FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 3, 2015
MANSFIELD, Mass. - The 2015 Northeast-10 Conference Men's and Women's Championship Final Basketball games will be carried live on ESPN3, the league announced today.
The agreement between the league and ESPN reflects a major step for the promotion and branding of the premier NCAA Division II athletic conference and the promotion of it's more than 6,500 student-athletes. Currently, more than 99 million people worldwide are able to access ESPN3.
The Men's Championship game will take place on Saturday, March 7 and begin at 1 p.m., while the Women's Championship game will tip off at 1 p.m. on Sunday, March 8.
The games will be produced and directed by Pack Network.
"We are thrilled that this opportunity will showcase our men's and women's basketball title games for the first time to a national audience," said Northeast-10 Conference Commissioner Julie Ruppert.
"In this region, basketball aficionados know how high quality the play in in the league and the ability to reach large audiences will illustrate this further. ESPN3 will continue our commitment to grow the Northeast-10 brand and expose new fans to the Conference. We are excited to add our nationally competitive basketball to ESPN's championship lineup in March."
The move aligns the league with the pre-eminent brand in all of sports, ESPN. It also affords fans across the country and the world to tune in and watch the two championship games through a variety of platforms and vehicles, including online, smartphones and tablets, and connected devices like Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV.
"I'm extremely excited and proud that we were able to get this agreement done," said Associate Commissioner for Strategic Communications, Jacob VanRyn.
"For our conference, the ability to showcase itself once again on the national level, as well as associate itself with those four magic letters in the world of sports (ESPN) is simply huge. We are very much looking forward to this weekend and to showcase our student-athletes on the ESPN platform. We're hopeful this is the first step in a long-term relationship with ESPN."
About ESPN3
ESPN3 is ESPN's live multi-screen sports network, a destination that delivers thousands of exclusive sports events annually. It is accessible online at WatchESPN.com, on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app and streamed on televisions through Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.
The network is currently available to more than 99 million homes at no additional cost to fans who receive their high-speed Internet connection or video subscription from an affiliated service provider. The network is also available at no cost to approximately 21 million U.S. college students and U.S.-based military personnel via computers, smartphones and tablets connected to on-campus educational and on-base military broadband and Wi-Fi networks.
About Pack Network
A Boston-based video production company, Pack Network was founded in 2007 and specializes in affordable, high-definition video solutions throughout the Northeast. Pack Network productions range from online webcasts to televised productions with over 100 live sporting events broadcast last season, many of which were delivered using cutting edge IP transmission technology. To learn more, visit packnetwork.com or facebook.com/packnetwork.
About the Northeast-10 Conference
The Northeast-10 Conference is an association of 15 NCAA Division II colleges and universities located in New England and New York that is committed to supporting balanced academic and athletic opportunities for more than 6,500 student-athletes.
Each year, 4,500 of those student-athletes compete in conference championships in 24 sports, making the NE-10 the largest DII conference in the country in terms of sport sponsorship. Leading the way in the classroom, on the field and within the community, the Northeast-10 is proud of its comprehensive program and the experience it provides student-athletes.
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