The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) is expanding its media footprint.
The conference has announced a strategic media rights partnership with Urban Edge Network (UEN) and Van Wagner that will bring select CIAA football, basketball and championship events to UEN’s digital platforms.
The partnership represents another major step in the CIAA’s effort to increase national exposure for its institutions, student-athletes and championship events while maintaining flexibility with other media partners.
According to Sports Illustrated’s HBCU Legends, the initial agreement includes four regular-season football games, three regular-season basketball games and select conference championship events.
What Games Will Be Broadcast?
The 2026 CIAA football package currently includes:
- Sept. 19: Fayetteville State at Johnson C. Smith
- Oct. 3: Elizabeth City State at Virginia Union
- Oct. 31: Virginia State at Johnson C. Smith
- Nov. 7: Johnson C. Smith at Livingstone
The conference’s three regular-season basketball broadcasts will be announced at a later date.
Additional championship programming is also expected to include CIAA Football Championship Weekend, volleyball, indoor track & field, golf, tennis, softball and outdoor track & field.
The highly anticipated CIAA Basketball Tournament is not part of the initial 2027 package, although UEN officials indicated that bringing the tournament to the platform could eventually become an option.
A Different Kind of Media Rights Deal
The financial structure is particularly interesting.
Urban Edge Network is paying the CIAA for the media rights while also sharing advertising revenue with the conference and its member institutions.
That creates an opportunity for CIAA schools to benefit from the value of their content beyond simply having their games streamed.
UEN is also bringing its digital advertising technology to the partnership, including programmatic video advertising, dynamic ad insertion and audience segmentation.
That could give advertisers more targeted ways to reach HBCU sports audiences while giving the CIAA additional opportunities to monetize its content.
CIAA Keeps Its Options Open
One of the most important aspects of the partnership is that it is not exclusive.
CIAA games included in the UEN package will also continue to appear on the conference’s own digital network, according to UEN’s Hardy L. Pelt.
That gives the CIAA additional distribution without completely surrendering control of its media inventory.
The initial agreement is structured as a one-year strategic period with an option to extend the partnership. The deal also leaves room for the package to expand.
Why This Matters for HBCU Sports
This partnership comes at an important time for HBCU athletics.
The CIAA is one of the most recognizable conferences in Division II and has a deep history across HBCU football, basketball and Olympic sports.
More distribution means more opportunities for fans to watch CIAA programs, student-athletes to gain exposure and conference partners to connect with the HBCU audience.
For Urban Edge Network, meanwhile, the CIAA represents another significant addition to an expanding HBCU sports portfolio.
UEN has continued building its presence across HBCU and collegiate athletics, making the CIAA partnership another potential piece of a larger digital sports ecosystem.
The Bigger Picture
The CIAA’s agreement also highlights the changing HBCU sports media landscape.
Rather than relying exclusively on traditional television networks, conferences are increasingly exploring digital platforms, streaming, advertising technology and revenue-sharing models to control and monetize their content.
The CIAA-UEN partnership could ultimately become more significant if additional games and championship events are added.
For now, the message is clear:
The CIAA is expanding its reach—and Urban Edge Network is becoming an increasingly important player in the HBCU sports media space.
