CBS has acquired the rights to televise Southeastern Conference and Big East football games for five years starting in 1996, The New York Times reported in Tuesday editions.
The Times said the deal was expected to be announced Tuesday or Wednesday. CBS and the SEC agreed last week, but the SEC wanted to wait until the Big East also agreed before the announcement, the paper said.There have been published reports that CBS would pay the SEC $85 million and the Big East $55 million. The CBS-SEC agreement reportedly will include the rights to men's and women's basketball.
College football writer Ivan Maisel of the Dallas Morning News reports that both leagues will listen to last-minute counteroffers today from their colleagues in the College Football Association, who want them to participate in a five-year contract extension with ABC and ESPN.
Officials throughout college football are concerned that a dissolution of the CFA television package could result in lower TV rights fees and endanger the financial health of some Division I-A schools.
As such the commissioners of the Southwest, Atlantic Coast and Big Eight conferences will offer an additional $12 million to the SEC, and CFA members will increase their offer to the Big East for its football, as well, from about $39 million to $48 million, according to a league official, Maisel reports.
Big East representatives met with Jay Rosenstein and Len DeLuca of CBS Sports on Monday.
A CBS contract also would assuage the Big East's concerns in football. Conference members haven't been happy with the CFA deal because ABC couldn't provide the entire Northeast market with the league's games.
The network contractually committed with the Big Ten and Pacific-10 conferences to show their games to 50 percent of the nation. For instance, on Sept. 21, the Syracuse-Texas game didn't appear in New York City. CBS obviously solves that problem.