Nov 19 2008
ESPN Awarded BCS Games
Starting New Year’s Day 2011, ESPN will broadcast the Sugar, Orange and Fiesta bowls as part of a new four-year contract with the Bowl Championship Series. The deal also calls for the 2011, 2012 and 2013 BCS title games to be shown on ESPN.
Fox will broadcast the four games in 2009 and 2010 under the terms of its current contract with the BCS. The Rose Bowl is the middle of a separate contract with ABC that expires after the 2014 game. All present television contracts will expire before New Year’s Day 2015, causing some speculation a playoff might start then.
However, ESPN has agreed to pay $125 million per year to air the four college games Fox is now showing. Fox had a rights-fee price in mind and decided its competitor’s bid was too extravagant. Note that another sporting event will be migrating from an over-the-air network to a cable channel.
