As the Truth sees it…

I am not one that usually fall into conspiracies. But a reader called me up today to try and clue me in on the latest conspiracy to float around. It involves the Southeastern Conference and two of the biggest networks on television.
For the past few years, ESPN and CBS has continually made a huge deal about how great of a conference the SEC is and that every other conference paled in comparisons. In most circumstances that would not be a problem. Writers, analyst and broadcasters have their own opinions. But what makes ESPN and CBS’ steadfast resolve in the greatness of the SEC took place last summer. ESPN signed a contract with the SEC which will pay the conference $2.25 billion over a 15-year span. That coincides with the 15-year deal CBS has with the SEC at $55 million annually.
Combined the two networks will pay the conference an average of $205 million per year in media rights. I can’t think of a better reason to promote the SEC than that.
However, because of their promoting can have an effect on who plays for the national championship. The USA Today Coaches poll is a component of the BCS Championship series. And most coaches who vote in the poll do not watch every single game. All they can watch are the highlights. Those highlights come mainly from ESPN. So if the broadcasters are constantly talking about and showing the SEC, does any doubt that wouldn’t leave an impression on coaches who are filling out their rankings.
Last week Florida and Alabama both had tight wins over unranked squads and increased their lead over Texas, who blew out Missouri. Hardly any highlights of the Texas game was shown, while you couldn’t turn on ESPN without seeing Tim Tebow or Nick Saban.
It’s just a thought. Something to think about when you watch the parade of ESPN and CBS reporters tell you how powerful the SEC.
Michael Kinney

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 27th, 2009 at 4:46 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.