Vasha Hunt | Opelika-Auburn News

SEC-TV is dead.

Long live ESPN.

That was the news Monday, when the Southeastern Conference announced that it had agreed to a 15-year contract, beginning in 2009, with ESPN and its affiliated networks.

The deal covers every SEC sport, from football and basketball to golf and tennis.

The SEC-ESPN deal completes the SEC’s national TV picture. The league agreed to a 15-year contract with CBS earlier this month.

The two deals put an end to speculation that the SEC would join the Big 10 and Mountain West conferences in forming its own TV network.

It also eliminates the possibility of any further broadcast deals: Between ESPN and CBS, all possible TV options are spoken for.

According to Street and Smith’s Sports Business Journal, ESPN will pay the SEC $150 million per year for 15 years — a total of $2.25 billion. The CBS deal will pay about $55 million annually.

ESPN has agreed to televise more than 5,500 SEC sporting events, including the SEC Championships in every sport but football, which will belong to CBS. The deal calls for SEC content to be featured on all of ESPN’s networks, including ABC, ESPN, ESPN2,
ESPNU, ESPN Classic and ESPN Regional Television.

ESPN and ESPN2 will show a minimum of 20 SEC football games per season, including a weekly Saturday night game and two Thursday night games. ESPNU will also show a Saturday game of the week, with a minimum of 13 games per season.

The deal calls for 24 SEC basketball games — on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays — to be broadcast on ESPN and ESPN2, plus at least two games per season on ABC and 12 games on ESPNU. ABC’s coverage will also include the finals and semifinals of
the SEC basketball tournament.

ESPN Regional will replace Raycom — formerly Lincoln Financial Sports — as the syndication home of SEC football and basketball.
ESPN Regional football games, like Raycom’s, will be shown on participating local stations and will be broadcast in Raycom’s customary 11:30 a.m. slot.