News

Wingate becomes first Division II school to sign streaming contract with ESPN3

Date Posted: 8/25/2015

Bristol, Conn.----- Wingate University has signed an agreement with ESPN3 that will deliver live national coverage of 28 home sporting events, starting in the fall of 2015. The deal – a first for exclusive national streaming rights for a Division II school – will begin with Wingate volleyball's exhibition match against the Italian Junior National Team Sept. 2 in Cuddy Arena. Wingate's winter and spring events on ESPN3  will be released later this year.

"Wingate University is honored and excited to work with ESPN3 in the coverage of our athletic events," Wingate University vice-president and director of athletics Steve Poston says. "This move supports our commitment to provide our student-athletes with maximum national exposure. To be the first NCAA Division II institution to enter into an agreement with ESPN3 to deliver our regular season home athletic events is a strong endorsement of the outstanding work that our sports information staff in providing top quality produced events to our fans. We look forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship with ESPN."

Bulldog fans can watch Wingate athletics on ESPN3 online at WatchESPN.com, on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app or stream on televisions through Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Xbox 360 or Xbox One.  ESPN3 is available in more than 99 million households at no additional cost to fans with an affiliated internet or video provider, including Time Warner Cable, DirecTV and Dish Network (full list). 

"Thanks to the incredible commitment from our administration and outstanding work and dedication from our student staff, we believe we have established ourselves as one of the top on-campus broadcasts in the country," Wingate Director of Broadcasting & Video Productions Ryan Brown says. "The agreement with ESPN is a new, exciting challenge that we are very much looking forward to this year. It gives our student-athletes a first-class platform and much larger audience to showcase the great success Wingate has achieved. It also continues to offer students excellent opportunities to work in a professional production that will prepare them for their future in the media and broadcast field. Many thanks to our peers at ESPN for their tireless work and to our staff at Wingate for their support in this endeavor. "

The Wingate Sports Network will continue to produce all of its on-campus events. Brown will lead the production crew while continuing to fulfill on-air duties. Wingate Graduate Assistant for Broadcasting Jake Levy will also help produce events and handle play-by-play duties. The rest of the duties, including technical directors, replay technicians, graphics operators and camera operators, will continue to be filled by Wingate students.

Wingate men's soccer will have the first regular season game delivered on ESPN3 for the Bulldogs, hosting Barton on Thursday, Sept. 3 at 7 p.m. All five home football games will be carried on ESPN3, beginning with the home opener Sept. 19 at 1:30 p.m. against Brevard. The first women's soccer game on ESPN3 will be on Sept. 12, when the 'Dogs host USC Aiken at 7 p.m. Check out the complete fall schedule for ESPN3 contests, along with a breakdown by sports.


The Wingate Sports Network will still be providing additional video coverage of several contests that will not be shown on ESPN3. For example, the men's and women's soccer contests on Sept. 19th will have live HD video coverage on a secondary streaming channel. Those links will be available on game day.