re: SEC to launch conference TV channel in August '14; official announcement Tuesday

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I was actually kind of surprised that it will be televised out of Charlotte. I guess ESPN doesn't have a studio in the ATL area?

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It was pretty well known it'd be in Charlotte. That's where ESPNU is.

Bring on the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

That's correct that ESPN gets over $5 per subscriber and of course is on basic cable, that's where they make their money. The entire reason the SEC Network has taken so long to be announced is because they have been lining up the packages prior to announcement as I understand it, they learned from the Big 1G and LHN that you get the deals set up before rather than after launching.

There is no real doubt that the SEC Network will be on Basic Cable in most SEC states from the get go. Unlike the Big 1G Network, SEC Football is the premier sport in most SEC States. Most Big 1G States are primarily pro sporting states with college as a secondary. In the SEC that is the case in Missouri and to a lesser extent in Texas, Florida, and maybe Georgia and Tennessee.

You should hear the caterwauling coming out of Austin. Silly fricking tsips

If what the author says is true, there will probably be a huge fanbase change in Texas ovr next couple of decades. A&M playing UA's, LSU's, UF's, etc, etc...and UT playing OU and....well, OU.


Though I must say A&M needs to get 1 OOC in there.

SEC STAAAAAAAACKED

B1G/UT FUUUUUUUUCKED

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Though I must say A&M needs to get 1 OOC in there.

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We play two bowl winners OOC this year and one of them is in a BCS conference



seriously though, we do have home and homes set up with USC ('15, '16) and Oregon ('18, '19) but who knows if those actually come to pass.

Here is a link that provides a little more detail:
LINK

Here is a snippet:

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Like the Big Ten Network and Pac-12 Networks, the SEC’s version will be a national channel, with broad distribution within the SEC’s territory and sports-tier carriage elsewhere. Over the next 15 months, the conference will work with ESPN to build out its operation, possibly in Charlotte at ESPN Regional Television, and hire a staff, all while beginning talks with distributors.

The conference channel cleared its biggest obstacle in recent weeks when it reacquired the third-tier TV rights from IMG College, Learfield Sports and CBS Collegiate Sports Properties, the three rights holders that work with the conference’s 14 schools. Those third-tier TV rights represent one football game, eight men’s basketball games, baseball, women’s basketball and all other nonrevenue sports that are not picked up by ESPN or a syndicated partner.

Those live games will move to ESPN for the conference channel, which is an important development because it means that ESPN will control the entire inventory of SEC football games, with the exception of CBS’s single game each week. That gives ESPN a lot of flexibility to use specific games in markets where it’s having trouble gaining distribution. If, for example, one of Louisiana’s biggest distributors, Cox, is holding out and not agreeing to carry the channel, it will be easier for ESPN to place more LSU games on it to help it gain more leverage in those negotiations.

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