Skip to content

Ad Disclosure

SEC reaches ‘milestone’ media agreement with ESPN

Paul Harvey

By Paul Harvey

Published:

The SEC has reached a massive new media deal with ESPN, the conference announced on Thursday.

According to the release, the agreement gives ESPN exclusive broadcast rights to the conference’s football and basketball slate, beginning in 2024. The agreement is for 10 years.

With the agreement will come the end of the Saturday afternoon “SEC on CBS” games, a staple for the conference. But according to John Ourand with Sports Business Journal, the new deal will provide an increase of over $200 million in revenue annually:

The agreement runs through the 2033-34 season, with sources saying that ESPN is paying in the low $300 million range annually, on top of their previous arrangement. That figure is more than six times the $55 million per year fee that CBS currently pays the conference.

Another part of the agreement the SEC announced is that ABC will become the new home for Saturday afternoon SEC games, select primetime games, and the broadcast network for the SE Championship game:

The landmark deal, which represents a significant expansion of the conference’s current partnership with ESPN, will establish ABC as the new broadcast network home for Saturday afternoon SEC football games, as well as selected Saturday primetime football games and the annual SEC Football Championship Game, which has grown into one of the most popular sporting events of the year. In addition, approximately eight incremental marquee men’s basketball games will be featured across ABC or ESPN.

How this affects coverage of B1G games – and those of every other major conference – remains to be seen.

Paul Harvey

Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.