re: Why is Missouri in the SEC?

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Mike Slive knew that if the Southeastern Conference wanted to increase its revenue, a conference television network would be a good idea.

But Slive, who stepped down in May after nearly 13 years as commissioner of the SEC, realized the timing wasn't right to launch a network in 2009 when the SEC's deals with ESPN and CBS were up for renewal, according to several athletic directors who were involved in the process. The Big Ten had already launched its network, but the economy was in recession, and rumors of more conference realignment were picking up.


Slive decided to wait.

That decision proved extremely lucrative for the commissioner and the rest of the SEC. The conference later added Missouri and Texas A&M in 2011, increasing the SEC's cable television footprint by more than 10 million homes, according to Nielsen data, and giving Slive the ammo he needed to move forward with a network.

The SEC Network, which celebrated its first birthday on Aug. 14, was more successful than anyone could have imagined. After the most successful network launch in cable television history, the SEC Network has a market value of $4.77 billion, according to research firm SNL Kagan. By comparison, the Big Ten Network, which launched in 2007, has a value of $1.59 billion.

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