The world of college sports, and the entire landscape continues to change drastically. Who would have thought when the College Football season gets underway, the UCLA Bruins would be in the Big 10 Conference?
Now, TV deals are changing as well. Starting this coming College Football Playoff season, TNT will be broadcasting a couple of the first round games.
ESPN and TNT agreed to a deal to sublease the games. TNT Sports Chairman and CEO Luis Silberwasser was pleased with the deal:
“We’re delighted to reach this agreement with ESPN, providing TNT Sports the opportunity to showcase these College Football Playoff games on our platforms for years to come. TNT Sports aims to delight fans and drive maximum reach and engagement for these marquee games.”
These will be the first College Football games televised on TNT. As of late, the channel has gotten into more Major League Baseball and even the National Hockey League.
From the ESPN side, they indicated growing the game, and of course the financial impacts were large as well. Rosalyn Durant, ESPN’s executive Vice President of programming and acquisitions had this to say:
“ESPN is pleased to sublicense to TNT Sports a select number of early round games of the College Football Playoff, an event we’ve helped to grow — alongside the CFP — into one of the preeminent championships. We’re confident in the reach and promotion that this new agreement will provide as we enter the new, expanded playoff era.”
No financial agreements were disclosed at the time of the announcement.