Byron Allen's AMG, HBCU GO Partners with HBCU Basketball Association
What happens to an HBCU basketball player after his eligibility ends and the NBA doesn't call? Byron Allen's HBCU GO and the HBCU Basketball Association plan to address the life after college basketball dilemma.
It's been several years since the National Basketball Association drafted an HBCU student-athlete. Only Tennessee State alum Robert Covington remains the lone HBCU player in the league. Quite a few have found success in the NBA G-League, semi-pro, 3-on-3, or even European and Chinese leagues with the hope of one day having a chance in the NBA.
The HBCU Basketball Association is creating "A League of Our Own" to provide career opportunities for HBCU Athletes beyond when they graduate and leave their respective HBCU programs.
Byron Allen, Founder/Chairman/CEO of Allen Media Group, which owns HBCU GO; Credit:© Robert Hanashiro, USAT
AMG OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT
Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group (AMG) free-streaming digital platform HBCU GO – the leading media provider for the nation’s 107 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) – is proud to announce a distribution partnership with the HBCU Basketball Association (HBCU BA). Beginning with the spring 2023 season, this long-term partnership grants HBCU GO cable, linear, streaming, broadcast, VOD, and pay-per-view rights to premier HBCU BA professional sporting events.
HBCU BA is a new professional basketball league that was announced June 2022. With only 450 athletes in the NBA (and only one athlete currently from an HBCU), there were no opportunities for these talented HBCU athletes to continue playing unless they wanted to join an international or semi-professional league.
HBCU BA went about creating what they like to call “A League of Our Own” which provides a professional league for HBCU athletes to showcase their talent beyond graduation. An important part of their mission is also “Equal Pay for Equal Play” – meaning, the league pays men and women the same and provides equal play time as well.
“HBCU GO is dedicated to producing stellar content and extending our lens and our voices to showcase the best that HBCUs have to offer,” said Byron Allen, Founder/Chairman/CEO of Allen Media Group. “We are proud to give a home to the HBCU Basketball Association and to highlight a new generation of phenomenal athletes.”
“The HBCU BA is extremely grateful for this partnership,” said Kimberly Meadows Clark, Founder of the HBCU Basketball Association. “For years, HBCUs have desired to be a part of major networks, programming, leagues, and more. Now through our business relationship with HBCU GO, the HGCU BA will continue to create space for our legacy and culture to be recognized. I thank Byron Allen, Clinton Evans, and Curtis Symonds for seeing our vision and helping to bring it to life!”
About HBCU GO
HBCU GO is a cultural lifestyle destination and leading sports media provider that embraces and represents the voice of Black Excellence every day of the year through an all-new platform that captures the rich history, diversity, perspectives, and cultural experiences at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). HBCU GO also provides a platform for emerging creatives in media production, branding, and broadcasting. We offer our viewers the best in live sports, original series, documentaries, films, comedy, and edutainment programming produced by African American leading producers, directors, and students from select HBCUs.
Launched in 2012, the free-streaming service HBCU GO was purchased by Byron Allen in 2021 and is part of Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group (AMG). AMG is headquartered in Los Angeles with offices in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, and Charleston, SC. AMG owns 27 ABC-NBC-CBS-FOX network affiliate broadcast television stations in 21 U.S. markets and twelve 24-hour HD television networks serving nearly 220 million subscribers: THE WEATHER CHANNEL, THE WEATHER CHANNEL EN ESPAÑOL, PETS.TV, COMEDY.TV, RECIPE.TV, CARS.TV, ES.TV, MYDESTINATION.TV, JUSTICECENTRAL.TV, THEGRIO, THIS TV, and PATTRN. AMG also owns the streaming platforms HBCU GO, THE GRIO STREAMING APP, SPORTS.TV, THE WEATHER CHANNEL STREAMING APP, and LOCAL NOW -- the free-streaming AVOD service powered by THE WEATHER CHANNEL and content partners, which delivers real-time, hyper-local news, weather, traffic, sports, and lifestyle information. For more information, visit www.entertainmentstudios.com and www.hbcugo.tv
About the HBCU Basketball Association (HBCU BA)
HBCU BA is a professional basketball league in the United States for players who attend or attended Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The very foundation of our league focuses on affordable family-oriented entertainment aimed at providing the core fanbase with an exciting and professional product. In our markets, teams will partner with local Parks and Recreation Departments, grade schools, middle schools, high schools as well as colleges and universities for the purpose of weaving this exciting product into the fabric of the community. The HBCU Basketball Association provides the platform to ignite HBCU pride throughout the country through our culture and core values: integrity, compassion, community, justice, peace, and service.
The HBCU Basketball Association was established on June 19, 2022, to align with the history and heritage of African American culture. Kimberly Clark and Kevin Williams, Sr. founders of this historic league have broken barriers by including their women's league with the same pay-to-play concept. HBCU Basketball Association will begin its season in the spring of 2023 with six team in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas playing at local HBCUs. HBCU Basketball Association’s mission is to create opportunities and build legacies through the influence of basketball by investing in the HBCU community and culture. At HBCU Basketball Association, our vision is to pioneer a super culture in sports, community, and business.