Earlier today, news broke that an “announcement” from the SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey was scheduled for 5 pm CST this evening. Rumor quickly abounded that COVID had forced the Commissioner’s hand in possibly taking drastic measures to curb the spread of the virus when it came to football and basketball team case numbers.
THEN, word spread that it may be related to the purchase of the media rights for SEC football and basketball by Disney, to be broadcast on the ABC/ESPN family of networks. That got legs, and then we finally got confirmation from a number of sources, with my favorite being the Zoom link for the media availability with Greg Sankey:
Anyway, here’s the press release —
The @SEC and @ESPN have finalized a milestone 10-year agreement that grants ABC and ESPN exclusive broadcast rights to premier SEC football and basketball events beginning in 2024-25 and continuing through 2033-34.