USTA Partners with Four NCAA Division I Athletic Conferences

The USTA announced that it has partnered with four NCAA Division I athletic conferences – the American Athletic Conference, Big 12, Mountain West and SEC – to help deliver their conference championship title matches across multiple television and digital viewing platforms. The partnerships are the latest in the USTA’s efforts to spotlight college tennis through television and digital viewing exposure.

The USTA, which helped deliver 11 matches on ESPN3 last year as part of its College Match Day series, provided each of the aforementioned conferences financial grants and other delivery-related assistance to help their conference title matches reach broad viewing audiences. The schedule of matches – to be played using the shortened match format adopted by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, featuring no-ad scoring – and where they can be viewed is below.

“We’re so glad to be working with each of these four conferences,” said Virgil Christian, the USTA’s Director of Collegiate Tennis. “They have all shown a commitment to the continued effort to increase the relevance of tennis in collegiate athletics, and playing the no-ad format has proven to be drama-filled for both student-athletes and fans. The USTA is proud to help these institutions and programs be seen on a national platform.”

“The Big 12 is thrilled that the USTA is assisting in providing television coverage for our upcoming conference championship finals,” said Big 12 Senior Associate Commissioner Dru Hancock.  “Generous support from the USTA allows us exposure for our tennis programs that would otherwise not be possible.  Our coaches are excited for the opportunity to showcase our student-athletes.”

“Texas A&M is very excited to host the premier conference tournament in the country in College Station,” said Texas A&M coach Steve Denton. “Knowing that the SEC Championship will be broadcast by SEC Network + is a testament to the commitment Texas A&M, the SEC and the USTA  have made to showcase such a high profile match. We want to thank the USTA, especially Virgil Christian and Elissa Hill, in their leadership role in providing the grant that will help broadcast the SEC finals. Texas A&M greatly appreciates the USTA partnership and their contribution to collegiate tennis.”

American Athletic Conference Men’s and Women’s Tennis Championships
April 15-19; Host: University of Tulsa, Tulsa, Okla.
Title matches airing on: The American Digital Network (available on web, mobile, tablet and Roku devices)

Big 12 Men’s and Women’s Tennis Championships
April 23-26; Host: Baylor University, Waco, Texas
Title matches airing on: FOX Sports GO; FOX Sports 2 (channel finder)

Mountain West Tennis Championships (Men’s, Women’s)
April 22-26; Host: University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, N.M.
All tournament matches airing on: Mountain West Network

SEC Men’s Tennis Tournament
April 15-19; Host: Texas A&M, College Station, Texas
Title match airing on: SEC Network +

The USTA is the national governing body for the sport of tennis in the U.S. and the leader in promoting and developing the growth of tennis at every level -- from local communities to the highest level of the professional game. A not-for-profit organization with more than 715,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds in growing the game. It owns and operates the US Open, the highest-attended annual sporting event in the world, and launched the Emirates Airline US Open Series, linking eight summer tournaments to the US Open. In addition, it owns approximately 90 Pro Circuit events throughout the U.S. and selects the teams for the Davis Cup, Fed Cup, Olympic and Paralympic Games. The USTA’s philanthropic entity, the USTA Foundation, provides grants and scholarships and helps under-resourced youth and individuals with disabilities, and supports  wounded, ill and injured service members, veterans and their families. For more information on the USTA, log on to usta.com, “like” the official Facebook page, facebook.com/usta, or follow @usta on Twitter.