After watching Jim Delaney and the Big Ten bathe in millions of dollars since the inception of the Big Ten Network in 2008, SEC commissioner Mike Slive finally initiated dialog with ESPN to create an SEC television network back in early June. While there was no time table set this summer, the expectations are for the new ESPN partnered network to launch in time for the 2014 college football season.
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For those keeping score at home, the Big Ten Network (BTN) generated $242 million in gross revenue in 2011, netting $80 million, so it wouldn’t take a rocket scientist to imagine what a SEC tv network could be worth. With a massive 11-state footprint, which includes Florida, Georgia, Missouri, and Texas the estimates are for revenue to reach approximately $720 million per year at a price of $2 per month, according to our very good friend Clay Travis at Outkickthecoverage.com. If the network were to charge subscribers $3 per month, the SEC network could be valued above a BILLION DOLLARS. Yes, a billion. ”Cash cow” doesn’t even seem appropriate when talking about this type of revenue stream.
To give you some perspective, the average cost per month for BTN subscribers is a paltry 37 cents. For the love of god, an apple costs more than that these days. Even after splitting the pie with ESPN, an absurd
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amount of money will be leftover for the network, alongside all the SEC programs.
While Slive has kept everyone in the dark about the ongoing progress with ESPN and the other partners, we have learned from the Sports Business Journal that the details to develop the network are being finalized. The journal is reporting only “three issues” stand in the way before the channel launches in 2o14, including obtaining local television rights and “rehashing marketing rights.” One finalized, expect the SEC to rise back to the top of the ladder of richest conferences in college athletics.
Raju Kansagra
No disrespect to the B1G or any other conference, but from an audience and from a success (and thus ranking) standpoint, it would appear that the SEC Project would exceed the B1G or others. Though not seeing the figures that ESPN and the SEC has and no knowing what they are exactly dealing with, I would expect this third tier network to be more lucrative than any others.
Certainly, the expansion of the SEC with its two new schools and geographical audiences is a bonus, but the amount of championships which reside in the SEC and have over the past decades. Football is certainly the cash cow, but to fill the air time, there are a huge number of other highly ranked and championship teams in many sports which would be far too numerous to get into at this time.
Just a few…if you want women’s gymnastics (the most popular sport at the Summer Olympics by far), it is Georgia and Alabama. If you want track, its TAMU and LSU. If you want baseball, its South Carolina and LSU, etc.
If you rate markets by college football ratings, the SEC footprint may be tops in the nation, however by population metrics the B1G footprint may arguably be larger than the SEC one as it stands now. Now, there are rumors that B1G markets are shrinking and southern markets are growing, but I have yet to see hard evidence of this over the past several seasons when the SEC has been on a tear. I can see the SEC network topping all networks in due time, but it will probably take a few years.
Great so the coverage and bias of the SEC on the regular ESPN network’s will increase even more. Sigh.
Well its not like ESPN is partnering with Slive and the SEC for non-football sports….
SEC + ESPN = make babies