ESPN and DirecTV have come to an agreement that will have the biggest satellite provider in the United States include the SEC Network in its lineup once it officially launches on Aug. 14.
The deal with DirecTV will allow the SEC Network to reach many more homes. Prior to the deal, ESPN already had several carriage deals in place with providers that will bring the SEC Network to over 60 million households.
According to reports, the agreement will raise the number of households that will have access to the SEC Network to 87 million.
The terms of the agreement between ESPN and DirecTV were not revealed.
The SEC Network is a partnership between ESPN and the SEC, which is based in Birmingham, Alabama. The network will be broadcasting college football games in the Southeastern Conference, and will feature the match between Texas A&M and South Carolina as its first broadcasted game on Aug. 28.
Over the first year of its launch, the SEC Network will broadcast 45 games for college football, 75 games for baseball, over 100 games for men's basketball and 60 games for women's basketball.
Other programs in the SEC Network include SEC Storied, which is a feature that will showcase the history of different institutions and players in the SEC, and a simulcast of one of the SEC's most popular shows on the radio, The Paul Finebaum Show.
The SEC Network has previously also reached agreements with Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks, Dish Network, AT&T U-Verse and Cox Communications, along with several more entertainment providers.
Birmingham area major entertainment provider Charter has said that it is expecting to have the SEC Network upon its launch, but no formal agreement has yet been made. Verizon FIOS has similarly not yet reached an agreement with the network.
"With opening day now firmly in sight, we are happy to count DIRECTV, the country's largest satellite provider, among our many distributors for the SEC Network," said Mike Slive, the SEC Commissioner.
"The SEC is home to the most passionate fans in college sports and I am pleased to have such a wide distribution by launch date for the benefit of SEC fans everywhere."
DirecTV said that the SEC Network will be included in the "Choice" tier in states within the SEC. However, the provider has not yet decided on what tier the network will be made available on for states not included within the SEC.
