Monday, August 25, 2008

Good Deal for the SEC

And by the way there will still be 11:30 kickoffs with this new deal.

(AL.com)Starting next season, SEC football games will find a home on ESPNU and ESPN Regional Television, in addition to ESPN, ESPN2 and CBS.
As part of the SEC's 15-year, $2.25 billion deal with ESPN, at least 20 SEC games annually will be televised on ESPN and ESPN2, including Saturday night and two primetime Thursday games. ESPNU will show a minimum of 13 games, generally in primetime on Saturday. ESPN Regional Television will feature at least 13 games each Saturday as a syndicator, generally at 11:30 a.m.
Live games will be simulcast on ESPN Mobile TV and ESPN360.com.
In men's basketball, the SEC Tournament semifinals and championship will move to ABC, a sister network of ESPN. It's the first time ABC will show conference basketball tournaments.
An ESPN outlet will show every SEC conference game, excluding those on CBS, and numerous out-of-conference games. ESPN and ESPN2 will triple their offerings of the SEC by featuring the conference three nights per week, with a minimum of 24 conference games and six non-conference games each season.
The SEC will continue to have a Tuesday slot on ESPN plus appearances on Thursday and Saturday (ESPN or ESPN2). ESPNU will televise a minimum of seven conference games and five non-conference games. ESPN Regional Television will syndicate a minimum of 37 conference games and the first two rounds of the SEC Tournament.
The deal also includes at least three regular season SEC baseball or softball games on ESPN or ESPN2, and three regular-season gymnastics matches. The SEC championships in gymnastics, baseball and softball will be televised.
ESPNU will show at least 25 regular-season events from sports such as baseball, softball, volleyball, gymnastics, soccer, swimming and diving, and track and field.