Full Fall Schedule for the Valley on ESPN3

ST. LOUIS -- The Missouri Valley Conference and its 10 member schools will combine to produce more than 180 live events in the months of August, September, October and November for The Valley on ESPN3 -- the league's co-branded digital network with ESPN.

The fall 2016 programming lineup will feature regular-season men's and women's soccer plus women's volleyball productions as well as postseason action from the respective league tournaments.

The regular-season live events will be produced and transmitted by production units on each of the league's campuses, while the postseason tournaments will be produced and distributed by WebStream Sports of Indianapolis, Indiana -- the Conference's digital production agency.

"These are exciting times in the Missouri Valley Conference, as we begin three year of The Valley on ESPN3," said Jack R. Watkins, MVC Associate Commissioner. 

"Last year, schools began producing exclusive live events in the sports of volleyball, women's basketball and men's basketball for ESPN3, and this year, we make the move outdoors as a league."

The Valley on ESPN3, which began with a Conference-produced package of regular-season women's and men's basketball games and a slate of postseason championship events in 2014-15, saw schools produce exclusive live events for the co-branded digital network for the first time in 2015-16.

Each school had its own production team -- either centralized in a control room or via a mobile unit -- and distributed exclusive live content to ESPN3. 

The Missouri Valley Conference surpassed its first-year goal with school productions included, delivering a total of 429 live events. 

In addition to the targeted "court sports," league schools produced regular-season content for the sports of men's soccer, softball and baseball, which enabled the Conference to surpass its 2015-16 contracted total.

"From our Presidents' Council to a first-year student running camera, there has been a league-wide, on-campus embrace of The Valley on ESPN3," Watkins said.

"Our student-athletes realized increased exposure, fans and alumni throughout the country were able to follow their teams, and across-campus involvement from our student population provided employment opportunities and real-world experience on an ESPN show for our young men and women who produced and delivered the live events.  This will only continue to grow and be a win-win for The Valley."

The schedule begins on Wednesday, August 17, when Bradley plays host to Notre Dame in a men's soccer match at Shea Stadium in Peoria, Ill.

In all, 30 regular-season men's soccer matches will be produced, with Bradley distributing 10 contests.

Women's soccer coverage begins on Friday, August 19, when Indiana State entertains Western Illinois and Illinois State plays host to Wisconsin.

A total of 37 women's soccer matches will be distributed, with Illinois State producing nine matches.

In 2015, The Valley sent four teams -- Missouri State, Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois and Wichita State -- to the NCAA Volleyball Tournament, and the league will hope to showcase that caliber of play again with 98 exclusive productions.

Coverage begins on Wednesday, August 31, when Illinois State plays host to Saint Louis at Redbird Arena in Normal, Ill.  Evansville, Missouri State and Southern Illinois will all produce 11 matches.

There will also be three additional home Wichita State matches -- produced by COX Channel Kansas -- made available for ESPN3 clearance but subject to blackout restrictions:  September 26 versus Evansville, October 10 versus Southern Illinois and November 11 versus Illinois State.

Postseason coverage starts with the MVC Women's Soccer Championship at Adelaide Street Field in Normal, Illinois, on Friday, Nov. 4 (semifinals) and Sunday, Nov. 6 (title match). 

The MVC Men's Soccer Championship at Allison Stadium South in Springfield, Missouri, will be contested on Tuesday, November 8 (opening round), Wednesday, Nov. 9 (quarterfinals), Friday, Nov. 11 (semifinals) and Sunday, Nov. 13 (title match). 

This event will mark the first single-site, seven-team format to determine the league's automatic qualifier for the NCAA Tournament. 

For the fifth-straight year, the MVC Volleyball Championship will be distributed on ESPN3, but in 2016, all five matches will be shown from McLeod Center in Cedar Falls, Iowa, on Thursday, Nov. 24 (quarterfinals), Friday, Nov. 25 (semifinals) and Saturday, Nov. 26 (title match).