Oklahoma Nearing Broadcast Deal With ESPN+

The Sooners are changing up their broadcast rights, including the broadcast rights to OU basketball and softball.

Ryan Chapman | May 4, 2022

Oklahoma Nearing Broadcast Deal With ESPN+ /

Oklahoma is making a landmark change to its third-tier television broadcast rights.

The Sooners are expected to announce soon a new agreement to broadcast their sports on ESPN+, a source confirmed to SI Sooners. The announcement is expected within the next week or so and could be coming as early as Thursday or Friday.

ESPN+ will replace Bally Sports in broadcasting Oklahoma athletics, and the contract is expected to start on July 1, 2022.

Bally Sports is undergoing a change in its streaming model, as the network indicated it will be moving to subscription-based streaming.

Sinclair Broadcasting Company, the parent company of Bally Sports, announced plans to roll out Bally Sports+, set to cost subscribers $19.99 a month or $189.99 a year.

The Big 12 already has in place a deal with ESPN+ to carry the conference’s non-football offerings on Big 12 Now.

ESPN+ is an online-only streaming service separate from the ESPN network sports packages available on cable or satellite.

Currently under the Big 12 Now agreement, one football game per season for each school is carried exclusively on ESPN+ — with the exception of Oklahoma and Texas, who retained their own third-tier broadcast rights.

Oklahoma's new deal with ESPN+ could possibly vary from the current Big 12 Now framework, or elements of it could fold into the league's current setup.

Previously, the Sooners only featured on Big 12 Now when they were the road team in sports other than football.

The fate of Oklahoma's yearly pay-per-view football broadcast is unknown at this point but could also be impacted by the coming arrangement.

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Published May 4, 2022

RYAN CHAPMAN

Ryan is deputy editor at AllSooners and covers a number of sports in and around Norman and Oklahoma City. Working both as a journalist and a sports talk radio host, Ryan has covered the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the United States Men’s National Soccer Team, the Oklahoma City Energy and more. Since 2019, Ryan has simultaneously pursued a career as both a writer and a sports talk radio host, working for the Flagship for Oklahoma sports, 107.7 The Franchise, as well as AllSooners.com. Ryan serves as a contributor to The Franchise’s website, TheFranchiseOK.com, which was recognized as having the “Best Website” in 2022 by the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters. Ryan holds an associate’s degree in Journalism from Oklahoma City Community College in Oklahoma City, OK.