Redshirt junior guard Caroline Ducharme appeared in a UConn women’s basketball regular season game for the first time since 2023 on Saturday afternoon. That contest, an 86-47 Huskies’ win over the Butler Bulldogs in Indianapolis, was also the last that will air on SNY. The Big East Conference’s new media rights deal signed in late June does not include coverage from the network.
SportsNet New York began covering Connecticut women’s basketball in 2012, a run that started after Connecticut Public Television broadcasted their games for 16 years. Over 13 seasons, the Huskies went a remarkable 216-3 in games that SNY aired.
But beyond simply broadcasting the contests, the New York-based media company had a UConn-specific pregame and postgame show. People who watched these shows, myself included, got access to head coach Geno Auriemma’s postgame press conferences. Viewers also received the “Geno Auriemma Show” and other special content involving championship-winning teams.
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Even UConn men’s basketball games, most involving the Big East or insignificant non-conference opponents, aired on SNY between 2009 and 2019. When the university rejoined the Big East in 2020, most of those contests went to FOX’s family of networks.
Now it is the women’s team’s turn. Where will most of UConn’s regular season games air next year and beyond?
All most people know right now is that FOX, NBC and TNT are part of the Big East’s new six-year media rights deal. But perhaps that provides a clue as to who will cover the Huskies starting this fall.
Fox Sports has broadcasted a handful of UConn’s conference clashes in women’s basketball since they rejoined the Big East. Most of these involved bouts with the league’s top teams, such as Maddy Siegrist’s Villanova Wildcats or the Creighton Bluejays. Quality broadcasters like John Fanta, Jason Benetti, Kim Adams and Gus Johnson generate further excitement for each game. Fox Sports will remain the leading partner for Big East basketball, extending a run that started following the league’s split in 2013. Under this new media deal, expect even more pivotal regular-season women’s basketball contests to appear on FOX’s family of sports networks.
NBC Sports has already gotten involved with covering Big East basketball games, even with the league’s new deal beginning in the fall. 30 games have or will appear on both networks this year; it doubles starting next season. NBC will likely receive the significant matchups CBS got under the previous media rights deal. But do not expect any of the Huskies’ games to appear on Peacock. Commissioner Val Ackerman mentioned in a column produced by Mike Anthony last year that all Connecticut games will be on linear television. In NBC’s case, Noah Eagle could call multiple Huskies’ games next season.
Starting this fall, at least 15 women’s basketball games will appear on TNT, TBS and/or TruTV. Although the deal only involves regular-season coverage, each contest that the networks air should feel like a postseason battle. Those three Warner Bros.-owned channels and CBS have provided quality coverage of all 67 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament games since 2011. Landing a deal with a power conference such as the Big East should increase TNT’s standing as a power player in the college basketball media landscape. With Spero Dedes, Brian Anderson, Angel Gray and others potentially calling games, the network’s reputation could grow tenfold.
Each of these three networks equally deserves to broadcast a UConn women’s basketball game because of the high standards they regularly meet. With that said, I predict that FOX, TNT and NBC will each cover the same amount of Huskies’ games next year and beyond. That balance will only involve the non-conference and league contests that SNY typically aired over the past 13 seasons. Part of it has to do with Connecticut’s prominence as one of the sport’s premier teams.
Only ESPN should remain unaffected by the Huskies’ (and the Big East’s) upcoming media rights adjustments. UConn will still appear on the network when they visit non-conference teams that have media rights deals with the company. The Huskies will also continue to appear on ESPN during March Madness; the network owns the broadcasting rights to the entire NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.
While there will not be a specific channel next season, the national audience will have access to more of Connecticut’s games. By the end of this season, for reference, nine of the Huskies’ 31 regular season games will have aired on a national broadcast channel.
The trade-off should continue to grow the overall brand of college basketball’s most successful program.
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