If you had any aspirations of getting into the broadcast business to televise Southeastern Conference football, you might want to check your banking account. If you’re short a couple of billion, yes billion with a “b”, you might want to pass. ESPN decided to take the bait. To the tune of $2.25 billion for the rights over the next 15 years. The numbers are staggering, to say the least. The deal is set to begin for the 2009-2010 season.
The conference office, headed by commissioner Mike Slive, toyed with the option to creating its own network. The Big 10 conference has a similar network that broadcast its athletic events exclusively. The SEC chose to shop, if you will. Money rows the boat and this is no different as the move has been described as “lucrative and unprecedented” by Slive himself.
You have to imagine Pete Boone and Greg Burke, both athletic directors at Ole Miss and Mississippi State respectively, are smiling all the way to the bank. The deal is set to pay each of the schools in the SEC an estimated $15 million each year off television revenue alone. Yes, that’s three times what the schools have been receiving, as each school received $5.3 million last season.
The contract will include the entire ESPN family of networks including ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN on ABC. The deal will televise more than an eye-popping 5,500 events featuring the SEC over the 15-year period in the longest national rights agreement in ESPN history.
An interesting caveat will be a new channel offered in ESPN Regional. Actually, the channel will be a feature similar to the Fox Sports family of networks ie: Fox Sports Net South and Fox Sports Net Midwest. Expect to see those type channels to follow soon.
As you do the process of elimination, Jefferson Pilot/Lincoln Financial/Raycom Sports are about to give us their swan song. Gone will be the days of the three “Dave’s” in football, referencing of course: Dave Neal, Dave Baker and Dave Archer. Gone will be the days of Joe Dean, Jr., analyst for basketball, squawking “string music.” Somewhere, former color analyst Dave Rowe is banging his desk with laughter over the recent happenings. Rowe left the network two years ago, as the divorce was not amicable.
If you’re excited about the demise of the famed 11:30 a.m. kickoff, try again. ESPN plans on retaining the early game and plans are to add another to compliment the present time slot, both on ESPN Regional. The Disney owned company also plans on adding Thursday night games and featuring two prime-time Saturday night games as well, totaling over 20 games on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN on ABC alone.
Basketball will also receive added exposure to compliment its solidified Tuesday night slot. The network will triple its content and will broadcast the SEC Tournament for the first time in its history.
To say this step by ESPN, Inc and ABC Sports is indicative of the national view on the SEC would be an understatement. If you thought the stakes of winning were at an all time high, check again. They just stepped up to a new level. If anyone questions you on why the coaches are paid what they are in the SEC, simply show them the numbers. In this case, numbers don’t lie. Numbers that are shaping modern televison history before our eyes.
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