Coming soon, to a cable bill near you…
Distributors in SEC country can expect to pay a rate of $1.30 to carry the soon-to-be-launched SEC Network, according to several sources with knowledge of the rate card.
That fee, paid on a monthly per-subscriber basis, is what cable and satellite companies within the SEC’s 11-state footprint would pay to ESPN, the owner of the SEC Network. Outside of SEC territory, the channel’s license fee drops to 25 cents.
That’ll be a win for Mike Slive, who will once again be able to show his presidents that they swing the biggest Johnsons in the room at the next get together.
An in-market rate of $1.30 makes the SEC Network significantly more expensive than the Big Ten Network. BTN launched in 2007 and currently charges up to $1 in its 11-state footprint from New Jersey to Nebraska. Sub fees on average from both inside and outside the footprint average 37 cents, according to researcher SNL Kagan.
Note also that they’re looking to stick the locals with a higher share of the cost than the BTN does. Never underestimate the drawing power of the GPOOE™.
Get The Picture 
Seeing as how having to put up with Tiny Tears (aka GPOOE) makes it a deal breaker, I’ll be protesting that charge. Never gonna watch a second of that crap as long as he’s anywhere near the screen.
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Supply and Demand is a pain in the rump some days.
Two things…if the B1G Ten could charge more and make more money, they would. Also, I wonder what the subscriber difference in the ‘footprints’ are…I assume there are a lot more people in the Midwest and East than there are in the South, even including Texas and Florida.
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That’s what I was wondering…when you do all the math, which deal is actually more valuable? I bet the BTN ends up winning out, particularly now that they have Maryland and New Jersey in their footprint.
That said, I bet the SECN commands a higher subscription fee outside of their footprint than the BTN does. Also, ESPN is in a much better negotiating position with the cable/sattelite providers than is the Big Ten alone.
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I bet FCC regulations play into these footprint formulas.
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I’d pay $10/mo (or a little more) to just have access to the SEC network and other ESPN programming with the opportunity to drop the rest of my TV/cable package.
Look at what the WWE just did. It seems like it would be foolish for the SEC and ESPN to leave that kind of money on the table.
Imagine a world where you don’t have to have the Cooking Network, Food TV, and a $200 cable bill just to watch college football? Wouldn’t that be awesome?
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What? No food porn. You’re a Commie!
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Disregarding the economics, if you’ve never seen Gordon Ramsay chew somebody out, you’re missing a treat.
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Indeed. Bro has a potty mouth.
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It’s called “a la carte” Ben and ESPN has been resisting it in Congress for years. Most people (little old ladies, most women, guys who dance ballet, etc.) don’t give a damn about sports and if given the choice would NOT opt for ESPN or the SECN. As it stands now ESPN extorts about $8 per subscriber and most people don’t want it. This is what allows ESPN to be so cavalier–it gets paid whether it pleases its audience or not. Some on this blog have openly called for the a la carte system simply as a means to make ESPN responsive to its customers.
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I am not even sure how this works anymore. I live in theMid-Atlantic area, not SEC Territory. Our cable pkg had the yucky Big Ten network, 90 % Ohio State-Mich replays. We had the SEC game of the week on our local access channel. Does this mean if I am not in SEC Territory I won;t be able to watch the SEC network? ugh. It will really be heck if there is ever an ACC network and I am forced to choose between ACC and Big Ten only.
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Pat, you are, in a word, screwed. It’s Maryland and Rutgers for you buddy.
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Sad face. You just can’t imagine the horror of the Md vs Wake game of the week. I guess now it will be Rutgers vs MD. sigh…
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You can probably get it, but I’d assume it’d be a part of a separate tier of mostly sports programming channels (like BeIN Sport, CBS Sports Network, among several others). So you’d have to get those channels added, if you have cable and not a dish (no clue how they do things).
And for all those that wondered why we wanted Missouri, instead of a Tech or Clemson or FSU or Louisville, that state footprint is why. Who cares if folks in St Louis or Kansas City are watching the SEC Network. So long as it is in the same tier as MLB Network and NFL Network, and the rest, we get paid for it whether they watch or not unlike if we just added a couple more eyeballs in SC, GA, or FLA.
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