ESPN apparently is not finished making major announcements this week. A media rights extension with the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference was teased by ESPN Events executive John Grant during Thursday’s Cricket MEAC/SWAC Challenge Kickoff press conference at Center Parc Stadium in Atlanta.

“Next week, we will announce another extension with the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference,” said Grant, executive director of the Kickoff and the Cricket Celebration Bowl. “So stay tuned for that and more.”

The reveal comes one day after ESPN and the Southwestern Athletic Conference announced a new media rights agreement keeping SWAC football and basketball on ESPN networks through the 2030-31 academic year. That announcement came alongside a second deal from ESPN Events that extends the SWAC’s participation in the Challenge Kickoff and the Celebration Bowl through 2032.

Grant pointed to that renewal moments before teasing the MEAC news, calling it a six-year commitment that “ensures the continuation of two marquee events that serve as annual showcases for HBCU football in Atlanta.” A matching agreement with the MEAC would lock in both conferences, securing their media relationships with ESPN alongside the two Atlanta showcase games they share.

More From Thursday’s Press Conference

Grant opened by declaring “the state of our portfolio is stronger than ever,” and he had the announcements to back it up. Toyota is joining as a new multi-year presenting sponsor of both the Challenge Kickoff and the Celebration Bowl. The automaker will also support the Red Lobster Band of the Year. Toyota joins title sponsor Cricket Wireless, which Grant credited for investing not just in the events but directly in the conferences themselves.

This season’s Challenge Kickoff sends the Alabama A&M Bulldogs against the Howard Bison in primetime on Saturday, Aug. 29 (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC) at Center Parc Stadium. Both marching bands, Alabama A&M’s Marching Maroon and White and Howard’s Showtime Marching Band, had representatives in the room as the press conference doubled as the launch of the season-long Band of the Year competition. That race ends where the football season does, at the 11th Cricket Celebration Bowl in December at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which airs on ABC.

What to Watch Next Week

The open questions now are the terms. The SWAC’s new agreement guarantees linear television windows for its football championship and both basketball tournament championships. How the MEAC’s inventory compares, and how far the deal runs, will be answered when the announcement drops. Data Driven HBCU will have full coverage when it does.