Photo gallery: MAC Media Day at Ford Field

Eastern Michigan University senior Lincoln Hansen, right, is interviewed during the 2014 MAC Football Media Day at Ford Field in Detroit, Mich., on Wednesday, July 23, 2014. Patrick Record | The Ann Arbor News

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Mid-American Conference (MAC) announced a comprehensive new 13-year television deal with ESPN Tuesday morning that significantly expands the conference's footprint on the network.

Conference officials called it the "most extensive and lucrative agreement" in the 68-year history of the league.

The MAC had three years remaining on its current contract with the network, but the extension that runs through the 2026-27 also adds provisions to the original rights deal.

"This is a historic day for the Mid-American Conference," said MAC Commissioner Dr. Jon Steinbrecher. "ESPN and the MAC have a long history together and were visionary in embracing mid-week football which continues to be a significant presence on the ESPN college football calendar. The length of this partnership brings long term stability for the Conference well into the next decade."

Under the agreement, ESPN gets exclusive television and digital distribution rights for all MAC sporting events. It guarantees coverage of every football game, select men's and women's basketball and Olympic sporting events.

"Today's announcement is a great example of how well the Mid-American Conference is positioned for the future," said Eastern Michigan University athletic director Heather Lyke said, in a release. "This extension with ESPN further strengthens both the Eastern Michigan and MAC brands on the national level as we look forward to continuing to showcase our student-athletes' successes."

Steinbrecher and ESPN senior vice president of programming Burke Magnus announced the deal in a joint conference call.

On the call, Steinbrecher said he started laying the groundwork for the deal back in 2012.

"After Ohio reached the sweet 16, that's when we first started the seeds rolling," Steinbrecher said. "It was the biggest project on my desk. I felt it was important for the long-term health of the conference."

Steinbrecher and Magnus wouldn't comment on the exact financial terms of the deal, but the conference commissioner said in monetary terms it put MAC schools in a whole "different area code" than the previous rights agreeement.

The MAC commissioner also said the agreement would help the conference thrive in the ever-changing landscape of college athletics. He specifically referenced the recent NCAA Division I board of directors vote that gave the top five conferences autonomy in writing their own rules.

"We have been forecasting where the world is going, that is why it was critical for us to figure out how to bring this together," Steinbrecher said. "This is one piece for helping our membership move forward in whatever this new world of collegiate athletics looks like."

Highlights of the deal include...

ESPN working with all 12 of the MAC member institutions to develop in-house production capabilities that will allow coverage of more games on ESPN 3. The network will showcase a minimum of 420 events a year, including a minimum of 120 men's basketball games.

Every MAC-controlled football matchup will be a shown on one of ESPN's national networks. The football schedule includes Thursday, Friday and Saturday games, select Tuesday and Wednesday prime time games and an annual "MACsgiving" game (airing Friday after Thanksgiving).

ESPN will continue to provide multi-platform coverage of regular-season men's basketball and the conference championship

"This extension, and expansion, of our agreement significantly increases the live event coverage for fans while providing tremendous value to ESPN, the MAC and its member institutions," Magnus said.

Michael Niziolek covers local sports for MLive Ann Arbor News. Email him at mniziole@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Google+