18 / 45
2015 MAAC VOLLEYBALL
18
MAACSPORTS.COM
@MAACSPORTS
/MAACSPORTS
THE MAAC AND THE WALT DISNEY WORLD RESORT ESPN WIDE WORLD OF SPORTS PARTNERSHIP
The MAAC will support 25 sports and
championships
during
the
2013-14
academic year, which almost all have NCAA
Championship Access through automatic bids
or regional qualifying systems. Highlighting the
MAAC’s commitment to providing a first rate
experience for its fans and student-athletes are
those championships held at the Walt Disney
World Resort ESPN Wide World of Sports.
The 2013-14 academic year represents the
MAAC’s 15th year of hosting championships
at the complex where the league hosts 3
events each year. These include one fall
championship each year with all 11 member
schools participating as with women’s soccer
in 2013. The sports that rotate include men’s
soccer, men’s & women’s cross country,
women’s soccer, and volleyball. In the fall
of 2014, volleyball will return to the complex
for its championship. The championship
operation at Disney allows the MAAC to
provide its participating student-athletes and
their families and fans a world-class sports
championship experience. The access to the
playing facilities, on-site hotels, theme parks,
including an after-hours awards banquet, are
designed to provide lasting memories as the
student graduate and become alumni of the
league and its member schools.
The MAAC recently approved a new events
agreement with Disney for 2015-18, which
includes ESPN broadcasting elements for
all the championships. ESPN’s state-of-the-
art studios broadcast highlights of MAAC
on-site tournaments throughout all Disney
World Resort hotel properties as well as on
ESPN3 and MAAC.TV. All MAAC contests for
Volleyball, Men’s and Women’s Soccer, Men’s
and Women’s Cross Country, and Men’s and
Women’s Golf are broadcast by ESPN’s on-
site studios. This year’s women’s soccer
championships will have its final championship
game, semi-finals and two of the quarterfinal
games broadcast on ESPN3 to a national
audience available for viewing in 86 million
homes on high speed internet networks.
TheMAAChas also co-hostedwith ESPN since
2006 the Old Spice Classic at the ESPNWWS
complex. This 8-team tournament is held over
Thanksgiving weekend continues to draw
elite men’s basketball teams to compete. One
MAAC school is included in the field each
year and this Thanksgiving Siena College will
compete in this premier event.
The MAAC also hosts its Men’s & Women’s
Golf Championships at the Disney complex.
The men’s and women’s golf teams compete
at PGA-caliber courses during the spring and
rotate between Palm (2014) and Magnolia at
on the Arnold Palmer managed courses. The
golf hosting agreement at Disney was recently
extended through 2018 championships.
As noted before, ESPN studios in Orlando is
an important element of MAAC broadcasting
efforts. It also serves as the production site for
the annual MAAC Pre-Season Coaches Show
and develops in-season features, commercials
and promotional elements for the MAAC ESPN
broadcasts and for MAAC.TV.
During the 2012-13 season, both the Cross
Country and Golf Championships saw live
coverage on ESPN3 for the first time in MAAC
history because of the valuable partnership
between the MAAC and the Walt Disney
World Resort. Also shot on site is the annual
MAAC SAAC Forum where student-athlete
leaders from all MAAC schools participate on
a live issues forum on ESPN3 from the sports
complex.