The Southeastern Conference’s signature mid-afternoon Saturday game will move from CBS to ABC starting in 2024 as part of a new 10-year contract with ESPN and the powerhouse football league announced Thursday.
The Southeastern Conference’s signature mid-afternoon Saturday game will move from CBS to ABC starting in 2024 as part of a new 10-year contract with ESPN and the powerhouse football league announced Thursday. The deal makes ESPN the exclusive media rights holder of SEC football and men’s basketball, and will end the conference’s relationship with CBS after three decades. CBS has been airing the league’s Saturday afternoon centerpiece game and football championship since 1996. »The SEC has now, has had and will have a 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time broadcast network game. The change will be from CBS to ABC, » SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey told AP. « So that’s a point of consistency. »The SEC championship game will also air on ABC. The SEC and ESPN are already in the midst of a 20-year deal that includes a partnership on the SEC Network. The new deal will line up so both will end at the same time. The difference in the new deal: The mid-afternoon game is less likely to be the SEC’s game of the week. For the first time, ESPN will be able to place SEC games in its Saturday prime-time slot, too. »So Saturday night, prime time on ABC is the highest profile window, the biggest stage in terms of college football. And we love the fact that we can now bring the ABC platform into the mix, starting in 2024, » ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro told AP. Sports Business Journal first reported a year ago the SEC and ESPN were moving toward a partnership.
