Article Report: ESPN willing to pay ‘range’ of $50-80 million more for 9th SEC game - Nick Schultz
- Thread starter SixPackSpeak
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Less than $5M per team basically even at the high end. I guess you save a buy game cost some years, so maybe it’s more valuable to the teams than that. And season tickets become more valuable, so maybe that adds some revenue.
You're not saving a buy game. You will still have the buy game & the Power 4 OOC game will go away
That at least makes sense why they aren’t willing to pay that much. I know they only get to broadcast the home power 4, but they get the same number of games in the end and I would think most of the power 4 of games get decent ratings. Maybe nothing like an extra Texas and Alabama matchup, but they’d also be picking up plenty of Missouri and Kentucky type games. Doesn’t seem like that’s a good deal for espn or the sec schools.
Not necessarily. Strong indications there will be a SEC/B1G scheduling alliance.
Its $50–$80MM more (which means its going to be $80MM more). Not $10MM more.
In other words, it’s going to happen, as most everyone who’s been paying attention knew that it would.
At $5MM more per team, that’s more than the payout is for making the CFP. And that’s going to every team in the league for adding the 9th game. With the revenue share and NIL both about to take hold simultaneously, there is no way this is not going to pass in order to offset some of that.
ETA: The current B1G TV deal is $7 billion total to the league over 7 years. ($1 billion per year to the league). The B1G has a 9-game conference schedule, and a P4 OOC requirement. That’s an average of about $55.5 million per school, per year. The current SEC deal pays $816 million per year, around $51 million per school per year.
So yeah, it’s more than a little coincidental that the “high” end of that range just so happens to be the amount to just barely nudge the SEC past the B1G in total TV revenue on a per school basis. What it actually means is that $80 million isn’t the high end, it’s the extreme low end. SEC is absolutely not going to accept anything less than a deal that pushes them solidly past the B1G’s numbers, if they are matching their schedule criteria. So, $80 million is the least it could be. But more likely it will be $100-$120 million, or more. And, ESPN will cave, as they always do.
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I meant by adding an extra game ESPN will essentially be buying 8 more games from the SEC. $80MM/8 games = $10MM/game.. or $5MM per team before the SEC takes a cut.
Sounds cheap to me... I bet they'd pay more.
Did they not see what playing 8 games did to the conference?
If anything, they should go to 7 games. ***
If anything, they should go to 7 games. ***
I'd be surprised if the SEC accepts that. There's enough schools against it still that it's going to take big money. Even tv can't afford things at some point too.
You are correct about the SEC/Big Ten Alliance potentially creating an annual crossover matchup for every school in these Conferences, but for this to happen there will be another additional payday from some combination of media outlets.
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Now we only get to win 3 games
That was my first thought, goodbye Alcorn St hello OK, TX, GA, AL, etc..............
May sound cheap, but 4 of the 12 teams in the CFP (ones that lose in first round) only get $4 million each. So $5 million more per school is still quite a bit….and as I said above its likely going to wind up being closer to $6-$7 million.
It’s a good deal for ESPN, too. As things stand, they are cannibalizing themselves with these nonconference patsy games that nobody cares about. They have to double their production costs when going from 1 SEC vs. SEC to 2 SEC vs bullcrap patsy team games, and they have to allocate desirable broadcast windows to those games in some instances. They need less quantity and more quality at this point.
If the SEC moves to 9 conference games in 2026, this will absolutely happen to State:
1) 5 road games.
2) @ Georgia for 6th time in 20 years.
3) No Vandy
1) 5 road games.
2) @ Georgia for 6th time in 20 years.
3) No Vandy
Dibs on Rutgers
edit: Rutgers was actually close to middle of the pack the last couple of years. With our luck the first year we played them they’d go 10-2.
I’m all for it. The best parts of being a MSU fan is home SEC games. It’s hard to get into spending that much $ for Middle TN State.
Completely agree. I’ll never understand what people even get out of us obliterating someone like EKU. Those games are just completely meaningless. I’d honestly just rather watch two other SEC teams play each other….or go fishing.
Right. The SEC not merely rotating last season's 7 temporary opponents off and playing the "B side" was a gut punch.
There's talk about them re-running the formula that led to State playing teams who were mediocre but suddenly got good - Tenn, Texas, Mizzou. I have no doubt the SEC office will find a way to screw over State in '26.
It's an extra home game every other year, unless the SEC finds a way to make 5 road games permanent for State.
Problem for me from what I've seen is it's the P4 OOC games that will be cut not the others. Those are much more interesting and fun for me than another round with the usual suspects. Enjoy chatting up the visitors in and around the Junction and thinking about making the run to the MN game having spent a couple years in St Paul growing up. Still kicking myself for not pulling the trigger on going to Tucson.
If it's one of the others fine with me but I imagine the pro "schedule manipulators" will be out in force.