NEW YORK - With the conclusion of the fall sports campaigns - and the beginning of conference play in men's and women's basketball in December - BIG EAST competition has proven to be highly-rated and widely-viewed across its network partners this year.
The 2025-26 season marks the first of a new six-year media agreement for the BIG EAST, encompassing coverage on FOX Sports (FOX, FS1), NBC Sports (NBC, Peacock, NBC Sports Network), TNT Sports (TNT, truTV, HBO Max), and ESPN (ESPN+). The agreement provides wall-to-wall coverage on major national broadcast, cable, and direct-to-consumer streaming outlets for BIG EAST regular season men’s and women's basketball games - including all conference games and BIG EAST Tournament matchups - as well as a robust schedule of olympic sports productions.
College basketball found strong audiences around the Thanksgiving holiday, with networks - including league partners FOX Sports and TNT Sports - drawing some of its best viewership yet for the sport.
FOX Sports
- BIG EAST college basketball viewership on FS1 is up 121% – and 62% on FOX – compared to the same point in 2024-25.
- Across FOX and FS1, BIG EAST men’s basketball is averaging nearly 500,000 viewers - up 362% on compared to the same point in 2024-25. The Nov. 19 UConn/Arizona game that was the most-watched BIG EAST college basketball game ever on FS1.
- BIG EAST women's basketball viewership is up 409% on FS1 compared to the same point a season ago, headlined by a Nov. 21 matchup with UConn and Michigan that earned nearly a million viewers.
- FS1's broadcast of the Creighton/Nebraska volleyball game was the most-watched women’s college volleyball telecast in network history, while the Creighton/ Louisville match was the fourth most-watched ever on FS1.
TNT Sports
- BIG EAST college basketball coverage across TNT Sports has reached more than 8.4 million total viewers so far this season.
- Notable matchups have included the Nov. 3 opening night matchup with BYU/Villanova, which delivered a 121% increase in viewership vs. 2024, as well as the Dec. 5 Cincinnati/Xavier Crosstown Shootout rivalry game, the most watched BIG EAST regular season home game on TNT Sports networks so far this season.
- TNT Sports’ Bleacher Report and House of Highlights have elevated the BIG EAST programs and student-athletes further, with college basketball content on B/R and HoH social platforms driving more than 155 million views and more than 7 million engagements in November 2025.
NBC/Peacock
- Year-over-year, viewership of BIG EAST basketball on Peacock is up 30% for non-conference telecasts.
- The Oklahoma/Marquette game on Nov. 28 averaged 1.1 million viewers across NBC and Peacock.
- The return of NBC Sports Network provides a linear outlet for many live BIG EAST games that are streaming on Peacock.
ESPN+
- This past fall, nearly 300 BIG EAST olympic sport events were aired on ESPN+, including 13 fall championship events.
- Three fall sports events were upgraded to ESPN linear platforms, including the 2025 BIG EAST Volleyball championship on ESPN2.
- ESPN+ will air 40 BIG EAST non-conference men’s basketball and 127 women's basketball games, including 73 conference games, in 2025-26