Conference USA

What Conference USA does

Conference USA is a private non-profit collegiate athletic conference operating as an NCAA Division I member since its founding in 1995 through the merger of the Metro Conference and the Great Midwest Conference. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas with 51-100 employees, the conference administers intercollegiate athletics competitions across 14 sports for its 10 member institutions as of 2026. Its core product is the Composite Schedule digital platform (conferenceusa.com/calendar.aspx), which provides real-time scheduling across sports including football, basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball, soccer, tennis, bowling, and beach volleyball, with filtering, calendar subscription (Google Calendar, RSS), and export capabilities.

The conference generates revenue through membership dues from member institutions, broadcast rights distribution agreements with ESPN platforms (ESPN, ESPN+, ESPNU) and CBS Sports Network, NCAA tournament unit payouts, and shared revenues from championship events. The 2024-25 men's basketball season alone delivered 150+ nationally-televised and digital games (18 on CBS Sports Network, 5 on ESPNU, 129 on ESPN+), with football schedules similarly distributed across linear TV and streaming platforms. Conference USA distributes content through national broadcast networks, digital streaming (ESPN+), and direct championship events such as the Men's Basketball Championship held at Propst Arena in Huntsville, Alabama.

In 2026, Conference USA underwent significant membership restructuring: Louisiana Tech departed for the Sun Belt Conference and UTEP moved to the Mountain West, both via formal settlements that included litigation over exit fees. Jacksonville State was added as a replacement, stabilizing the conference at 10 members. The revised 2026 football schedule marked the first time in four years that all 10 teams are playoff-eligible for the CUSA Championship Game. Governance is shared among member institutions under NCAA oversight, with no external shareholders or investor-backed equity.

Name

Conference USA

Legal name

Conference USA

Website

https://conferenceusa.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Conference USA is a non-profit NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference, founded in 1995 and headquartered in Dallas, Texas. It organizes intercollegiate athletics competitions across 14 sports for 10 member universities and distributes content via ESPN platforms, CBS Sports Network, and ESPN+.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Collegiate Athletic Conference Administration

NAICS

Sports Teams and Clubs (711211), Spectator Sports (7112)

SIC

Services-Membership Sports & Recreation Clubs (7997), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Collegiate Athletic Conferences & Associations (MPAKACAA)

Keywords

• Collegiate athletic conference
• NCAA Division I athletics
• Intercollegiate sports administration
• Conference championships
• College sports scheduling

Headquarters

HQ city

Dallas

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Conference USA is a non-profit NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference that organizes, administers, and regulates intercollegiate athletics competitions among its 10 member institutions. It manages conference scheduling, championship events, broadcast media rights, and postseason eligibility across sports including football, men's and women's basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball, soccer, tennis, bowling, and beach volleyball.

Product overview

Conference USA operates as a collegiate athletic conference offering a digital schedule platform (Composite Schedule) complemented by broadcast media rights partnerships. The Composite Schedule serves as the core product, enabling fans to view and subscribe to schedules across 10 member institutions and 14 sports including football, basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball, soccer, tennis, bowling, and beach volleyball. Broadcast and streaming services (ESPN+, CBS Sports Network, ESPNU, ESPN linear channels) function as supplementary distribution channels rather than distinct product offerings. The conference distributes content through multiple modalities including linear TV broadcasts, digital streaming, calendar subscriptions, and downloadable schedule formats.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Conference USA Composite Schedule Digital platform providing real-time access to all Conference USA sports schedules across 14 sports including football, basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball, soccer, tennis, and bowling, with filterable views by sport and member institution, plus calendar subscription and download capabilities.

Quantifiable outcome

• 150+ games televised/digitally streamed per basketball season
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers5 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

Integration2 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered former, minor and core.

• Louisiana TechformerOthers · 28 April 2026Louisiana Tech reached a settlement with Conference USA allowing the Bulldogs to depart for the Sun Belt Conference in summer 2026. The settlement ended an acrimonious dispute that included a lawsuit filed by the University of Louisiana System over exit fees. Neither party disclosed specific financial terms.
• Sun Belt ConferenceminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 April 2026Conference USA and Sun Belt reached a resolution allowing Louisiana Tech to exit CUSA and join the Sun Belt for the 2026-27 academic year. The Sun Belt reverted to 14 members with the addition of Louisiana Tech. Both conferences released 2026 football schedules incorporating the Bulldogs.
• ESPNcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorBroadcast partnership for nationally-televised and digital games. Over 150 games per season across ESPN, ESPN+, and ESPNU platforms, including the Conference USA Men's Basketball Championship. ESPN carries the majority of television and streaming content.
• CBS Sports NetworkcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorBroadcast partnership for linear television coverage. CBS Sports Network carries 18 basketball games and multiple football games per season across member institutions.
• Jacksonville StatecoreOthersJacksonville State took Louisiana Tech's place in Conference USA beginning with the 2026 season, as the Gamecocks joined the conference from the ASUN/was previously independent.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Western Athletic Conference (WAC): Smaller NCAA Division I conference that has experienced similar realignment turbulence; comparable in membership scale and the operational challenges of operating a multi-sport conference with limited resources.
• Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN): Multi-sport NCAA Division I conference that lost Jacksonville State to Conference USA in the same realignment cycle; comparable in scale and historical conference realignment dynamics.
• American Athletic Conference (AAC): Larger NCAA Division I Group of 5 conference with multi-sport NCAA membership and ESPN-first broadcasting strategy; directly comparable in governance structure and broadcast partnership model.
• Missouri Valley Conference: Established NCAA Division I conference with strong basketball tradition and ESPN broadcast relationships; comparable in broadcast profile, multi-sport scope, and mid-major positioning.
• Mountain West Conference: NCAA Division I Group of 5 conference of comparable size and tier; gained UTEP from Conference USA and operates its own MW Network, making it both a realignment competitor and a broadcast peer.
• Big Sky Conference: Multi-sport NCAA Division I conference with similar geographic footprint in the western/central United States; comparable membership size and broadcast partnership profile.
• Mid-American Conference (MAC): Established NCAA Division I Group of 5 conference with multi-sport membership and ESPN broadcast relationships; comparable in tier, scale, and media partner profile to Conference USA.
• Colonial Athletic Association (CAA): Multi-sport NCAA conference whose membership includes Delaware (a current Conference USA member); operates a similar mid-major governance model with comparable Division I footprint and broadcast ambitions.
• Ohio Valley Conference: Established NCAA Division I conference with similar multi-sport product and member scale; competed with Conference USA for the same tier of mid-major institutional members.
• Sun Belt Conference: Directly comparable NCAA Division I Group of 5 conference of similar tier; just absorbed Louisiana Tech from Conference USA in the same realignment cycle, making it the closest functional peer.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/conferenceusa
• Xx.com/ConferenceUSA
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/conference-usa

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 Conference USA