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Mountain West reaches media rights deal with ESPN

Kendall Williams, Tony Snell

New Mexico’s Kendall Williams, right, rides on the back of Tony Snell after New Mexi;co defeated UNLV 63-56 in an NCAA college basketball game for the Mountain West Conference men’s tournament title, Saturday, March 16, 2013, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Isaac Brekken)

AP

The Mountain West has reached a deal with ESPN to make the network a television rights holder for conference football and basketball games, the league announced Wednesday.

According to the release, ESPN will now become a part of the deal that keeps CBS Sports as the primary rights holder. The deal runs through the 2019-20 season:

As part of this new agreement, CBS Sports Network and ESPN will alternate game selections (after initial picks by CBSSN) in football and men’s basketball with ESPN controlling the rights to Boise State home football games. CBS Sports Network retains the rights to Bronco road football contests.

“The Mountain West looks forward to rejoining the ESPN networks beginning with our 15th season this fall,” Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson said in a statement. “Coupled with CBS Sports Network, we anticipate tremendous national exposure over several outlets as the league continues its growth and development.”

This basketball season, the Mountain West was one of the most competitive leagues in the country and sent five of its nine teams to the NCAA tournament. The new agreement will televise up to 44 football and 56 basketball games between the networks’ different platforms. Financial terms of the agreement were not made available.

Daniel Martin is a writer and editor at JohnnyJungle.com, covering St. John’s. You can find him on Twitter:@DanielJMartin_