By Keon Edington / The Jambar
Established almost a century ago in 1948, the Ohio Valley Conference works to boost opportunities for its student-athletes with media rights.
Headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee, the conference competes at the Division I level and consists of 11 institutions.
Full-time members of the OVC include:
- Eastern Illinois University
- Lindenwood University
- Morehead State University
- Southeast Missouri State University
- Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
- University of Southern Indiana
- Tennessee State University
- Tennessee Tech University
- University of Tennessee at Martin
- University of Arkansas at Little Rock
- Western Illinois University
The conference also hosts five affiliate members including Bryant University, Houston Christian University, University of the Incarnate Word, Murray State University and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga through men’s soccer, lacrosse and women’s and men’s golf.
Recently, the OVC recommitted to a six-year deal with ESPN to allow fans to stream conference games. All conference and nonconference home games will be available on ESPN networks, with many streaming on ESPN+.
Kyle Schwartz, associate commissioner of strategic communications of OVC, said the deal is a way to bring in new viewers and mainstream attention.
“We have linear TV exposure, which is fantastic,” Schwartz said. “Our basketball tournaments, all semifinals and finals are always on some linear stations, so it is really everything to our schools.”
Schools inside the conference lean into promoting its athletes with the OVC Student-Athlete of the Week recognition every Friday.
The OVC also hosts its Commissioner’s Honor Roll for student-athletes with a 3.25 GPA or higher. Those who record a 4.0 GPA receive the conference’s Academic Medal of Honor.
For the 2024-25 academic year, a record 1,792 OVC student-athletes were named to the Commissioner’s Honor Roll, while 350 students received the OVC Academic Medal of Honor.
As the recent House v. NCAA settlement requires schools to pay student-athletes, Schwartz said the conference is still figuring out a plan to help its athletes promote their name, image and likeness.
“We need to plan to help [student-athletes]. We need to help them maximize their name, image [and] likeness, and all our schools have different ways of doing that, ” Schwartz said.
Schwartz said the conference reviews what worked in previous seasons, and looks for ways to improve on initiatives for future championship sites.
“Our staff meets and brainstorms ideas [of] how we can make this better.,” Schwartz said. “We work with our campus partners [and] some of our championships are neutral sites.”
Winning championships and being a conference championship contender is an ultimate goal for student-athletes, but Schwartz said a goal for the OVC is to make the experience memorable for the student-athletes.
“Our athletes are just as good as athletes in any of the conferences,” Schwartz said. “That’s why our championship experience is important, but we just hope they have a good time also while they’re at it.”
The 2026 OVC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championship will take place March 4-7, 2026 at Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana. The tournament marks the ninth year in a row the event will be held at the venue.
In relation to Youngstown State University, the OVC partnered with the Horizon League for men’s tennis in 2022. The merger created two divisions — North and South — with four OVC schools in the South Division.