HBCU Division II conferences TV free agents as media days loom

Division II HBCU conferences CIAA and SIAC have entered July without announced long-term television deals, creating a major media-rights question just weeks before football media day season.

The previous rights window with HBCU GO expired on June 30, according to conversations with officials from both conferences. The agreements were publicly described as long-term deals, but they included renewal options. As of now, neither the CIAA nor SIAC has announced a new long-term agreement.

That does not mean either conference has closed the door on HBCU GO. It does mean both Division II leagues now sit in a new position. They have proof of concept, stronger visibility and revenue data that separates them from much of Division II.

The CIAA will hold its football media day on July 15. The SIAC will follow on July 22 in Macon, GA. Those dates now carry another storyline beyond preseason polls and championship formats.

Who will carry CIAA and SIAC football this fall?

CIAA enters July with questions still unanswered

The CIAA has already made offseason news. It announced voting changes during its spring meeting and approved an expansion of its football championship format. Details on that championship format are expected at CIAA Media Day. But the conference did not announce a new television or streaming deal with that update.

That leaves the media question still hanging.

Marcus Clarke, the CIAA’s senior associate commissioner, told HBCU Gameday before the deadline that the current deal was nearing its end.

“Similar to SIAC, our deals will expire on June 30th as well,” Clarke said. “Currently, Van Wagner Sports and Entertainment is working with us to look at some options.”

Clarke said there was still interest from HBCU GO in continuing the relationship. But at that point, nothing had been finalized.

“There’s some general interest, even interest from HBCU GO — what would it look like if we did something a little differently?” Clarke said. “But nothing has been finalized as yet.”

HBCU GO era raised the stakes

The Division II HBCU media market looks different than it did before HBCU GO entered the picture.

The CIAA’s most recent public filing showed nearly $10 million in total revenue for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024. Its filing listed more than $3.3 million in sponsorships and rights fees. The SIAC reported $1.65 million in licensing and streaming revenue during the same filing season.

Those numbers do not tell the whole story. The CIAA’s line combines sponsorships and rights fees, so it should not be described as pure television money. However, insiders report the SIAC made nearly $7 million in three years. 

Still, the bigger point is clear. HBCU GO helped bring real revenue and national visibility to Division II HBCU sports.

Curtis Symonds of HBCU GO told HBCU Gameday that the network still wants to work with the conferences.

“We’re working with both SIAC and CIAA, to continue to have them in a loop,” Symonds said.

He also said HBCU GO is working with the MEAC and wants to keep the broader HBCU conference ecosystem connected.

“We’re just taking that crawl before we walk,” Symonds said.

HBCU GO has reach, but it also faces a changing advertising market. Symonds pointed to a tougher economy and reduced spending connected to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

“It is very hard because… people shut down DEIs where we were getting some dollars out of those areas,” Symonds said. “So it makes you have to kind of transform your business plan a little bit in order to survive.”

Still, HBCU GO offers something few Division II partners can match. Symonds said its syndicated Saturday broadcast side reaches “like 96 percent of television households.”

That kind of exposure helped the CIAA and SIAC reach beyond campus streams and alumni diehards. It also gave sponsors a national broadcast platform attached to HBCU sports.

The CIAA and SIAC are not starting from scratch if their HBCU GO relationships change.

The CIAA has had the CIAA Sports Network since 2018. It became the first HBCU conference in any division with its own digital network. The platform gave the conference and its member schools a direct streaming home before the HBCU GO era. The CIAA later expanded that model with upgraded production tools and subscription options.

HBCU GO gave the CIAA broader television reach, but it did not create the conference’s media infrastructure from nothing.

The SIAC has moved in a similar direction. SIAC Commissioner Dr. Anthony Holloman recently discussed the growth of the SIAC Network during an appearance on the HBCU Gameday-produced SIAC Sit-Down.

“I think we finished on a high note,” Holloman said. “We had growing pains because you have 15 institutions trying to get their systems up and running, making sure they have all the necessary equipment, and following the guidelines that we put in place.”

By the end of the year, Holloman said, the league had made real progress.

“Everyone was covering all of their sports,” he said.c

That growth gives the SIAC more options. Holloman said the conference is studying how to keep some games under its own control.

“We’re exploring whether we are going to be able to create our own select games and have them on digital platforms,” Holloman said.

Next phase could reshape Division II HBCU rights

Holloman did not frame that as a break from outside partners. Instead, he described a layered approach.

“With our partnership with ESPN and HBCU Go, we’ll figure out what games will make the most sense for us to keep as SIAC games of the week,” Holloman said.

That may be the future of Division II HBCU media rights. No single partner or platform. Instead, conferences may balance national TV, owned streaming, ESPN relationships and direct-to-consumer games. Perhaps the biggest question is how will these conferences replace the revenue that was generated by a lucrative deal by Division II and FCS standards.

For now, the CIAA and SIAC are free agents. HBCU GO gave both conferences money, reach and momentum. The next step will show what that momentum is worth.

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