RICHMOND, Va. – The Colonial Athletic Association has reached a three-year agreement with Sinclair Broadcast Group that will provide live television coverage of 30 conference events annually on the newly formed American Sports Network.

The agreement, which begins with the 2014-15 season and runs through 2016-17, will provide television coverage of CAA Football and CAA men's and women's basketball contests. In addition, the championship game of eight conference championships will be televised live, including baseball, softball, men's and women's soccer, volleyball and men's and women's lacrosse.

"Sinclair's entry into the college sports market is important, particularly given their unique connection to local communities and ability to serve customers in the CAA's markets," CAA Commissioner Tom Yeager said. "In addition, in conjunction with our Colonial Academic Alliance, Sinclair's platforms can become outlets for important content about the achievements and public service of our students and student-athletes."

The American Sports Network is a new collegiate sports initiative which will be broadcast on a number of Sinclair's television stations. The CAA is one of five Division I conferences to enter into comprehensive sports right agreements with ASN, joining Conference USA, the Big South Conference, the Patriot League and the Southern Conference.

Under these agreements, Sinclair will premiere an extensive slate of live, local sporting events, including football, basketball, soccer, and other sports with the opening of this year's college football season. The initial launch will include over 50 universities and colleges. These local, live, exclusive games will be broadcast in different regions of the country, including where the conferences are located. Sinclair's broadcast stations will either be carrying the games and original content as part of the primary program line-up (generally on the Company's CW and MyNet affiliates) or as part of second channels (sub-channels of the primary station's signal), complimented by access and distribution on digital platforms.

Subject, among other things, to successfully securing carriage agreements with distributors in the future, the Company's plans may include potential development of new cable networks and digital platforms focused on these new content initiatives. In addition, other television broadcasters have expressed an interest in distributing the games in their markets. Additional content and distribution elements will include programming that showcases the colleges, students, and student-athletes, focusing on their aspirations and achievements.

"Broadcasters serve and are closely connected to their communities, of which the colleges and universities are an integral part," commented Sinclair Networks COO, Doron Gorshein. "We believe there is significant value and consumer appeal for live sporting events from these important institutions, and we can offer expanded distribution through our broadcast platforms, as well as on potential new platforms, deepening our connection to our communities. We're proud to be working with the Conferences on this initiative, which combines compelling local sports and related content, with enhanced localism, diversity, and positive social purpose."

"This is another example of our foray into the content creation business," stated David Smith, President and CEO of Sinclair. "We have a history of producing large amounts of successful, first-run, original content through our local newscasts, high school sports presentations and Ring of Honor wrestling and have demonstrated our ability to brand content and build audience share. The launch of ASN will provide important and valuable content that is directed at serving our local communities, while improving the value of our CW and MyNet affiliates. We are confident in Doron's ability to lead this endeavor, given his acumen in this arena."

The agreement with the American Sports Network enhances an already strong television presence for the CAA and CAA Football. The conference will continue to have games broadcast nationally on the NBC Sports Network and regionally through its long-time partnership with Comcast SportsNet. Numerous other league contests will be aired through the conference's digital network, CAA.TV.

Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. is the largest and one of the most diversified television broadcasting companies with affiliations with all the major networks. Sinclair's television group will reach approximately 38.9% of U.S. television households, including pending transactions.