conference color commentator (2009–2012; alternating from 2010 onward) *
John Congemi John Congemi is a former Canadian Football League quarterback and current college football analyst for ESPN. Congemi played quarterback for the University of Pittsburgh Panthers football team during 1982–1986. He finished second all time in ...
– Big East Conference color commentator (2009–2011) *
David Diaz-Infante Gustavo David Miguel Diaz-Infante (born March 31, 1964) is a former professional American football guard and center and current assistant offensive line coach for the Los Angeles Chargers of the NFL. In the National Football League, he played f ...
– Big East Conference color commentator (2012) *
Doug Graber Douglas Graber (born September 26, 1944) is a former American football coach. He graduated from Wayne State University (1966) in Detroit, Michigan. He began his coaching career at St. Frances Cabrini Elementary School and High School in Allen Par ...
– Mid-America Conference color commentator (2010–2012; alternating) * Mike Gleason – Big East Conference play-by-play (2009–2011) *
Quint Kessenich Quint Elroy Kessenich ( ; born November 22, 1967) is an American sportscaster for ABC and ESPN television covering lacrosse, basketball, football, hockey, wrestling and horse racing since 1993. He is a former All-American lacrosse goalkeeper. ...
– Big East Conference sideline reporter (2009) * Eamon McAnaney – Big East Conference sideline reporter (2010–2011), play-by-play (2012) *
Dave Neal Dave Neal, son of Bob Neal and Melody Gadziala, is a two-time Emmy Award winning American sportscaster currently employed by ESPN. He has 2 sons, Sam and Lil Pete. He is from Atlanta, Georgia and attended Lakeside High School. Broadcast caree ...
– Southeastern Conference play-by-play (2009–2012) *
Michael Reghi Michael Joseph Reghi (pronounced ) (born June 5, 1953) is an American television play-by-play announcer and radio sports talk show host. He was the television play-by-play announcer for the Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball from 1997 to 2 ...
– Mid-America Conference play-by-play (2009–2012) *
Andre Ware Andre Trevor Ware (born July 31, 1968) is an American sports analyst and commentator and a former American football player. He was the 1989 Heisman Trophy and Davey O'Brien Award winner as a quarterback for the University of Houston. He was t ...
– Southeastern Conference color commentator (2009–2012)


College basketball

* Dave Armstrong – Big 12 Conference play-by-play (2010–2013) * Dave Baker – Southeastern Conference play-by-play (2012–2013) *
Carter Blackburn Carter Blackburn (born March 30, 1979) is an American sportscaster. He currently works for CBS Sports after leaving ESPN in 2014. Early life and education Blackburn was born in Dallas, Texas, and grew up in Kerrville, in the Texas Hill Country ...
– Southeastern Conference play-by-play (2010–2012) *
Barry Booker Barry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barry (name), including lists of people with the given name, nickname or surname, as well as fictional characters with the given name * Dancing Barry, stage name of Barry Richards (born c. 1950 ...
– Southeastern Conference sideline reporter (2012–2013) *
Joe Dean Jr. Joe or JOE may refer to: Arts Film and television * ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle * ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage * ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971 * ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...
– Southeastern Conference sideline reporter (2010–2013) *
Reid Gettys Reid Gettys (born 1963) is an American lawyer and a former college and professional basketball player, best known as a member of the Houston Cougars men's basketball team during the early 1980s. Biography Gettys played high school basketball at ...
– Big 12 Conference color commentator (2010–2013) *
Mark Gottfried Mark Frederick Gottfried (born January 20, 1964) is an American men's college basketball coach and former player who most recently served as head coach of the Cal State Northridge Matadors Gottfried played one season at Oral Roberts and three se ...
– Southeastern Conference sideline reporter (2010–2011) * Mike Gleason – Big East Conference play-by-play (2010–2012) *
Mitch Holthus Mitchell G. Holthus (; born June 28, 1957), is the play-by-play announcer for the Kansas City Chiefs and a college basketball announcer for ESPN. Additionally, he hosts Chiefs Insider, Defending the Kingdom, Chiefs Rewind and Chiefs Field Pass. E ...
– Big 12 Conference play-by-play (2010–2013) * Stephen Howard – Big 12 Conference color commentator (2010–2013) * Kara Lawson – Southeastern Conference sideline reporter (2011–2013) *
Dave LaMont Dave LaMont is an American sports commentator, working as a play-by-play man for ESPN since 2004. Early career LaMont served as a radio announcer for Miami Hurricanes basketball and baseball from 1998 until 2000, as well as serving as a host a ...
– Southeastern Conference color commentator (2012–2013) * Kyle Macy – Southeastern Conference sideline reporter (2012–2013) * Bryndon Manzer – Big 12 Conference color commentator (2010–2013) *
Clay Matvick Clay Matvick (born August 12, 1973 in St. Cloud, Minnesota, Saint Cloud, Minnesota) is an American sportscaster, who works primarily as a play-by-play announcer for American Broadcasting Company, ABC and the ESPN networks. Background Matvick gra ...
– Southeastern Conference color commentator (2010–2013) *
Dave Neal Dave Neal, son of Bob Neal and Melody Gadziala, is a two-time Emmy Award winning American sportscaster currently employed by ESPN. He has 2 sons, Sam and Lil Pete. He is from Atlanta, Georgia and attended Lakeside High School. Broadcast caree ...
– Southeastern Conference color commentator (2012–2013) * Chris Piper – Big 12 Conference sideline reporter (2012–2013) *
Brad Sham Brad Michael Sham (born August 16, 1949) is an American sportscaster who is known as the "Voice of the Dallas Cowboys". Sham is currently the play-by-play announcer on the Dallas Cowboys Radio Network. Biography Sham has been with the Cowboys sin ...
– Big 12 Conference play-by-play (2010–2013) *
Anish Shroff Anish Shroff (born 1982) is the radio play-by-play man for the Carolina Panthers and play-by-play announcer and on-air host at ESPN Early life and education Shroff was born in Bloomfield, New Jersey, to Indian parents who are both from Mumbai. Hi ...
– Big East Conference play-by-play (2012–2013) *
Jon Sundvold Jon Thomas "Sunny" Sundvold (born July 2, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player who was selected by the Seattle SuperSonics in the first round (16th pick overall) of the 1983 NBA draft. A 6'2" shooting guard from the Univer ...
– Big 12 Conference color commentator (2010–2012) *
Bob Wenzel Bob Wenzel (born October 4, 1949) is a former American college basketball coach and broadcaster for the Big Ten Network, ESPN, CBS Sports and Fox Sports. Biography College playing/Coaching career Wenzel graduated from Rutgers University in 1971 ...
– Big East Conference color commentator (2010–2013) * Rich Zvosec – Big 12 Conference sideline reporter (2012–2013)


Events

ERT acquired its first bowl game in 2001, with its purchase of the Las Vegas Bowl from the
Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) is a government agency and the official destination marketing organization for Southern Nevada. It was founded by the Nevada Legislature in 1955. The LVCVA owns and operates the Las Vegas ...
. The company moved into the area as it saw that some of their conference partners had teams that were
bowl-eligible Bowl eligibility in college football at the NCAA Division I FBS level is the standard through which teams become available for selection to participate in postseason bowl games. When a team achieves this state, it is described as "bowl-eligible". ...
, but with no bowl available to take them. By 2013, ERT had founded two new bowl games and purchased four additional games. The games primarily serve as a source of live content for ESPN during the early weeks of bowl season, prior to the larger, traditional games in proximity to New Year's Day (such as the
New Year's Six The New Year's Six, sometimes abbreviated as NY6, is an unofficial but commonly used term used to describe the following NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) bowl games: the Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Peach Bowl ...
games of the
College Football Playoff The College Football Playoff (CFP) is an annual postseason knockout invitational tournament to determine a national champion for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the highest level ...
, which are also broadcast by ESPN). This strategy has been successful for ESPN, although it has in recent years contributed to an oversaturation of bowl games that have prevented them from all being populated by bowl-eligible teams. ESPN also runs the
Celebration Bowl The Celebration Bowl is a postseason college football bowl game, first played in the 2015 NCAA Division I FCS football season, 2015 season, contested between the champions of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) and the Southwestern Athleti ...
in
Division I FCS The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision. Sponsored by the National Collegiate Athletic ...
, which is played between the champions of the
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose full members are historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southeastern and the Mid-Atlantic United States. It participates in the National C ...
(MEAC) and the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) — the two prominent conferences of
historically black colleges and universities Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. ...
. , ESPN Events operates the following 17 bowl games, which ESPN televises: * Armed Forces Bowl *
Birmingham Bowl The Birmingham Bowl is a post-season NCAA-sanctioned Division I FBS college football bowl game played annually in Birmingham, Alabama. First held in 2006, the game is owned and operated by ESPN Events. The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UA ...
*
Bahamas Bowl The Bahamas Bowl is an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football bowl game played annually in Nassau, Bahamas, at the 15,000-seat Thomas Robinson Stadium. First held in 2014, the Bowl has tie-ins with the Mid-American Conference ...
*
Boca Raton Bowl The Boca Raton Bowl is an annual National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) sanctioned post-season Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football bowl game played in Boca Raton, Florida, since December 2014 on the campus of Fl ...
*
Camellia Bowl Camellia Bowl can refer to one of three college football bowl games: * Camellia Bowl (1948) The Camellia Bowl was a post-season major college football bowl game played at McNaspy Stadium in Lafayette, Louisiana, on December 30, 1948, between t ...
*
Celebration Bowl The Celebration Bowl is a postseason college football bowl game, first played in the 2015 NCAA Division I FCS football season, 2015 season, contested between the champions of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) and the Southwestern Athleti ...
(FCS) *
Cure Bowl The Cure Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game that has been played in December of each year in Orlando, Florida since 2015. It was originally held at Camping World Stadium before moving to Exploria Stadium in 2022. The Cure Bow ...
*
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl The Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, previously the Humanitarian Bowl (1997–2003, 2007–2010) and the MPC Computers Bowl (2004–2006), is an NCAA-sanctioned post-season college football bowl game that has been played annually since 1997 at Albertson ...
*
Fenway Bowl The Fenway Bowl is an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football bowl game played at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. Organized by ESPN Events and Fenway Sports Management, it features teams from the American Athletic Confe ...
*
First Responder Bowl The First Responder Bowl is an NCAA post-season college football bowl game played annually in the Dallas, Texas, area. The bowl was first held on January 1, 2011, and since 2014 has been contested in late December. The bowl was held at the Cot ...
*
Frisco Bowl The Frisco Bowl is an annual National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) sanctioned post-season Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football bowl game played in Frisco, Texas, since December 2017. The bowl has a tie-in with t ...
*
Gasparilla Bowl The Gasparilla Bowl is an annual NCAA-sanctioned post-season college football bowl game played in the Tampa Bay area. It was first played in 2008 as the St. Petersburg Bowl at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. The game was renamed the ...
*
Hawaii Bowl The Hawaiʻi Bowl is a college football bowl game that has been played in the Honolulu, Hawaii area since 2002. The game was originally held at Aloha Stadium in Halawa, Hawaii, a suburb of Honolulu, before moving to the Clarence T. C. Ching Ath ...
*
Las Vegas Bowl The Las Vegas Bowl is an NCAA Division I FBS annual post-season college football bowl game held in the Las Vegas area. First played in 1992, the bowl was originally held at the 40,000-seat Sam Boyd Stadium in Whitney, Nevada before moving to the ...
*
Myrtle Beach Bowl The Myrtle Beach Bowl is an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football bowl game first played in December 2020 in the Myrtle Beach metropolitan area. Coastal Carolina University hosts the game at its Brooks Stadium in Con ...
*
New Mexico Bowl The New Mexico Bowl is an NCAA-sanctioned post-season college football bowl game that has been played annually since 2006 at University Stadium, on the campus of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Owned and operated by ESPN ...
*
Texas Bowl The Texas Bowl is an annual postseason NCAA-sanctioned Division I FBS college football bowl game first held in 2006 in Houston, Texas. Each edition of the bowl has been played at NRG Stadium, previously known as Reliant Stadium. The bowl replaced ...
ESPN Events also organizes several opening weekend games, such as the
Camping World Kickoff The Camping World Kickoff is an annual college football game played on the opening weekend of the college football season in Orlando, Florida at Camping World Stadium. The game, a collaboration between Florida Citrus Sports and ESPN Events, debut ...
, Advocare Texas Kickoff, and
FCS Kickoff The FCS Kickoff is an annual college football game played on the Saturday before the opening weekend of the college football season. The game showcases teams from the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). For the game's first t ...
. ESPN Events is also involved in college basketball, operating early-season events such as the
AdvoCare Invitational The ESPN Events Invitational (previously the Orlando Invitational, Orlando Classic, Old Spice Classic, and Advocare Invitational) is an annual college basketball tournament played over Thanksgiving weekend, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. The inaug ...
, the Champions Classic, the
Jimmy V Classic The Jimmy V Classic is an annual basketball game organized by ESPN Events to raise money and awareness for cancer research. It is named after Jim Valvano and features clips from his speech at the 1993 ESPY Awards An ESPY Award (short for Excell ...
, the
NIT Season Tip-Off The NIT Season Tip-Off is an annual college basketball tournament that takes place in November of each year, toward the beginning of the season. The first two rounds are held at campus sites, while the semifinals and the finals are held during the ...
, and the
Phil Knight Invitational The Phil Knight Invitational is a college basketball event held in Portland, Oregon to celebrate Nike, Inc., Nike co-founder Phil Knight. There have been three different events held, most recently in November 2022. The event has been held at the ...
.


College marketing division

The company's success with college tournament operation and broadcasting led ESPN Regional Television to form a college marketing division, which provides colleges all-in-one services for selling sponsorships, local media rights and other marketing campaigns. The
University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF i ...
, the
University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. T ...
and the
University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...
are some of the clients that the division began representing in 2000.


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ESPN Events

MEAC-SWAC Challenge page
{{Sports television in the United States English-language television stations in the United States
Plus Plus may refer to: Mathematics * Addition * +, the mathematical sign Music * ''+'' (Ed Sheeran album), (pronounced "plus"), 2011 * ''Plus'' (Cannonball Adderley Quintet album), 1961 * ''Plus'' (Matt Nathanson EP), 2003 * ''Plus'' (Martin Ga ...
Sports television networks in the United States College sports television syndicators