Big TV Deals Guarantee Change, Not Stability

Milestone deals become memories pretty quickly in the world of TV sports, and that might be most true with regard to college sports. Especially the past few years.

After all, what were once eye-opening, slightly surprising and even set-for-life deals seemingly get surpassed the next time another conference reaches an agreement with a broadcast partner. Being first simply sets the standard that others use as a reference point. And that point rarely represents a negotiating ceiling for those that follow.

That's why the Southeastern Conference -- just three years into its deals with ESPN/ABC and CBS -- has made noise recently about talking with its partners about altering or updating its broadcast agreements. While SEC officials have said that they're comfortable with the escalator clauses in the deals, the news that the growing Pac-12 Conference had landed a big deal with ESPN and Fox did not play as well in the South as it did on the West Coast.

Also, unlike the Pac-12 and Big Ten Conference, the SEC remains without the ability to create its own channel, which would provide another revenue stream for the conference.

That's a revenue stream the University of Texas, with its Longhorn Network, hopes to tap exclusively starting this fall. With the help of ESPN, the UT-specific channel hopes to get as much as 40 cents per subscriber per month from cable operators who would carry the channel.

Like the Big Ten Network, which draws some of its revenue from that approach, that dual revenue stream changes the game for college sports on TV.

That's part of the reason the Big Ten Network remains the biggest cash cow in college sports TV. It's deals -- with ESPN/ABC, CBS and as majority owner of the BTN (51 percent, compared with Fox's 49 percent) -- generate more than $250 million annually, according to Sports Business Journal.

Next are:
-- the Pac-12 ($250M through deals with ESPN/ABC and Fox);
-- the SEC ($205M with ESPN/ABC and CBS;
-- the Atlantic Coast Conference ($155M with ESPN/ABC); and
-- The Big 12 Conference ($150M with ESPN/ABC and Fox).

That's the end of the cash cows, though. After those major conferences, TV revenues drop off significantly. The Big East Conference collects an average of $36 million each year from ESPN/ABC while CBS College Sports pays less than $16 million and more than $11.7 million to Conference USA and the Mountain West, respectively.