re: Conference expansion = more money?

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One question. What is the possibility of the SEC negotiating with someone other than ESPN to be the partner of the SEC Network channel, say perhaps CBS? Is that perhaps a backup plan if the SEC and ESPN can't come to terms?

Whatever happens the SEC needs to retain a majority equity interest in the network, like the B1G has with the BTN. (Letting someone else own the golden egg-laying goose while you supply goose feed, you always run the risk of having your supply of golden eggs cut off. Owning a majority of said goose guarantees a future stream of income from golden egg sales.)

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It seems as though they are pretty far down the path with ESPN because that is really the best option. That said the most likely other options would be to simply do it completely by themselves and create their own brand or to go with Fox. CBS really doesn't have the right setup to be a good player here and there is a lot of value in keeping CBS as the Tier 1 rights holder while the other content is on different networks.

The ownership issue is a complex one that honestly I'm not smart enough to answer. In theory your assumption is correct in temrs of who owns what but realistically you can come up with plenty of protections to allow for ESPN to have 51% if that is an issue. For instance most corporate structures allow the majority owner to make lots of decisions but most major decisions require 2/3rds or 3/4 vote for approval. The benefit to ESPN getting 51% is it keeps the SEC out of the TV business while likely making the SEC the 2nd largest sports investment for ABC/ESPN after the NFL and thus they will be ALL IN to make it work and to push the hell out of it. It's incredibly complicated and thus another reason why it has taken so long, they want it done right because the long term affects are so significant. A seemingly small clause today could have a major impact 5 years from now either positively or negatively. That's part of why Slive has watched the Big 1G and what they have done and the LHN and what it has done to look at the right and wrong way to set up the deal.