OU athletics strikes deal with ESPN+
OU athletics strikes deal with ESPN+
It's the end of an era for Oklahoma's television rights.
✌🏽 Happy Friday, friends. Let’s ride.
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🏈 OU, ESPN+ strike deal
Oklahoma athletics and ESPN+ announced a multi-year deal, which will make watching OU games easier and more accessible, on Thursday.
The premium streaming platform will be the new home for SoonerVision on ESPN+, replacing OU’s longstanding deal with Bally Sports Oklahoma (formerly known as Fox Sports Oklahoma).
Credit to SI Sooners deputy editor and friend of the newsletter Ryan Chapman for breaking the news Wednesday night.
So, what does this mean?: OU will no longer make you pay to watch them obliterate a Division I-AA school every September. Instead, OU and ESPN+ have agreed to show one Sooner football game per season (a streaming device like Roku or Apple TV might be the most popular gift among OU fans this year). For 2022, that one streaming game will more than likely be OU’s season opener against UTEP or following game against Kent State. It will also serve as the home for OU’s spring football game.
Will other sports be involved?: Yes, they will! You can expect all those men’s and women’s basketball games televised on Fox/Bally Sports Oklahoma to stream exclusively on ESPN+. OU’s Olympic sports will also have featured events on the platform, plus other content such as coaches shows, pro days, classic content and pregame shows.
When does this switch happen?: OU’s deal with Bally Sports Oklahoma ends in June, and it will begin its new partnership with ESPN+ this coming August. The streaming platform currently costs $7/month or $70/annually, which isn’t bad considering you also get access to the rest of ESPN+’s catalog of shows and live sporting events. Important to note: even if you have ESPN through your cable provider, you will still need to purchase ESPN+ separately.
For more on the deal, visit SoonerSports.com.
ICYMI: Take a look at our new weekly Recruiting series that we launched on Thursday ($)
🥎 OU takes Bedlam opener
Top-ranked Oklahoma (46-1, 15-1 Big 12) rolled past No. 7 Oklahoma State (38-10, 14-2) in Thursday’s Bedlam series opener.
The Sooners, who won 7-1, exploded for four funs in the third inning after opening the night with two scoreless frames and never looked back.
Tiare Jennings provided a three-run homer in the bottom of the third that put OU in control. The Cowgirls then allowed two bases-loaded walks and gave up a score on a wild pitch. Jordy Bahl allowed four hits but struck out six and held Oklahoma State to one run over seven innings.
Next: Oklahoma State at Oklahoma, 6 p.m. Friday on ESPN2
🏟 Around campus
🏈 New man on the Minnesota Vikings: Former Oklahoma kicker Gabe Brkic agreed to a deal with the Vikings as an undrafted free agent on Thursday. Brkic was the last undrafted Sooner without an NFL home. He is expected to compete for a starting position after making 20-of-26 field goals and missing just one extra point last season.
🏈 Another Sooner hits the portal: Third-year sophomore Noah Arinze announced he's entered the NCAA transfer portal. The former three-star defensive end out of Kirkwood, Missouri, played in just one game last season after redshirting the year before. He's the third Sooner since the end of spring practices to enter the portal.
🥎 3 Sooners up for National Player of the Year: Oklahoma softball's Jocelyn Alo, Grace Lyons and Jordy Bahl are top-10 finalists for the 2022 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year. The field will be cut to three on May 18. Alo won the award last season.
⚾️ OU visits TCU: Following a 10-1 loss to Dallas Baptist on Tuesday, Oklahoma baseball (27-16, 9-6 Big 12) will try to bounce back against TCU this weekend. The Sooners and Horned Frogs will begin their three-game series tonight at 6 p.m. in Fort Worth. The entire series, which picks up again Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m., will be available to stream on ESPN+.