The Ivy League announced Friday that it has partnered with Internet Protocol television company NeuLion to create the league’s first-ever digital sports network.
Scheduled to launch in August, the Ivy League Digital Network will be comprised of nine separate channels accessible on tablets, computers and mobile devices, meaning Ancient Eight fans will no longer have to pay for each school’s own individual streaming service.
The new nine-channel video platform will consist of eight channels for each individual school and one conference-wide channel which will feature all available Ancient Eight digital content.
Subscription costs will be announced when the network goes live this summer.
Penn Athletic Director Steve Bilsky told The Daily Pennsylvanian in January that he had been involved in trying to get the Ivy League to offer all streaming available under one package.
“If we’re able to do this league-wide, you’re going to have every away game,” Bilsky said to The DP in January. “And as a real fan, you might be interested in watching the Harvard-Princeton basketball game on your network for whatever the price is. It will find its right value.”
Bilsky also noted in January that any universal Ivy streaming package would have to achieve comparable quality across all schools, so that fans of one school which features high-definition and announcers in its broadcasts won’t grow frustrated with other schools’ broadcasts that don’t.
Schools’ own production crews will continue to provide the Ivy League Digital Network’s streams, which will then be unified under the new video platform.
Bilsky wasn’t immediately available when reached for comment Friday afternoon.
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