[kstater]

This will be fun.


http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/...ed/?tigerextra

Neal Pilson, the former president of CBS Sports, is a consultant who helped negotiate recent multibillion dollar deals for NASCAR and the Olympics. He said the fact that the SEC is just two years into a 15-year contract with its TV partners means it has little leverage.

If SEC wanted now to pool its Tier 3 rights and try to start a network, its bargaining power might be diminished, according to a media consultant with experience in TV rights negotiations, who wished to remain anonymous. He said the SEC’s big chance came before it signed its current contract.

Maestas also was dubious about the SEC’s ability to start a network on par with the Big Ten or Pac-12 considering it’s current circumstances.
“Because they signed a pretty comprehensive deal and decided not to launch their own network last time, they didn’t leave themselves the kind of inventory you need to really do a network successfully,” Maestas said. “Let’s use the Pac-12 as an example. I think the direction conferences will go is leaving a lot more quality football and basketball inventory to drive distribution and sales of that network. The Big Ten did a decent amount and had great success. The Pac-12 has left a good deal of inventory and has had tremendous success. The SEC doesn’t have that high a quality of inventory left over on a relative basis.