SEC turns down CBS deal

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Dano564

Dano564

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The SEC turned down a record breaking deal with CBS this week.

Now it appears likely SEC will sign with Disney (ABC / ESPN) for that package which essentially marries the SEC, ESPN, and the College Football Playoffs even tighter than they were before.

The $$ in the deal are substantial.

Could affect how the Big Ten competes with SEC football for years to come.
 

Saw that each SEC school could get an additional $20M per year from Disney
 


If Big Ten is smart, it will pick up any dollars left on the table by the SEC.

Let the SEC and ACC marry themselves exlusively to Disney/ESPN/ABC. They run those conference networks as well.

Obviously the Big Ten is still going to have a substantial presence on those networks. But I also like our Fox Sports partnership, and maybe CBS can be in the fold too.
 

Wouldn’t mind if the big ten completely left ESPN.
Probably possible in 4 years to have a Fox, BTN, FS1, CBS, CBSSN deal. I believe the latest big ten deal was a 5 year deal
 


Some guy said:
Wouldn’t mind if the big ten completely left ESPN.
Probably possible in 4 years to have a Fox, BTN, FS1, CBS, CBSSN deal. I believe the latest big ten deal was a 5 year deal
Click to expand...
It's all about ratings.

It has been difficult to consistently get top ratings on games outside ESPN. But that just makes me believe that ESPN cooks the ratings books. I don't see why anyone who wants to watch the game will have a problem finding the game on a different channel. And I don't believe that "casual viewers" (ie, weren't looking for the game, but happened to find it on ESPN, but wouldn't have been able to find it on another channel) really pay that close attention anyway. Seems scam-y to me.
 

The reason espn gets better ratings is because it’s seen as the go to.
If you don’t have a rooting interest, the tv playing sports is on espn.

if the big ten and pac 12 were never on espn. The Midwest and west coast might eventually not see espn as the default.

I haven’t studied ratings but I’d imagine fox, fs1, and cbssn are all getting better ratings than they were 2 years ago. It takes time to move the default at the sports bar
 

Some guy said:
Wouldn’t mind if the big ten completely left ESPN.
Probably possible in 4 years to have a Fox, BTN, FS1, CBS, CBSSN deal. I believe the latest big ten deal was a 5 year deal
Click to expand...

I'm not a fan of the mouse, but it does have more outlets than FOX and CBS now. Hard for me to imagine ESPN would abandon the B1G with its huge potential ratings footprint. The mix and match seems to be working reasonably well now, with the exception of too many pre-season games not on TV and too many games at odd times (basketball). I don't think there is a way around that any more.
 

Holy Man said:
I'm not a fan of the mouse, but it does have more outlets than FOX and CBS now. Hard for me to imagine ESPN would abandon the B1G with its huge potential ratings footprint. The mix and match seems to be working reasonably well now, with the exception of too many pre-season games not on TV and too many games at odd times (basketball). I don't think there is a way around that any more.
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When I say leave espn I am talking just football.
I don’t think it’d be good to leave espn for basketball yet. I think TVs would migrate for football. I don’t think they would for basketball.
 



Conferences will go with whoever pays them the most. A bigger deal for SEC means the next deal for the B1G will also be big. In college sports, the rich get richer and the B1G and SEC are both rich. While it's good for them, it's bad for the overall sport as other teams/conferences won't be able to compete, and when they can't compete they'll end up dropping the sports.
 

I'm glad I went to Gameday when I could. They might only go to SEC schools now. /s
 

surprised since ESPN is losing money like crazy.
 

I'm hearing ESPN and ESPN 2 will be renamed the SEC Network 2 and 3 soon.
 



gopherjay said:
surprised since ESPN is losing money like crazy.
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The number of college football games they broadcast on any given Saturday is mind boggling. I get 12 ESPN channels on Hulu. Some Saturdays there is a football game on nearly every ESPN channel. Some of these games are involve schools I've never even heard of and the attendance couldn't be more the 1000. I don't see how they can make money on those games.
 

I don't know when the Big Ten's contract is next up, but I think we might be getting close to conference realignment discussions again.

Texas, Oklahoma, USC... they're all going to be wondering about how to increase their share soon.
 

I feel like I'm in the Groundhog Day movie. I thought they already were owned by Disney. It has been called ESECPN for years.
Edit: Did they just renew their contract, or is this something completely new and exclusive?
 
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Face The Facts said:
Texas, Oklahoma, USC... they're all going to be wondering about how to increase their share soon.
Click to expand...
If they feel they can remain nationally competitive in their current situations, they probably aren't going to want to upset things too much.

All of this is for football anyway, that's what matters to them. They're very happy to remain in their geographical conferences for other sports.
 

Seems like a big conflict of interest with ESPN having the CFP bowls as well and the SEC already getting treated better than any other conference by the CFP selection committee.
 

BTChamp said:
I feel like I'm in the Groundhog Day movie. I thought they already were owned by Disney. It has been called ESECPN for years.
Edit: Did they just renew their contract, or is this something completely new and exclusive?
Click to expand...

This is for a special package of games the CBS had been awarded. One premium game per week I believe.
 

GoGophersUMN said:
Seems like a big conflict of interest with ESPN having the CFP bowls as well and the SEC already getting treated better than any other conference by the CFP selection committee.
Click to expand...
Which is something that auto-bids for the P5 would help with, somewhat.
 

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