SEC signs landmark TV deal with CBS
Conference agrees to 15-year extension to televise football, men's basketball
By TONY BARNHART
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thursday, August 14, 2008
In an unprecedented deal between a national network and a college athletic conference, the SEC and CBS on Thursday announced that they have agreed to a 15-year contract extension to televise that league's football and men's basketball games. Financial details of the deal were not released.
The current contract between the SEC and CBS was scheduled to end after the 2008 season. The two parties have been negotiating for the entire year.
This new deal with CBS does not eliminate the possibility of an SEC television network. That won't be determined until the SEC announces the remainder of its television contracts with ESPN and Raycom.
The new agreement means CBS will be broadcasting SEC games through the 2023 season.
"This is a great day for CBS," said Mike Aresco, the Vice President for programming at CBS. "The SEC is the gold standard for college athletics. It has been a great conference for 76 years and that will never change. We love the enthusiasm and the way the fans support the game."
Aresco said that CBS and the SEC talked about several different options when it came to the length of this contract.
"But at the end of the day the comfort level is so great and the trust is so great that we decided to lock this in for the long haul," Aresco said. "This is a great deal for both sides."
CBS has an 11-year deal with the NCAA to televise the men's basketball tournament. This 15-year deal is believed to be the longest in the history of college sports.
In this new deal CBS gets the right to pick the first game during every week of the regular season. In the previous deal ESPN got the first pick a few weeks out of the season.
CBS will televise one prime time game per season.
The deal also includes certain digital and wireless rights. Aresco said CBS will considering streaming some games on the internet.
"The Southeastern Conference is pleased to extend its long-standing relation with CBS," commissioner Mike Slive said on Thursday. "We have enjoyed working with CBS the past 13 years and we look forward to our long-term future together."
