Southland Conference

What Southland Conference does

The Southland Conference is an NCAA Division I FCS collegiate athletic conference headquartered in Frisco, Texas, founded in 1963. It organizes competitive collegiate athletics across multiple sports — including football, men's and women's basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball, tennis, track and field, soccer, cross country, and beach volleyball — for its roughly 12 member institutions primarily located in Texas and Louisiana (East Texas A&M, HCU, UIW, Lamar, McNeese, New Orleans, Nicholls, Northwestern State, SFA, Southeastern, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, UTRGV). The conference generates revenue through member institution dues, NCAA conference operations funding, broadcasting rights agreements, and championship event revenues, and operates with 1-10 employees under the governance umbrella of the NCAA. As a private non-profit, it is not publicly traded and has no disclosed funding rounds, M&A activity, or capital structure. The conference's primary distribution is its website (southland.org), which provides composite schedules, real-time scoreboards, standings, news, and championship information, built on the Sidearm Sports platform with Van Wagner listed as a broadcast partner.

In 2025, the Southland Conference executed two consequential technology and distribution partnerships. In July 2025, it partnered with Spiideo to deploy cloud-based video replay and broadcasting technology across seven sports, including Spiideo Perform (performance analysis) and Spiideo Play (automated broadcasting). In August 2025, this technology was paired with a national broadcast partnership with ESPN, debuting during the Nicholls State vs. Incarnate Word football game on ESPN2 on August 25, 2025. These moves represent the conference's entry into automated, ESPN-quality production and national television distribution — capabilities that smaller FCS conferences historically could not afford. The strategic intent is to elevate member institution exposure, modernize the broadcast product, and strengthen the conference's competitive positioning within the NCAA Division I FCS landscape.

Name

Southland Conference

Legal name

Southland Conference

Website

https://southland.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1963

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Southland Conference is an NCAA Division I FCS collegiate athletic conference headquartered in Frisco, Texas, organizing competitive sports across twelve member universities primarily in Texas and Louisiana, with recent technology and national broadcast partnerships.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Collegiate Athletic Conference Operations

NAICS

Other Spectator Sports (711219), Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (6113)

SIC

Services-Membership Sports & Recreation Clubs (7997)

akta.pro primary industry

Collegiate Athletic Conferences & Associations (MPAKACAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

College/University Sports Events (NCAA & equivalents) (MPAGAMAE), College & University Sports Networks (Conference/School-Owned) (MPABAJAD)

Keywords

• Collegiate athletic conference
• NCAA Division I athletics
• Intercollegiate sports governance
• Athletic conference operations
• College sports broadcasting

Headquarters

HQ city

Frisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Conference Operations Revenue: Revenue generated through member institution dues, NCAA conference operations, broadcasting rights agreements, and championship event revenues

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

The Southland Conference is an NCAA Division I FCS collegiate athletic conference that organizes, schedules, and governs competitive collegiate sports across its member institutions, primarily universities in Texas and Louisiana. It provides championship events, broadcast infrastructure through ESPN, and unified scheduling across sports including football, basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball, soccer, tennis, cross country, track and field, and beach volleyball.

Product overview

The Southland Conference operates a unified web platform serving as the central hub for its collegiate athletic conference. The website provides composite schedules across multiple sports (baseball, beach volleyball, cross country, football, basketball, tennis, softball, track and field, soccer, volleyball), real-time scoreboard functionality, standings, news archives, and championship coverage. The technology infrastructure integrates Spiideo video replay and broadcasting technology for ESPN coverage of athletic events.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Southland Conference Athletic Programs Conference-managed NCAA Division I FCS athletic competitions across multiple sports (baseball, beach volleyball, cross country, football, basketball, tennis, softball, track and field, soccer, volleyball) for member institutions, including scheduling, championships, and ESPN national broadcast coverage.
• Southland Conference Official Website The official web platform of the Southland Conference providing composite schedules, real-time scoreboard, standings, news archives, and championship information for member institutions and fans.

Quantifiable outcome

• Automated ESPN broadcast coverage enabled for conference football games

Named customers13 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• ESPNflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 August 2025ESPN partnered with Southland Conference for national broadcast coverage of athletic events. The partnership debuted during the Nicholls State vs. Incarnate Word football game on ESPN2 on August 25, 2025, marking a significant milestone for the conference's broadcasting capabilities.
• SpiideocoreTechnology or Integration · 9 July 2025Spiideo partnered with Southland Conference to bring cloud-based replay and video technology to seven sports. The partnership includes Spiideo Perform for performance analysis and Spiideo Play for broadcasting capabilities, representing a routine technology upgrade for the collegiate athletic conference.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves3 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Big Sky Conference: An NCAA Division I FCS conference with a similar member-driven governance and championship structure, frequently grouped alongside Southland in FCS media-rights discussions.
• ASUN Conference: A Division I conference operating across multiple sports with member institutions, scheduling infrastructure, and broadcast partnerships analogous to Southland.
• Colonial Athletic Association (CAA): An NCAA Division I conference with similar FCS positioning, championship structure, and broadcast partnership footprint to Southland.
• Northeast Conference: An NCAA Division I conference with comparable member-based competition model, governance structure, and broadcast arrangements.
• Big South Conference: Another NCAA Division I FCS conference with a comparable size and footprint, operating similar athletic governance, scheduling, and broadcasting functions to Southland.
• Western Athletic Conference (WAC): An NCAA Division I conference operating multi-sport competition among member institutions, with similar scale, regional footprint, and broadcast arrangements.
• Patriot League: An NCAA Division I FCS conference operating similar championship and governance functions, frequently referenced alongside Southland in FCS conference comparisons.
• Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC): A Division I (FCS) conference with comparable operating structure, member-based competition organization, and broadcast partnership models overlapping with Southland.
• Ohio Valley Conference: An NCAA Division I FCS conference of similar scale, offering member-driven competition, championships, and broadcast relationships directly comparable to Southland's operating model.
• Southern Conference: One of the oldest NCAA Division I FCS conferences, operating under the same governance and broadcast framework as Southland, with comparable sport sponsorship.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/SouthlandSports

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Southland Conference