SEC announces new ESPN deal for premier games. What that means for Mizzou athletics
When Missouri athletics made the switch from the Big 12 to SEC, there was a heavy emphasis on the financial side of college sports. MU was going to make more money, in other words.
That move is going to be amplified as the SEC announced a new television rights deal Thursday with ESPN and ABC that will start during the 2024-25 season and continue through 2033-34. It’ll be a 10-year, multi-million dollar deal for the conference.
Terms were not announced, but according to the Sports Business Journal, the contract is expected to be worth around $300 million per season to the conference. That’s a massive increase from the current CBS deal, which paid the SEC $55 million annually. Why such a disparity? That contract was negotiated in 1996 and was a bargain for CBS.
But now the SEC will capitalize on its TV deal on top of its pre-existing deal with ESPN. That means MU will get an even larger piece of the revenue pie going forward as the league reallocates revenue from those TV contracts.
Fifteen SEC football games and eight marquee men’s basketball games will be added to ESPN networks. The new deal means ESPN is the exclusive media rights holder for all SEC sports.
Other benefits of the deal include SEC football games on ABC in the premier mid-afternoon slot. The SEC championship game will also be broadcast on ABC. More men’s basketball games will be on ABC and ESPN networks.
Starting in 2021-22, some nonconference football and men’s basketball games could be streamed live on ESPN+.
“This is a significant day for the Southeastern Conference and for the future of our member institutions,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said in a release. “Our agreement with ESPN will greatly enhance our ability to support our student-athletes in the years ahead and to further enrich the game day experience for SEC fans around the world.
“The broadcast industry’s intense and widespread interest in securing the SEC’s First Tier rights is a direct reflection of the sustained excellence achieved by our 14 member schools, and we are thrilled to have been able to maximize our current position of strength to benefit our student-athletes, the fans who go to our games and home viewers.”