Pac 10, Big 12 and TBS

[aarontabr]

With TBS being headquartered in Atlanta, why does TBS air Pac 10 and Big 12 games, but not SEC games? You'd think being located in the South that TBS would buy rights to SEC games.

 

[mjdecastro]

The natural fit for TBS would be to air SEC or ACC football. However, both conferences have their cable rights with ESPN. Neither the Pac-10 nor the Big 12 have an ESPN cable package, and apparently whatever deals these conferences have with FSN do not call for cable exclusivity. TBS must have been a good fit for the conferences, since the channel is available everywhere in the country on basic cable, which is not necessarily the case with the hodgepodge of FSN regional sports networks.

SEC sells football broadcast rights to CBS, ESPN, and Lincoln Financial Sports (syndicator who produces games and sells the rights to mostly over-the-air stations in the South).

ACC sells football broadcast rights to ABC (where games are labeled "ESPN on ABC"), ESPN, and Lincoln Financial Sports, in a joint venture with Raycom.

There's no room for TBS to get an additional game from either of those conferences to broadcast, unless they wanted to be relegated to broadcasting Vanderbilt (SEC) and Duke (ACC) football games every week. That's likely to be the only offerings left after all the aforementioned broadcast partners selected their games for the week.

 

[MarkL]

When TBS picked up the College Football games they also said that they were trying to expand their sports viewership outside the Southeast.

 

[oldvnewschool]

It's part of a subliscense deal with FSN.

This has nothing to do with ESPN because they don't own the cable contracts

of the Big 12 & Pac 10.

Although the Pac 10 did sign a new deal with ESPN/ABC so that might change in

the near future.

FSN agrees to allow at least one of their games to go to TBS ranging from

either the Pac 10 or Big 12.

That's why it is what it is.

TBS did air SEC Football between 1984 and 1991 before losing the contract to ESPN

the following year.

 

[Studio20]

an addendum to FSN and the Pac10. I don't think ESPN will get more of a pac 10 flavor than the one weekly offering and the Rose Bowl. Dating back to the "Prime Sports Northwest" and "Prime Ticket" channels, the pac 10 has a favorable relationship with the net, not only airing football, but other major..and minor sports as well.

FSN, while branded nationwide, still focuses on regional coverage. Thats why ESPN Plus was invented...They do really well with the Big Ten and really fight FSN for Big 12 sports rights.