The Southwestern Athletic Conference is making a major move to expand access to its athletic events. According to a conference press release, SWAC TV will expand into a free, ad-supported streaming television channel, or FAST channel. The FAST channel will be available on Prime Video, Plex, Xumo Play, Amazon Fire TV, Google TV, and Dingo TV, where viewers can watch the content at no additional cost.

The move to expand SWAC TV into a FAST channel follows the conference's launch of the advertiser-backed streaming service last season. SWAC TV became a third home for SWAC athletics, with ESPN and HBCU Go holding primary and secondary rights, respectively.

SWAC Commissioner Dr. Charles McClelland spoke about the importance of expanding SWAC TV to FAST channels.

“Expanding SWAC TV across leading FAST platforms represents a transformative moment for our Conference and is a direct reflection of the tremendous support our fans have shown for SWAC programming,” said SWAC Commissioner Dr. Charles McClelland. “The growth in our viewership has positioned us to take this significant next step and provide even greater access to our content on platforms that millions of consumers use every day.”

Article Continues Below

The FAST channel is being launched in partnership with Triple B Media. Brendan Canning, the company's co-founder and chief commercial officer, spoke about the partnership.

“The Southwestern Athletic Conference has built an incredibly passionate and engaged audience, and the continued growth of SWAC TV demonstrates the demand that exists for this content,” said Brendan Canning, co-founder and chief commercial officer of Triple B Media. “FAST distribution provides an opportunity to build upon that momentum by making SWAC programming available to an even broader audience without a paywall.”

The SWAC TV FAST channel will begin broadcasting live sporting events on Saturday, September 19th, during Week 3 of the college football season.