US satellite-television provider DirecTV has reached an agreement with sports broadcaster ESPN to carry the SEC Network when the new pay-television channel dedicated to college sport’s Southeastern Conference launches on August 14.
The SEC Network will show a minimum of 45 exclusive SEC American football games this season, with the match between Texas A&M and South Carolina on August 28 slated as the first to appear on the network.
Additionally, SEC Network will cover more than 100 men’s basketball games, 60 women’s basketball games, 75 baseball games, 50 softball games and numerous other matches across the SEC’s 21 sports.
DirecTV is the latest television operator to take on the SEC Network after Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks sealed deals with ESPN towards the end of last month. That followed carriage deals secured with Comcast, Cox Communications, the National Telco Television Consortium and three independent cable stations – LUS Fiber, Wilkes Telephone and PTC Communications.
The Southeastern Conference and ESPN signed a 20-year agreement through 2034 to create and operate the network.