TCU and FOX Sports announced a new multi-year agreement to televise the school’s athletics events and related programming on FOX Sports Southwest and other FOX Sports regional and national networks on Thursday.
The six-year agreement features a comprehensive schedule of TCU athletics events to be televised annually, including one Horned Frog football game, all available men’s basketball games and mutually agreed upon Olympic sports, including women's basketball, baseball, soccer and volleyball contests.
After a 16-year journey and six different conferences, the deal shows the university’s perseverance and investment in itself, TCU Athletics Director Chris Del Conte said.
“For us, the dream was always to be in the premier conference in our region and that was the Big 12,” Del Conte said.
The Horned Frogs’ Sept. 8 home opener against Grambling State on FOX Sports Southwest was this season’s one football game. In upcoming seasons, the one televised football game in this agreement will be picked after discussions with conference and TV partners, Del Conte said.
Telecasts of TCU football games will be produced by FOX Sports, while other TCU airings will be produced by students in the sports broadcasting curriculum of TCU’s Department of Film, Television and Digital Media in collaboration with FOX Sports.
Del Conte said he was excited for TCU students who have the chance to work closely with FOX to produce real content for the university in a new on-campus HD studio.
"We are very proud of our new relationship with FOX Sports," Del Conte said. "FOX Sports is such a recognizable brand and a perfect fit for us. Having our games on FOX Sports Southwest and other FOX Sports properties enables us to bring the Horned Frogs to fans in our geographic footprint and beyond."
FOX Sports Southwest, which reaches approximately nine million homes, will be the flagship network for TCU Athletics with distribution throughout Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas. Select TCU events will be televised on other FOX Sports regional and national networks and digital platforms.
FOX Sports Southwest wants to bring hometown fans their hometown sports and the Big 12 is the best conference to offer fans additional content, FOX Sports Southwest senior vice president/general manager Jon Heidtke said. The new additions are a good fit to bring college sports fans, especially of the Big 12, the best content, he said.
Heidtke said the agreement with TCU fit nicely with FOX Sports Southwest’s mission statement “to be the preeminent regional sports network in our [coverage area].”
Broad based content will help TCU Athletics in recruiting and promote the Big 12 package, Del Conte said.
“This is an exciting time for TCU as it celebrates its first season in the Big 12 and we’re thrilled to partner with the school to give fans more access to Horned Frogs athletics,” Heidtke said. “We look forward to helping TCU broaden its exposure by showcasing a great lineup of sporting events across the region.”
Game times and channels are in the works because Del Conte said TCU still needs to figure out other teams’ schedules in order reach the largest audience.
