ESPN Will Pay $2.25 Billion For Some SEC Rights: Report
This story was written by Staci D. Kramer.
As a former card-carrying member of the SEC (woof, woof, woof for anyone who cares), I can only look at these numbers in awe ... ESPN (NYSE: DIS) will announce later today a major deal for the SEC TV rights not held by CBS (NYSE: CBS), according to Sports Business Journal. SBJ's "industry sources" peg the price at $2.25 billion for 15 years, or roughly $150 million a year. The Southeastern Conference just announced a 15-year deal with CBS for a reported $825 million or $55 million a year. No details yet on the broadband and mobile rights but it would be surprising if ESPN didn't have a lock on multi-platform rights for its games.
SBJ also says to expect a deal that puts ESPNU on Comcast (NSDQ: CMCSA) systems; Comcast has a major SEC presence and this would be the right lever.
By Staci D. Kramer