NBC Sports Network has entered into a five-year deal to present men’s basketball and football games from the Colonial Athletic Association. The newest cable sports network (known formerly as Versus up until Jan. 2) will televise at least nine regular-season basketball games plus the league’s semifinals and finals every season through 2016-17. NBC Sports Net will televise at least five regular-season football games in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly recognized as NCAA Division I-AA.
The Comcast SportsNet regional networks, which includes SportsNet New York and Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia, will regionally televise 39 additional men’s and women’s basketball games, including the men’s quarterfinals and the women’s semifinals and final, and an additional 13 regular-season games. Additional CAA games and championships will appear on the web at NBCSports.com.
Member schools in both basketball and football include Delaware, Georgia State, James Madison, Old Dominion, Towson and William and Mary.
Basketball-only schools include Drexel, George Mason, Hofstra, North Carolina-Wilmington, Northeastern and Virginia Commonwealth.
Football-only members include Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Richmond and Villanova.
NBC Sports Group already has a deal with the Mountain West Conference for regular-season action. CBS Sports Network has a package with the Patriot League. The monster share of everything else belongs to ESPN, with Fox Sports holding a vested share with the Big Ten, Pac 12, Big 12 and Conference USA.
