Longhorn Network
Longhorn Network (LHN) is an American regional sports network owned as a joint venture between The University of Texas at Austin, ESPN and Learfield (formerly IMG College), and is operated by ESPN (itself owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company and the Hearst Communications). The network, which launched on August 26, 2011, focuses on the Texas Longhorns varsity sports teams of the University of Texas at Austin.
"LHN" redirects here. For other uses, see LHN (disambiguation).Country
United States
Texas
Nationwide (via satellite)
August 26, 2011[1]
Watch live
(U.S. cable internet subscribers in Texas's conference territory only; requires login from pay television provider to access content)
Sports Pack
Sports Extra
Core
Longhorn Network was announced by ESPN on January 19, 2011.[2] The name and logo were revealed during the Longhorns' spring football game on April 3, 2011.[3] It holds the third-tier media rights to the Longhorns, and features events from 20 different sports involving the Texas Longhorns athletics department, along with original and historical programming. The network also features academic and cultural content from the UT Austin campus.
Due to the Longhorns' upcoming move from the Big 12 Conference (whose media rights structure allowed for the arrangement Longhorn Network was established under) on July 1, 2024 to the SEC (whose media rights are owned by ESPN),[4][5] Longhorn Network is likely to wind down independent operations in the late spring of 2024, with its programming transitioning into ESPN's SEC Network.[6]
Future[edit]
With UT–Austin's upcoming move to the SEC in 2024, athletic director Chris Del Conte stated in May 2022 that Longhorn Network will most likely be shut down (referring to it tongue-in-cheek as "the History channel"), and that they were ready for UT–Austin programming to shift to the ESPN-run SEC Network and its full national coverage.[20] In August 2022, ESPN president of programming Burke Magnus confirmed that Longhorn Network's programming would be "folded" into SEC Network upon the completion of the transfer of UT–Austin and the University of Oklahoma into the SEC.[21] With the confirmation the Longhorns and Sooners will shift their conference affiliation to the SEC on July 1, 2024, the network will likely wind down after the end of the 2024 Longhorn baseball regular season, barring any extension of their season into the College World Series.[22]
Controversies[edit]
High school football[edit]
From the initial announcement of the Longhorn Network, ESPN had made it known that it desired to broadcast up to 18 high school football games per season. The idea was a cause for concern among other Big 12 schools.
Texas A&M, due to what that university viewed as possible recruiting violations, cites the LHN as the reason for their decision to leave the Big 12 for the SEC in 2012.[29] However, in 2022, R. Bowen Loftin accidentally revealed that the decision to leave for the SEC had already been made no later than the summer of 2010, invalidating the claim that the LHN was the reason for the school’s move to the SEC. [1]
Nebraska also cites the LHN as the reason for their decision to leave the Big 12. It was decided to leave the Big 12 Conference and join the Big Ten Conference on June 12, 2010, 7 months before the announcement of the LHN on January 19, 2011. [2]
Public High School Athletics in the State of Texas are governed by the University Interscholastic League (the UIL), which was founded by and remains a part of The University of Texas at Austin.[3] The UIL owns all broadcast media rights to Texas High School Athletics.[4] During an August 1, 2011, meeting of all Big 12 athletic directors, it was decided that the issue of airing high school football games on the LHN would be postponed for one year, allowing time for the NCAA to rule on the matter.[30] On August 11, 2011, the NCAA ruled that no school or conference network would be permitted to broadcast high school sports or any other high school programming, effectively bringing the issue to a close.[31][32]
Big 12 Conference football[edit]
In addition to a non-conference game each season, ESPN desired to place a Big 12 Conference game on the Longhorn Network. At the same Big 12 meeting that discussed high school football telecasts, it was agreed upon that a conference game would be acceptable as long as both schools and the conference office approved the broadcast.[30] It was reported that ESPN asked Texas Tech for permission to broadcast the team's November 5 game against the Longhorns on the network. ESPN told the university that the game would most likely not be carried on any of the ESPN family of networks, leaving a broadcast on the LHN as its only option. In return, ESPN promised to televise two non-conference football games over the next four seasons, televise some other non-football programming, $5 million cash, and help from the network to try to arrange a home-and-home series against a top BCS conference school. Texas Tech passed on the offer with the university's chancellor Kent Hance explaining that "I don't want a Tech fan to have to give one dime to the Longhorn Network". ESPN then contacted Oklahoma State about airing games on the network; that university also refused the invitation to appear on the network.[33] Texas Athletics eventually announced that the Kansas Jayhawks had agreed to let its game against the Longhorns on October 29 air on LHN (the University of Kansas's third-tier media rights are also managed by LHN co-owner IMG College). The agreement allowed the Longhorn Network to be the national carrier of the game, except in Kansas markets, where the game was shown on broadcast television.[34] ESPN revealed plans to broadcast the Texas Tech-Texas State game on the Longhorn Network in 2012, however Texas Tech threatened to drop the game in favor of an 11-game schedule, resulting in the game being removed from LHN's schedule.
In November 2012, ESPN syndicated a second feed of a Longhorn football home game against Iowa State to ABC-affiliated television stations across Iowa (including KETV in Omaha, Nebraska, which is owned by ESPN part-owner Hearst Corporation) to provide access to the game within that state. A secondary announcing team was used for the Iowa State feed.[35] The same was done in September 2013 for a matchup against Ole Miss throughout the state of Mississippi. Mediacom eventually established an online/traditional network with Iowa State in their service area, Cyclones.tv, featuring university programming, along with any live games featuring Texas which are only available through Longhorn Network with Iowa State overlaying their own play-by-play and commentary, or producing their own telecast entirely.
Potential conflict of interest[edit]
In 2011 ESPN's financial stake in the LHN was accused of creating a potential conflict of interest.[36][37][38] Some fear that ESPN's involvement in the network will inhibit journalistic integrity as that network has a financial interest in the success of the athletic programs at the University of Texas. Sports Illustrated writer Richard Deitsch wrote: "The network's existence... creates an impossible situation for ESPN's college football producers and reporters (plenty of whom care about reporting). For every story ESPN does on Texas and its opponents, they'll be skeptics wondering what the motivation was for the story."[39]
In 2011 the stipulation included in the network's founding agreement that gives Texas the right to dismiss LHN announcers that do not "reflect the quality and reputation of UT" was questioned.[36][40] An ESPN spokesperson addressed the situation by stating: "This is not common in ESPN agreements because this UT network is so unique/new for us ...The provision does not allow for random replacement of commentators or reaction to critical comments... it's more about potential situations where a commentator makes completely inappropriate comments or gets involved in inappropriate actions."[41]
Notes
Further reading