First national women's college basketball rights deal for Scripps Sports
ATLANTA, April 9, 2025 -- ION will be the exclusive television home of the popular Elevance Health Women's Fort Myers Tip-Off, a premier early season college basketball tournament, for the next five years as part of a new multiyear agreement between Scripps Sports and award-winning agency Intersport, which manages the tournament.
The Elevance Health Women's Fort Myers Tip-Off, launched in 2022, has quickly established itself as one of the premier early season tournaments in the country, regularly bringing championship-caliber programs to Southwest Florida. In just a few short years, national champions such as South Carolina, Tennessee, Maryland, Purdue and other powerhouse teams like Iowa State, DePaul, Michigan, Oklahoma and others have participated in the event.
The agreement begins with this year's edition of the Thanksgiving weekend tournament, Nov. 28-29, held at Suncoast Credit Union Arena on the campus of Florida SouthWestern State College in Fort Myers. ION will air every matchup live both days with distribution on cable, satellite, major streaming platforms and over-the-air.
The tournament marks the first national women's college basketball rights deal for Scripps Sports, adding to its growing portfolio of women's sports action, including the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL).
"As the popularity of women's sports among audiences and advertisers continues to explode, the Elevance Health Women's Fort Myers Tip-Off will immediately become another major sports property for ION," said Brian Lawlor, Scripps Sports president. "We're proud that women's sports have found a home on ION, and we look forward to bringing fans the action-packed world of women's college basketball this fall."
"Scripps Sports and ION are now a top destination for women's sports, and we're thrilled to partner with them for the Elevance Health Women's Fort Myers Tip-Off," said Mark Starsiak, Senior Vice President of Intersport. "This tournament has proven to be an exciting one for college basketball fans everywhere, and the Scripps Sports team will elevate this event even further."
The addition of the Elevance Health Women's Fort Myers Tip-Off to Scripps Sports comes as ION has seen significant momentum with its sports programming centered around the WNBA and the NWSL. The WNBA on ION reached more than 23.3 million total unique viewers last season, including 9.4 million viewers unique to ION, with seven WNBA telecasts exceeding 1 million viewers. Broadcasts of last year's inaugural season of the NWSL on ION reached more than 20.5 million total unique viewers, including 13.5 viewers unique to ION.
Participating teams, game schedule and talent details for ION's coverage of the Elevance Health Women's Fort Myers Tip-Off will be announced at a later date. More information on the tournament is available at www.womensfortmyerstipoff.com.
Source: Nielsen L+SD National Panel One-Minute Qualifier. (Data for NWSL+, Prime Video, Paramount+ and WNBA League Pass is not available.
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