No matter where it is you call home, or what colors you wear on Saturdays in the fall – it’s universally understood that the SEC seems to have everything figured out. While diehards in the midwest or along the Atlantic Coast may not freely admit it, the Southeastern Conference has top to bottom the biggest fanfare, the most sellouts, and the highest television ratings by a considerable margin. While fans don’t shy away from citing statistics that help the case for their conference’s superiority, SEC administrators are left stewing in frustration because there’s one area in which they’re far from best; revenue.
Andy Staples of The Athletic released an article this week breaking down the economics and history behind the CBS-SEC deal. The current agreement has the network paying the conference $55 million annually for the league’s best games, week in and week out, totalling 15 broadcasts. That breaks down to $3.67 million a game. That figure might seem laughably low in 2019, and it is, but when the paperwork was signed things were much different.
With hindsight being what it is, we can now say the financial crisis of 2008 put the SEC in an uncomfortable negotiating position and CBS in the driver’s seat. It was that summer, when countless Americans were losing their homes and jobs, that the current deal was negotiated. On top of that, this was several years before conference networks were commonplace. The Big Ten Network had launched the season prior, but the data at the time did not indicate that was a model that would pay off as much as it has.
Finally, CBS and the SEC had history. As the conference was producing powerhouse programs the likes of Florida, LSU, Alabama and Auburn year in and year out fans across America were able to watch on CBS. Vern Lundquist’s voice became associated with the SEC, and several administrators felt they had built a brand worth continuing with their current network parter. All those factors led to the signing of a 15 year contract. In under 5 years, it was clear CBS walked away with one of the best deals in sports.
To put things in perspective, the SEC’s thrilling championship game in which Alabama came back to defeat Georgia 35-28 in Atlanta drew 17.5 million viewers. Several weeks later, Alabama took care of Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl, a CFP National Semifinal, by a count of 45-35. That game drew 16.8 million viewers. Some quick math would show Disney paid roughly $118 million for the broadcast rights for that one game – more than double the number CBS pays for it’s annual SEC rights.
Clearly, we’re headed for a biblical bidding war come 2023 when the current deal expires between FOX and ESPN. That is, of course, if CBS can’t reach an agreement with the SEC in the next few years. They’re in the driver’s seat and could appease their partners in the south by torching the current deal and paying market value for their product in the next few years. Until then, the SEC can claim their number one in ratings, number one in game attendance, and number two in television revenue.