Disney announces $3billion deal with the Southeastern Conference to give ABC/ESPN exclusive media rights to football and men's basketball games from 2024 through 2034
Disney has announced a new 10-year, $3 billion deal with the Southeastern Conference that will give ABC/ESPN exclusive media rights to football and men's basketball games beginning in 2024.
The deal ends the conference's relationship with CBS after three decades, and moves its signature Saturday afternoon football games to a rival network. CBS has been airing the league's Saturday afternoon centerpiece game and football championship since 1996.
The SEC's contract with CBS was worth about $55 million per year to the conference.
Both SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey and ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro declined to reveal financial terms, but Sports Business Journal reported the new deal will be worth more than $300 million annually - an amount confirmed to The AP by a person familiar with the agreement on condition of anonymity because the value of the contract is private.
Florida Gators players celebrate with Kadarius Toney (1) after Toney scored a touchdown on a punt return against Kentucky. Disney has announced a new 10-year, $3 billion deal with the Southeastern Conference that will give ABC/ESPN exclusive media rights to football and men's basketball games beginning in 2024
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said moving the SEC's media rights under one roof will allow the conference to set start times for more games much farther out. The conference hopes that's a boon for both TV and online viewers as well as fans going to the games
The SEC football championship game will also air on ABC.
The SEC and ESPN are already in the midst of a 20-year deal that includes a partnership on the SEC Network. The new deal will line up so both will run through the 2033-34 sports season.
The difference in the new deal: The mid-afternoon game is less likely to be the SEC's game of the week. For the first time, SEC games will be available for ABC's Saturday Night prime-time slot, too.
'The SEC has now, has had and will have a 3:30pm Eastern Time broadcast network game. The change will be from CBS to ABC,' Sankey told AP. 'So that's a point of consistency.'
'So Saturday night, prime time on ABC is the highest profile window, the biggest stage in terms of college football. And we love the fact that we can now bring the ABC platform into the mix, starting in 2024,' Pitaro told AP.
Sports Business Journal first reported a year ago the SEC and ESPN were moving toward a partnership. The deal would likely have been announced sooner if not for the pandemic.
The new deal also gives ESPN the right starting next season (2021-22) to place one nonconference football game and two nonconference basketball games from each school per season on ESPN+, the network's subscription-based online streaming service. The company said ESPN+ has 11.5 million subscribers.
'It's a recognition of ... the changing dynamics around media availability and media consumption,' Sankey said.
Kentucky Wildcats guard Brandon Boston Jr. grabs a rebound on Sunday in Atlanta
Sankey said moving the SEC's media rights under one roof will allow the conference to set start times for more games much farther out. The conference hopes that's a boon for both TV and online viewers as well as fans going to the games.
'I think more than half of our games we can set up (kick-off times) during the summer,' Sankey said. 'They're still going to be some of the 12-day and even maybe narrower adjustments, but those will be limited.'
ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro told the Associated Press that adding more SEC inventory to ESPN's portfolio would not deter the network from being involved with other conferences when their deals expire
Many sports leagues have struggled with television audiences during the pandemic, but while complete figures for the SEC won’t be known until the end of the season, there have been some disappointing signs in 2020.
Saturday’s Alabama-LSU football game averaged 4.22 million viewers on CBS, making it the lowest-rated game between the two schools since 2006, although the Tigers’ losing record could be partially to blame.
Similarly, the Iron Bowl between Alabama and its inner-state rival Auburn saw its Nielsen ratings plummet more than 40 percent from 2019.
Even the SEC’s season openers fell from 2019, dropping 17 percent in the ratings and 10 percent in overall viewership on CBS.
And while Florida’s rivalry matchup against Georgia drew 6.3 million viewers, ranking it among the season’s most-watched games, the audience was still down 9 percent from 2019.
However, in more encouraging news, Florida’s game with Tennessee on Saturday jumped to 3.42 million viewers, which is up 39 percent from last season’s meeting.
Unlike most major spectator sports, the vast majority of game times in college football are set within two weeks of kickoff. The lack of lead time is a frequent complaint from fans across the country and has contributed to dips in college football attendance.
Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari yells to his team in the second half of the game against Morehead State at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center
'It's common sense, but we have just not operated that way in college football,' Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin said. 'There is still going to be a lot of flexibility for our partners to adjust and put the more interesting games in the highest-profile windows, but it's a good balance what the league has worked out with Disney.
'It's going to allow fans to have a lot more clarity on when their favorite team's going to be playing a lot earlier ahead of time.'
Sankey said schools will be allowed to set kickoff times for games shown exclusively on ESPN+.
There has been speculation the SEC could buy out part of the remaining three years of its current deal with CBS and hasten the move to ESPN. Asked about that possibility, Sankey said the SEC and its members 'look forward to maintaining our strong relationship' with CBS.
ESPN executive vice president Burke Magnus said that while the network would be happy to have the new deal with the SEC start sooner rather than later, it's not something ESPN can control.
'We're open to that possibility, but it would have to be a circumstance that works for all involved,' Magnus said.
Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher watches from the sideline during a game in September
As for the familiar SEC on CBS theme song, Magnus said he gets asked a lot about whether ESPN would consider trying to acquire it.
'I enjoy it the same way other fans do. It's iconic,' Magnus said. 'I'm not in the music business, I don't even know what's possible necessarily or who owns it. But I do understand the special place it holds among SEC fans.'
ESPN already has exclusive rights to the Atlantic Coast Conference, which also has a network partnership with ESPN, and the American Athletic Conference.
ESPN holds at least partial rights with almost every FBS conference, including the Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-12.
Pitaro said adding more SEC inventory to ESPN's portfolio would not deter the network from being involved with other conferences when deals come up in the not-so-distant future.
The Pac-12's current deals with Fox and ESPN expire in 2024; the Big 12's end in 2025; and the Big Ten's latest contracts with ESPN, Fox and CBS run through 2023.
'College sports in general will remain a huge priority for ESPN as we move forward,' Pitaro said. 'And as each individual deal comes up for renewal, we treat it on a case-by-case basis.'
Auburn running back Tank Bigsby (4) tries to get around Texas A&M defensive lineman Jeremiah Martin (15) as he caries the ball during the second half on Saturday