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College Football
ESPN unveils ‘SEC on ABC’ graphics package ahead of 2024 season
By Andrew Olson
Published:
SEC football is heading to ABC this fall, and ESPN gave fans an early look at what to expect from the broadcast.
With SEC Media Days winding down in Dallas, ESPN shared a preview of the “SEC on ABC” graphics for games this fall. The video notably includes a new ESPN scorebug.
As #SECMD24 wraps up in Dallas, check out a preview of the new @SEC on ABC graphics package from ESPN’s Creative Studio team #SEConABC debuts Saturday, Aug. 31 pic.twitter.com/EmSgIY7g3E
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) July 18, 2024
The SEC’s media rights deal with ESPN/ABC was first announced in late 2020. The 2023 season was the last season of SEC football games on CBS.
Greg Sankey has hyped the deal with ESPN/ABC (Disney properties) as leading to more SEC football games shown on broadcast TV.
“… [W]e have access to more broadcast TV opportunities than perhaps we’ve ever had, certainly in recent decades,” Sankey said of the media rights partnership during a 2023 appearance on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning. “In other words, 130-plus million households with access to broadcast TV, we could literally program an ABC game at noon Eastern, 3:30 Eastern and then, that primetime window on particular Saturdays. Now, ABC and ESPN have other contractual commitments. But that’s an illustration of the breadth of reach that we are about to experience.
“And we respect and appreciate our relationship with CBS, but our move to work under the Disney heading was about more than just revenue. It was about reach, so reach through broadcast TV, reach through cable and satellite, which obviously is a changing environment.”
The “SEC on ABC” branding will debut with an Aug. 31 tripleheader of marquee matchups.
- Clemson vs. Georgia — noon ET, ABC
- Miami at Florida — 3:30 p.m. ET, ABC
- Notre Dame at Texas A&M — 7:30 p.m. ET, ABC
The ESPN/ABC deal provides the SEC with more scheduling flexibility, as CBS is no longer involved in the showcase game selection process. This has led to the SEC designating kickoff windows for the complete 2024 schedule ahead of the season.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
