College Football Booming on TV

It’s been a huge season for college football on TV.

Last weekend, ABC had its best seven-week start ever and ESPN had its best seven-week start since 2009.

They got big numbers from Texas’s win over Oklahoma–that was 8.7 million viewers. Alabama got 7 million viewers as it beat Mizzou and the Georgia-Auburn battle drew 6.7 million viewers. Eight of the top 10 games this season have been SEC games on ABC.

The numbers are up because it’s become a very interesting season. There have been surprises and upsets. Preseason favorite Texas and No. 2 Penn State have dropped out of the top 25.

There are a bunch of popular undefeated teams led by defending national champion Ohio State. And then there are surprise teams like Indiana.

And the hits kept coming. On Saturday, ABC will had an exciting SEC doubleheader featuring four ranked teams as Ole Miss got its first loss at Georgia and Alabama rolled over Tennessee.

Interest is also up because of the expanded college football playoff system that was launched last season. Twelve teams qualify for the playoffs, so teams that already have two losses–like Notre Dame–still have a shot at a chip.

These big numbers are important because the networks have shelled out big bucks for the rights to college football. 

The SEC collects about $740 million a year for its football TV rights, most of that coming from Disney’s ABC and ESPN.

The Big Ten gets about $1.15 billion from Fox, CBS,  NBC, plus the Big 10 network.

The Big 12 gets about $380 million a year. 

And so on….

Where does that money go, you might ask.

Well, this year about $1.9 billion will go to players. Those are NIL deals and direct payments from schools. Top quarterbacks get paid in the $2 million range, but most players make less than $10,000. But that’s $10,000 more than they used to make.

You know where else a lot of that money goes? To coaches and to fired coaches.

Penn State, which started the season as a possible championship team, fired coach James Franklin and will pay him $45 million not to stand on its sidelines.  That sounds like a lot of money, but it's only the second-biggest payoff received by a dismissed college football coach. In 2023, Jimbo Fisher was booted by Texas A&M and the school is giving him about $77 million he was owed through 2031.

It ain’t going to happen, at least not this season, but if Georgia fired Kirby Smart, smart would get a $105 million buyout.

The Athletic recently estimated that the cost of buying out coaches could exceed $200 million by the end of the season. If you think that’s a lot of money for failed football coaches you're right. The Athletic figures that money could pay for scholarships of about 5,000 women's and Olympic sports athletes.

And then there’s Bill Belichick, who has not yet quit–or been fired–as head football coach at North Carolina.

But because of the team’s poor 2-3 record, the Tar Heels are getting worse and worse timeslots on ESPN, which had expected the Hall of Fame coach to be a draw this season. 

This week UNC will play at noon on the ACC network, which doesn’t even get ratings from Nielsen.

According to Front Office Sports, 6.6 million people watched Belichick’s first game with North Carolina. When UNC lost to Clemson on Oct. 4, just 1.86 million tuned in at Noon on ESPN.

And PS: Curt Cignetti, the coach of the surprising No. 3 Indiana Hoosiers, just got a new eight-year contract worth an average of $11.6 million  a year. It’s fully guaranteed, and he gets $15 million if he leaves for another school.

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Hanging with the GOAT

We’ve been wondering what role Michael Jordan will have on NBC Sports when it starts airing NBA games. Chris Collinsworth gave a hint during an interview on FanDuel TV’s Up & Adams which you could see here.

“It will be a deep dive into the brain of Michael Jordan,” Collinsworth said. “Is that enough of a tease without giving away anything?... The things you would really want to know from Michael Jordan... It’s like details way inside the brain of the best basketball player that ever lived.”

We’ll see for sure soon, I hope.

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Omaha, Omaha

Speaking of FanDuel, the FanDuel Sports Network is looking to expand its original programming and signed a deal with Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions.

FDSN and Omaha will co-develop sports programming for TV, streaming and digital platforms, the companies said. FDSN’s parent company also launched Main Street Sports Productions, headed by former ESPN exec Norby Williamson, who is president of productions and programming for FDSN.

"This is a transformative moment for us," said Williamson.."Partnering with Omaha Productions, one of the most respected and creative brands in sports entertainment, sets the stage for what's next. Main Street Sports Productions allows us to take what we do best and expand it to new audiences, platforms and partners.

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Apple Sports Zooming

Apple is doing more sports. It signed a five year exclusive deal worth a reported $750 million to carry Formula 1 races. Apple had a big spash with the F1 movie with Brad Pitt and you’ll be able to get races on Apple TV and other racing stats through an Apple Sports app on your iPhone.

The movie streams Dec. 12.

Apple also has MLB and NASL soccer.