Comcast Xfinity, one of the biggest pieces to the puzzle in negotiations, has reached a deal with ESPN and will now carry the SEC Network. The network is scheduled to launch on August 14 and now over 46 million households across the country will have access to the conference's 45 football games and more.
The NCAA's Southeastern Conference (SEC) is widely regarded as the best in all of college football, comprising of the University of Alabama, University of Arkansas, Auburn University, University of Florida, University of Georgia, University of Kentucky, Louisiana State University, University of Mississippi, Mississippi State University, University of Missouri, University of South Carolina, University of Tennessee, Texas A&M University, and Vanderbilt University. This conference has won eight of the last 11 BCS National Championship Games.
On Friday afternoon, ESPN announced that they reached a deal with Comcast Cable, which will now carry the SEC Network. Comcast has over 20 million subscribers and ESPN was looking to get them under contract to nearly double the SEC Network's potential viewership. ESPN already agreed to contracts with Dish Network (14 million subscribers), Cox Communications (6 million), AT&T U-verse (5.7 million), and Google Fiber to carry the network. They're still working on deals with DirecTV (20 million) and Time Warner Cable (11 million), but are only in discussions thus far.
"We are extremely pleased to have reached this agreement with ESPN to deliver the SEC Network to Xfinity TV customers on multiple platforms," said Comcast executive Matt Strauss in this USA Today article. "Whether in the home or on the go, Xfinity TV customers will be able to watch their favorite Southeastern Conference teams in more ways than ever before."
These multiple platforms include the Xfinity TV Go app and website, Watch ESPN, and SECNetwork.com and can be viewed on televisions, computers, tablets, or mobile devices.
The SEC Network is set to air more than 1,000 live events during its first year of operation, including the coveted 45 exclusive SEC football games that college football fans salivate over each Saturday during the season. The network will also air over 100 men's basketball games, 60 women's basketball games, and 75 baseball games.
You can read more about the agreement between ESPN and Comcast in this ABC News article.
