A deal was reached between Cablevision and Stony Brook’s basketball teams to air 11 games this season on Optimum Local Channel 118.

This development comes after a successful last season for the men’s team that saw them come within a basket of their first NCAA tournament, as well as reaching the America East Conference Championship for the first time in the team’s history.

Cablevision is currently Long Island’s largest telecommunications provider, and it has been providing content to Long Island for over 30 years. Some of the content includes News 12 Long Island and MSG Varsity.

“We’ve been looking to find an outlet for Stony Brook Athletics, and Cablevision was interested,” said Thomas Chen, the director of athletic communications for Stony Brook Athletics. “We want to provide for Long Island and the rest of our community.”

Discussions between Stony Brook and Cablevision began last December in order to reach an agreement before the start of this season. Stony Brook hopes to air every conference home game, but they will compete with the rest of the America East Conference for coverage.

One of the biggest nights for both of the Stony Brook basketball teams comes on January 8, when both the Men’s and Women’s teams play Albany, their America East rivals.

Both the Men’s and Women’s basketball teams have worked to get both students and the community excited. The teams participated in a “Meet the Team” night, where the players and coaches introduced themselves and spoke with 100 Seawolves season ticket holders.

The teams have sent emails to their subscribers to inform them that the games will be aired. A press release was also issued, and the games were listed both online and in the pages of Newsday.

While the basketball teams are the only ones currently under this contract, Chen said he hopes to see other sports, and maybe even student-produced shows, get an opportunity to hit the air.

“We wanted to start off small and right,” Chen said. “Maybe students who want to start their own shows will get a chance.”