Fox Sports Adds Teeth Inside the Big 12, Gains Rights to Oklahoma State Athletics

http://sportsmediajournal.com/ Fox Sports has announced that it has reached another rights deal to telecast athletics from a Big 12 school, signing a deal today with Oklahoma State University. The deal also includes participation by Learfield Sports, the exclusive multimedia rights holder for OSU Athletics. From Fox Sports PR: The multi-year agreement provides for one football game to be televised annually on a FOX Sports platform, which could include FOX Sports Oklahoma, FOX Sports Southwest, FOX Sports Southwest Plus and nationally on FOX College Sports (FCS). Oklahoma State’s home football opener against Savannah State telecast on FOX College Sports Sept. 1 officially kicked off the partnership. FOX Sports platforms also will distribute all available men’s basketball games, up to 20 Olympic sports, and additional non-game programming mutually selected by FOX Sports and Oklahoma State. The selected non-game programming may include any of OSU’s 30-minute, sports magazine shows: Cowboy Football Roundup, Cowboy Basketball Roundup, Cowgirl Basketball Roundup and OSU Spring Sports Roundup. The FOX Sports agreement with Learfield Sports still allows Oklahoma State to retain streaming rights on its official athletics website, www.okstate.com, for any event not selected for distribution by FOX Sports or any FOX Sports-designated platform. “Our deal with FOX Sports enables more than 9 million viewers in a four-state region and beyond to enjoy live Oklahoma State athletics programming,” said Learfield Sports’ Chief Content Officer Joe Ferreira. “This is an outstanding opportunity to help extend the Cowboys’ visibility on all levels, and we’re excited to help bring the drama of OSU sports to millions of fans through this television partnership.” “We are excited to take this next step in our relationship with FOX Sports and Learfield Sports,” said OSU Athletic Director Mike Holder. “The added exposure generated by this agreement will alert an even bigger audience to all of the good things that are happening at Oklahoma State.” “We’re excited to partner with Oklahoma State,” said FOX Sports Southwest Senior Vice President/General Manager Jon Heidtke. “This exclusive agreement helps reinforce FOX Sports Oklahoma as the preeminent sports television network in the state and allows us to showcase compelling Cowboys programming across the region on FOX Sports Southwest.”