re: SEC TV Deal

quote:

---

I know this is the last year with CBS and the SEC. I can't understand why CBS decided to give the BIG10 all of that money and drop the SEC. Anyone know why? Did the relationship with CBS and SEC get sour? I am definitely gonna miss watching the games on CBS.

---

Yes, the relationship between the conference and CBS got sour after the 2012 expansion. CBS was already getting a steal for their exclusive time slot at $54 million, so, when A&M and Missouri joined, the SEC asked CBS to increase their payment so that the pro rata share for the now 14 team league would not drop as a result of expansion. CBS declined to do that, their only concession being to allow the future SEC Network to televise a game during their previously exclusive window. Mike Slive was pissed.

How much of that carried over to the recent contract negotiations is hard to say. I think CBS offered more than ESPN ($300 million) for the 2:30 timeslot, but, for whatever reason, Sankey chose to put all our eggs in the ESPN basket (the primary excuse was that it would give us more flexibility in scheduling -- we'll see about that starting in 2024).