Friday, August 22, 2008

SEC+Four-Letter= More $$$$$$$

Maybe...

A note from Mister College Football, aka Tony Barnhart, on ajc.com intrigues us here at OSG HQ...
To wit...

There are talks, and this is what they are right now, just "talks" that the Southeastern Conference and the Four-Letter Network may be in cahoots for a 15-year deal of their own...

The middle paragraph...with a preview...

"...Under this deal ESPN would purchase all of the remaining television rights that CBS does not own.

Why would ESPN do this? Simple. If ESPN owned the remaining rights, it could put several SEC games on its various platforms (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN360) and then, whatever rights it had left and did not want, it could sell back to a group like Raycom or even Comcast. Distribution, however, could be an issue because a lot of cable systems do not carry ESPNU or 360 on their basic package. And those distribution issues could ultimately complicate the deal. Some of those distribution issues could be addressed by video streaming on the Internet, which is going to be a big part of these future TV deals."

Barnhart also points out that the new deal with CBS brings in a little over $50-million a year. Those numbers would explode if the folks in Bristol get involved.

More as it becomes available...

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