College Sports Media Rights on the Rise

The Pac-10 Conference, soon to be Pac-12 Conference, recently announced a new media rights deal with ESPN/Fox for a whopping $3 billion over a 12 year term.  In the last 18 months, three things have become evident: 1) college sports media rights are on a huge rise, 2) college sports media rights have been undervalued in recent years, and 3) there are more players at the table.  Traditionally, ESPN has dominated the college sports market, but ESPN now has stiff competition from Fox, NBC, Turner, Comcast, Time Warner, and others.  Recently, competitors have shown a willingness to work together to retain lucrative rights (i.e., CBS and Turner for March Madness and ESPN and Fox for the Pac-10).  A bidding war can only help the next groups arriving at the bidding table (i.e., Big East and Big 12).  Reports indicate that the Big East is poised to accept a generous raise from $36 million annually to an estimated $130 million annually.

Presently, according to the Sports Business Journal, the conference media rights deals are as follows:

ACC                          $155m                   2011-2022-23           ESPN/ABC

Big 12                       $90m                     2012-2024-25            Fox

                                 $60m                     2008-2015-16            ESPN/ABC

Big East                   $36m                     2007-2013                  ESPN/ABC

Big Ten                    $232m                   2007-2031-32             Big Ten Net

                                 $20m                     2006-2015-16             CBS

Conference USA     $15.6m-$16.1m     2011-2015-16             CBS College Sp

Mountain West        $11.7m                   2007-2013-14             CBS College Sp

Pac-10 (Pac-12)     $250m                    2011-2022-23              ESPN/Fox

SEC                        $150m                    2009-2023-24              ESPN/ABC

                                $55m                      2009-2023-24              CBS College Sp

Over the course of the last round of negotiations, the contract terms have also increased to a norm in the 10 to 12 year range (in some cases longer).  As a result, there will be little maneuvering in the media rights segment for several years following the 2015-16 negotiations.

For any questions, feel free to contact Christian Dennie at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .