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The Pac-12 knows how to address the concerns of its fanbase. With a growing overseas alumni base and plenty of marketable Olympic sports filled with some of the nation's best athletes, international distribution of their product was a definite priority for the Larry Scott regime.
It appears that the Pac-12 will soon be able to showcase much of their feature content to overseas distributors. The Pac-12 signed an agreement with FOX International that will allow them to showcase over 750 hours of content from numerous sports.
Here's the press release.
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (October 3, 2013) – Pac-12 Networks, the content and multiplatform media company for the Pac-12 Conference, has reached an exclusive multi-year agreement with FOX International Sports Channels (FIC Sports), a division of 21st Century FOX’s international multi-media business, to distribute Pac-12 Networks sports programming worldwide, outside of the United States, it was announced today.
The new agreement calls for FIC Sports to distribute more than 750 hours of Pac-12 sporting events across 20 sports, including football, basketball, soccer, volleyball, gymnastics, wrestling, baseball, softball, golf, cross country, track and field and swimming and diving.
“Securing international distribution has been a top priority for us, especially knowing that we have so many alumni and a growing fan base outside of the United States,” Pac-12 Networks President Lydia Murphy-Stephans said. “Our agreement with FOX International Sports Channels is our first step in delivering Pac-12 content to our fans worldwide.”
With 459 NCAA titles across 27 sports, the Pac-12 is the most successful collegiate sports Conference in the United States and has consistently produced more Olympians than any collegiate Conference in the country. During the 2012 Summer Olympics, 239 Pac-12 athletes competed in London and won 89 individual medals, including 51 gold medals.
FIC Sports features an already robust portfolio of college sports programming, including the Big East Conference, Big Ten Network, Big 12 Conference, Conference USA.
“Collegiate sports are an important part of our FOX International Sports Channels distribution portfolio and the Pac-12 is one of the premier collegiate athletic conferences,” said Zoe Duffelen of FOX International Sports Channels. “We look forward to our continued partnership with the Pac-12 Network and to distributing its programming to college sports fans around the world.”
The agreement with Pac-12 Networks follows FOX International Channel’s ongoing global expansion into sports. Launched in 2011, FIC Sports manages the syndication of FOX Sports content worldwide, as well as the international sales for numerous sports content providers around the world. In addition, over the past two years, FOX International Channel’s has expanded the FOX Sports brand with recent launches of FOX Sports channels in Latin America, South East Asia, Japan and Europe.
Pac-12 Networks televises sporting events from their 12 prestigious member institutions including University of Arizona, Arizona State University, UC Berkeley, University of Colorado, University of Oregon, Oregon State University, Stanford University, University of Southern California, UCLA, University of Utah, University of Washington and Washington State University.
About Pac-12 Networks
Headquartered in San Francisco’s SOMA district, Pac-12 Networks is the new content and multiplatform media company of the Pac-12 Conference, a leader in collegiate athletics that is made up of 12 of the most prestigious universities in the world. Pac-12 Networks was created in 2011 to develop and launch one national and six regional full-time native HD linear networks available to video programming operators, as well as a network of digital properties dedicated solely to the Pac-12. The linear networks televise hundreds of live sporting events annually and provide 24/7 access to Pac-12 teams and universities. The Pac-12 digital platform includes Pac-12.com, the official athletic websites of member universities, mobile, social media and innovative digital initiatives across the company. The Pac-12 Networks are wholly owned by the 12 member institutions of the Pac-12 Conference.
About FOX International Sports Channels
FOX International Sports Channels is a division of FOX International Channels (FIC), 21st Century FOX’s international multi-media business. FIC develops, produces and distributes 300+ wholly- and majority-owned entertainment, sports, lifestyle, factual and movie channels in 45 languages across Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa. FIC’s core channel brands include FOX, FOX Sports, FOX Life and National Geographic Channel. FIC’s movie channels include FOX Movies, FOX Movies Premium, Star Chinese Movies and Moviecity. These networks and their related mobile, non-linear and high-definition extensions, reach over 1.6 billion cumulative households worldwide. In addition, FIC owns and operates two production studios and produces thousands of local programming hours for its wholly owned channels and third parties.