SEC Reportedly in Talks with CBS and ESPN About Launching a Cable Channel

The SEC, which already has media deals with CBS and ESPN, is reportedly close to restructuring a deal that would give the conference its own channel by 2014.

The news comes via John Ourand and Michael Smith, via sportingnews.com:

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The 14-team conference has been negotiating with both networks this year after the SEC expanded with Texas A&M and Missouri. That triggered a clause in the SEC’s deal that allows the league to go back to the negotiating table with its partners, just as the ACC recently renegotiated its media contract with ESPN after its own expansion with Pittsburgh and Syracuse.

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Let's take a closer look at this proposed new deal.

What It Means

First and foremost, a new channel would mean a lot more nationally televised SEC sports. 

The conference already had deals with major networks CBS and ESPN, but the addition of Texas A&M and Missouri gives it the leverage it needed to renegotiate and go even bigger. 

Essentially, this new channel would give the SEC something similar to the Big Ten Network.

Additionally, this new deal suggests further development of major conferences.

A few years ago, the SEC got a mega-deal with ESPN and CBS that looked to be monumental. Of course, just last year, the Pac-12 made a deal with ESPN and Fox that made that deal look minuscule. Now, here comes the SEC, after adding two new schools, potentially making a bigger deal.

It's becoming clear that the addition of bigger schools provides too much incentive for these conferences to pass up.

What Happens Next

While the talks are certainly in play, there are still plenty of factors that need to be decided before something is finalized.

First, the SEC needs to decide what "model" they want to adopt. According to the article, there are several different ways they could go about it:

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There are several different paths the SEC could take on a channel. It could follow the Big Ten model, where the conference is a 49 percent owner of Big Ten Network with Fox and shares in its revenue.

Or it could go the Pac-12 route, which owns all of its regional networks. Texas, on the other hand, sold its rights to ESPN for a fee, and ESPN owns all of the Longhorn Network."

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The conference also must wait until 2014, when ESPN gets syndication rights back from Fox Sports. 

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