AUSTIN — There is less than one week until the Texas Longhorns officially enter the SEC on July 1st. Preparations have already started on the transition such as lowering the former Big 12 Conference flag from DKR Memorial Stadium to planning a Pitbull concert to commemorate the transition. One of the more important casualties of the transition to the SEC is the removal of the Longhorn Network.

The Longhorn Network started on August 26th 2011, and it quickly became a central TV channel for all Texas Longhorn fans. The network became the broadcasting home to many different Longhorn sports teams including the football spring game, men’s basketball non-conference games, women’s basketball, and every other Longhorn varsity sport. 

The creation of the network was the first of its kind in collegiate sports and came with a lot of controversy. No other team had created its own network; rather, other programs belonged to their conference network such as the Big Ten Network, SEC Network, and ACC Network.

With Texas moving to the SEC, one of the stipulations was that they had to cease programming of the Longhorn Network. As of July 30th, Longhorn Network will be no more. Earlier today, however, the Texas Athletic Department announced a partnership with Endeavor Streaming and Learfield Studios to continue the Longhorn Network as a digital streaming platform where fans can watch live and on-demand content of all the Texas varsity teams.

a new home for our stories coming July 1 ????#HookEm pic.twitter.com/YlTBSm4UJ4

— Texas Longhorns (@TexasLonghorns) June 24, 2024

While the SEC Network will control the Longhorns’ live game broadcast rights, the new and improved Digital Longhorn Network will air pre and postgame shows for all football games, midweek coaches shows, behind the scenes footage for all varsity teams, highlights, interviews, and full game replays. There will be a lot more digital centric content rather than the full-game broadcasts of the old Longhorn Network.

In the press release, Athletic Director Chris Del Conte spoke about the importance of joining the SEC with the digital network when he said:

“As we set out on our new adventure in the Southeastern Conference, we wanted to make sure we had a fitting home for video content that tells the story of our athletics department. Our team here, along with the help of Endeavor Streaming and Learfield, have been hard at work to bring this platform to life for Longhorn Nation.”

-Chris Del Conte

While many other schools have video content centered around specific sports teams such as Ole Miss’ “The Season” or Texas A&M’s “The Pulse,” Texas Athletics is taking this type of content to a whole new level with the digitization of the Longhorn Network.

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