Disney & ESPN's 10-Year, $3B SEC Deal Outperforms Expectations with Viewership Gains

The contract was written and agreed upon back in 2020, and both parties are already seeing major earnings just four years into the deal.

Sep 21, 2024; Oxford, Mississippi, USA; SEC logo on the field at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium before the game between the Georgia Southern Eagles and the Mississippi Rebels. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images / Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

Disney went into business with the SEC for a $3 billion TV deal, allowing TV rights to go to ESPN. Before ESPN stepped in, CBS was paying $55 million annually to televise SEC games, but ESPN increased earnings for SEC to $300 million per year.

Since the time that the contract was constructed in December 2020, the SEC gained two teams and College Football Playoffs changed their format to 12-team. The addition of Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC greatly increased viewership for Disney's new TV deal, and each team brought in an additional $21 million each towards the SEC contract.

Before, the biggest TV deal in college football was that of the Big Ten conference; an $8 billion media deal with CBS, Fox, and NBC. Although the dollar amount is greater, the SEC viewership has skyrocketed, and the SEC has been occupying the major time slots.

This partnership will greatly benefit all of the teams that are part of the SEC. With the lion's share of the funds going to SEC member schools, student-athletes could be greatly compensated for their efforts during their respective seasons.

On-air time has been hard to attain for many teams and conferences, with previous seasons being dominated by certain bigger leagues. Teams apart of the SEC are especially ecstatic that their games have been given the Noon, 3:30, and primetime slots. These highly coveted TV slots have increased viewership by a wide margin.

According to data obtained by Nielsen, some of the highest-viewed college games entering Week 13 included: Georgia at Texas with 13.19 million viewers, Georgia at Alabama with 11.99 million, and Alabama at Tennessee with 10.23 million.

The success that has been achieved from this deal, especially only four years into the deal, has benefitted many organizations, as well as the viewers.

Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals have been a positive shift taken by college football, providing much-needed support for student-athletes. Outsider deals such as the Disney/ESPN-SEC TV deal will help with funding outside of personal endorsements.

Disney has been able to dip into such an industry when their streaming services conjoined with ESPN via Disney+. In the first week of December, Disney+ will feature 'ESPN Hub,' allowing access to live sporting events for subscribed viewers.

With College Football Playoffs approaching, the SEC will see even more positive changes in viewership and program interest. ABC will host the 2026 College Football Championship game as an extention of this deal with ESPN for $7.8 billion.