Ivy League reups TV deal with NBC Sports for football, basketball and lacrosse

If you enjoyed seeing Ivy League football on the Versus network last season, you'll be happy to know the rebranded NBC Sports Network has renewed it's contract with the Ancient Eight.

If you didn't enjoy the lack of basketball coverage fo the Ivies last season, you should be very excited to hear that with the new two-year deal, NBCSN has added "six-to-10 men's basketball games" annually and up to four men's lacrosse games in addition to the six-to-10 football games.

The league office announced the deal today.

"The Ivy League is excited to continue our relationship with the NBC Sports Network," said Robin Harris, Ivy League Executive Director in a statement. "The NBC Sports Network has been an outstanding partner and we appreciate their interest in enhancing our existing relationship by increasing the number of games and sports. We are pleased to showcase more Ivy League competition nationally to our passionate fan base which has a thirst for Ivy League athletics."

The deal also includes the rights to broadcast "The Game," Harvard and Yale's annual end of the season football rivalry match. There is no mention of the Penn-Princeton men's basketball games, though these may be valuable properties the NBC decides to pick up. According to the release, "Even more Ivy League games may be seen on a national basis within this agreement as the NBC Sports Network has acquired the rights to sublicense additional football and men's basketball games to a national sports network."

UPDATE (4:45 PM): Penn Athletic Director Steve Bilsky has commented on the deal: "I think this is a great television package for the Ivy League and will allow a national audience to become more acquainted with the high level of talent that exists among our schools. Kudos to Robin Harris and her staff for getting this accomplished."