Media rights and conference realignment is a huge topic of discussion amongst HBCU supporters and North Carolina A&T Athletic Director Earl M. Hilton III added an interesting dimension to the conversation in recent comments during a virtual University Athletics Townhall.
North Carolina A&T made their move to the CAA in 2023 after a stint in Big South after they departed the MEAC officially in 2021. Both the MEAC and Big South have media rights deals with ESPN, allowing their games to be streamed on ESPN+ with occasional games being aired on ESPN’s cable channels.
According to Hilton, North Carolina A&T Athletics has generated more revenue from media rights in the CAA through its partnership with FloSports than it did under ESPN’s media rights purview.
“When we were in the MEAC and the Big South, we were [with] ESPN as a conference. And so we received between 25, 000 and 30, 000 a year for our media rights and ESPN owned them all. The CAA is with FloSportsts. The annual media rights fee that we receive from FloSPorts every year is about $130,000 for A&T’s media rights for the streaming broadcast that we put out.”
He also details that the CAA’s deal with FloSports has allowed the athletic department to make substantial strides in local media rights, ensuring that fans in the region can follow North Carolina A&T athletics.
“They also allow us to monetize our broadcast our streaming broadcast on locally local linear networks. You may have noticed that we broadcast our home football games this year on My48. So local linear broadcast here in the Triad region. We will expect to do the same thing with basketball. We won’t do all home games, but we’re looking at a package right now, five men’s and five women’s games that will be carried on our local ABC station for our fans within 150 miles of A&T. That is an option or opportunity that ESPN does not ever give.”
His comments specifically point to a deal that the athletic department signed with Sinclair Broadcasting Group. North Carolina A&T agreed to a one-year deal with the company to broadcast five of their football games this season and Hinton’s comments indicate that the basketball team will receive the same opportunity.
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“North Carolina A&T Athletics is super excited about this partnership with the Sinclair Broadcasting Group, INC,” Hilton said in July. “While there is nothing like experiencing A&T football live at Truist Stadium, the opportunity to expand our reach throughout the Triad and beyond is a gigantic step forward for our department and football program. We look forward to expanding our footprint and creating more Aggie football fans as we do.”
The Aggies boast a successful women’s basketball program, which was recently selected to be the favorite to win the CAA. The team was also ranked 17th in the Collegeinsider.com poll after a 22-12 season (13-5 in CAA) that saw them clinch a WNIT bid.
In the competitive world of college athletics, North Carolina A&T appears to have made the right strategic moves in monetizing their media rights to enhance their athletics program.
