Roundup: What people think of the TV deal
Everyone has an opinion about the SEC’s new TV deal with ESPN. Here’s a survey of what’s being said by newspapers and blogs:
SEC TV deal with ESPN on football will mean all conference games will be broadcast writes the Birmingham News.
Actually, Raycom will be broadcasting the early morning games in HD this season. Too little too late in the SEC’s eyes, I guess—The Slophouse
Georgia Sports Blog: A likely SEC TV schedule next year (during a typical week) would be:
- Best Game: CBS at 3:30 pm
2nd Pick: ESPN at 7:45 pm
3rd Pick: ESPN2 night game
4th Pick: ESPNU 12:00 or 12:30
Lou Holtz will spit his way into millions more homes each weekend, which surely will enrich the lives of caustic fans across the country. His down-home colloquialisms add so much to ESPN’s coverage and I, for one, am looking forward to many more years with Coach Holtz providing us simulated pep talks and pointless rants—writes The Hottest Auburn Blog on the Net
Ron Higgins of The Commercial Appeal says the deal ends the idea of an SEC Network—The ultimate conclusion was that each school has its own pay-per-view and re-telecast agreements, and that web was not worth untangling, especially after CBS and now ESPN has backed up the Brinks armored car to the SEC vault.
A Georgia football blog raises a good question about these television deals and any changes to the playoff format: Speaking of which, I do have one little question about these deals. Given their length and the financial outlay, how concerned do you think CBS and ESPN are now about an extended D-1 football playoff format devaluing the significance of regular season SEC games?
An Alabama football blog says the new deal means another advantage for SEC recruiting—None other than the recruiting maestro Nick Saban said the reason the SEC has been successful is due to the tremendous exposure through its national television games on CBS and ESPN. Saban said the new deal is only going to enhance the league’s exposure.
3rd Saturday in Blogtober: SEC fans, say goodbye to the Three Daves of Raycom when they come to visit your town this year. This year sounds like the farewell tour for the Trainwrecked Triumvirant.
AOL’s Fanhouse provides this take: You know what? I like the deal. Let’s be honest, here. The games that were covered on what is now Raycom were terrible. The video production looked like something out of th 1980’s, the picture was atrocious (god help you if you have a big screen or are accustomed to High-Def), and the announcing was poor at best. The network put out a highly sub-standard product, but they were the only option we had some Saturdays.
The Journal of Sports Media says the ESPN deal is the death knell for the regional sports network—However, with one 45-minute press conference today, the SEC and ESPN burst the RSN bubble and, indirectly, gave Big Cable companies a victory in their feuds with the Big Ten Network and the NFL Network. Mike Slive, commissioner of the SEC, confirmed today that going it alone with a network is too big a risk. During his conference call comments, he alluded to starting an RSN as 20-25 year commitment. Instead, he and his band of athletic directors and presidents took the money - $2.2 billion of it.
Matt Wilson of NashvilleBallerz details something many SEC fans have suspected that ESPN was biased against the SEC—
SEC fans the last 15 years or so have begun to suspect that not being affiliated with ABC/ESPN has had a negative impact in both exposure and by extension, voting for national rankings and individual awards.
Ask any Tennessee fan and they’ll probably tell you they think Peyton Manning got jobbed out of the Heisman Trophy because he played in a conference that ESPN didn’t have a contract with. Ask any Auburn fan about the Tigers’ undefeated 2004 season — the one in which they didn’t win the national title. Could the fact that the SEC wasn’t an official league televised by the network have played a role in that? Fine, I’ll say it. I think so.
Now the SEC arguably becomes the flagship league for ESPN. It will be intriguing to see how things change.
One Mississippi State blog has a different view: This means that the 11:30 Raycom (JP for the old-timers) broadcast will be history starting next year. After our record in 11:30 Raycom games last year, (begin “the world is against us” rant”) this feels like it was diliberately meant to keep us down (end rant)!