MAC and CBS Sports reach four-year deal

Announced Wednesday, CBS Sports Network reached a four-year deal with the Mid-American Conference to televise football and basketball games. This all begins this season as a sublicense through ESPN, who the MAC has a contract with that lasts through the 2026-2027 seasons.

"Today's announcement is another important step in the continued growth of Mid-American Conference television coverage," MAC Commissioner Dr. Jon Steinbrecher said in a press release. Additionally, Steinbrecher noted that this move would help the MAC reach out to more fans with their national coverage. "This agreement provides another platform to showcase the outstanding students attending Mid-American Conference member institutions."

CBSSN will air up to 12 football and 12 basketball games ever year. This year should include six football games (two Thursday games, three Saturday games and one the day after Thanksgiving). There will also be up to seven basketball games televised in 2015.

In early April, Jeremy Guy tweeted that 47 million minutes of MAC sports was being watched in 2014-2015, which we found wasn't as impressive as we hoped it'd be. Right now, only three schools are able to produce and stream games at their home venues: Buffalo, Central Michigan, Northern Illinois. When our own Corey Gloor spoke with Dr. Steinbrecher over the phone in September, the commissioner noted that it wasn't a real possibility for all 12 MAC schools to be included in the ESPN3 contract immediately.

Per the MAC press release, here are the channel listings to find CBSSN.

National
- DirecTV: 221 (SD & HD)
- Dish: 158 (SD & HD)
- Verizon FIOS: 94/594 (HD)
- AT&T U-verse: 643/1643 (HD)

Ohio
- Time Warner Cable: 322/1322 (HD)
- COX: 207/1207 (HD)
- Buckeye Cable (Toledo area): 170/655

Michigan
- Comcast: 418, 734/232, 255, 1721 (HD)
- Charter: 224/714 (HD)
- Bright House: 165/365

Indiana
- Comcast: 274, 418, 531/232, 1721 (HD)

Illinois
- Comcast: 418, 531/232, 963 (HD)
- Charter: 207, 306/675, 821 (HD)

New York
- Time Warner Cable Buffalo: 315 (SD & HD)

Massachusetts
- Comcast: 175, 261/823, 856 (HD)