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BCS Moving to the Worldwide Leader??

According to a story in today's Sports Business Daily, the BCS Commissioners are considering a proposal from ESPN/ABC which would see all four of the BCS bowl games now under contract to Fox move to ESPN. The Rose Bowl has a separate contract with ABC, however a clause in that contract provides that if one of the BCS bowls move to cable then ESPN/ABC has the right to move the Rose Bowl to ESPN. The BCS proposal is thought to be worth $500 million for four years or roughly $20 million more per year than Fox had been offering. Fox has several day to match the offer, but that is thought to be unlikely.

The movement of the BCS bowls to ESPN continues a trend of moving high profile events to cable/satellite television and away from the broadcast networks. In many respects, cable, with its dual revenue stream of subscriber fees and advertising, is in a better position to pay up for events than is network TV. Expect this trend to continue and even accelerate as the value proposition for network TV will continue to deteriorate. There is only on Super Bowl and most other events can't begin to charge those types of ad rates.

The other takeaway from this deal is don't count on a playoff anytime soon. If the Big Six conferences can get this kind of money for their little bowl cartel, why in the world would they want to upset the applecart with a playoff.

Full post as published by Sports Biz on November 12, 2008 (boomark / email).