For the second-straight year, two regular-season Missouri Valley Football Conference home games have been selected for national linear distribution.  ESPN announced its national telecast lineup on Thursday, May 29, and the fall football schedule features the Oct. 25 Dakota Marker contest (North Dakota State at South Dakota State) and a Nov. 8 in-state rivalry game (South Dakota State at South Dakota).

Network and game times for both games will be announced at a later time.

All three teams were NCAA Division I FCS Playoff participants in 2024, and all three finished the season among the Top 4 in the national polls:  North Dakota State (1), South Dakota State (3), and South Dakota (4).  Additionally, each team reached the semifinals of last year's playoffs, while North Dakota State defeated Montana State in the championship game.   In 2024, North Dakota State became the 20th MVFC team since 1997 to represent the league in the NCAA FCS title game.  The NDSU win in Frisco, Texas, extended an FCS-record 14th-straight title game appearance for the MVFC, and marked the 14th all-time FCS championship for an MVFC member, which includes a league-best 10 by NDSU.   Last year, North Dakota State was 14-2 (7-1 MVFC), South Dakota State was 12-3 (7-1 MVFC), while South Dakota went 11-3 (7-1 MVFC).

In August 2023, the Missouri Valley Football Conference announced a multimedia rights extension with ESPN.  The agreement features national linear and digital exposure for the Conference, beginning with the 2024 football season and extending through the 2029 season.  During the term of the six-year extension, a minimum of nine MVFC games will be featured on ESPN linear networks (ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU), in addition to continuing the eight-game Conference "Game of the Week" digital package on ESPN+, the leading sports streaming service. The MVFC will also deliver additional league contests to air exclusively on ESPN platforms as part of the new agreement. 

In 2024, the league had a total of 65 home games during the regular season, all of which were aired. There were eight league-selected exclusives on ESPN+, an additional 18 exclusives (produced by institutions and delivered to ESPN for exclusive distribution on ESPN+), two games chosen for linear distribution (produced and paid for by ESPN), and an additional 37 games were aired on over-the-air or cable television in league markets and shared with ESPN+ for national distribution.

ESPN remains the home of college football with an unparalleled portfolio of marquee rivalries, non-conference showcases, conference championship contests and comprehensive postseason coverage in 2025.  Also, this fall marks the launch of ESPN’s new direct-to-consumer streaming service, which will give fans access to more college football games than any other streaming service.

Fall 2025 MVFC Selections for ESPN Linear (Start times and networks set by ESPN)
Oct. 25 -- North Dakota State at South Dakota State
Nov. 8 -- South Dakota State at South Dakota

All other home MVFC games will be available on ESPN+