Sports business reporter predicts next SEC TV deal to bring in extra $250 million annually
By Keith Farner
Published:
In television and sports business circles, the next big TV deal related to the SEC is for the marquee afternoon time slot currently held by CBS Sports.
John Ourand of the Sports Business Journal has listed his 2020 predictions, and they include this deal, which is not available until the current agreement runs out after the 2023 season.
“Fox and NBC will express a lot of interest in CBS’s Saturday afternoon SEC package. CBS will fight to keep it, but ESPN will pick up the rights for ABC for around $300 million per year, a massive increase from the $55 million CBS currently plays. The SEC will ultimately decide it wants more scheduling flexibility by having one partner rather than dividing its rights across two.”
AL.com has previously reported that CBS has publicly stated it wants to extend the deal. Privately, the network has indicated it would like to have a deal done before the end of 2019. To this point, CBS hasn’t made an official extension offer to the SEC, but deal parameters have been discussed, and the SEC has started getting specific on what it wants.
There appears to be some dispute over if CBS will have the first right to refuse an offer.
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
