SEC Network details revealed

Paul Finebaum to join ESPN and SEC Network, but who is Paul Finebaum?

The master of SEC talk radio as combat sport joins ESPN and the new SEC Network.

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Which college sports conference network reigns supreme? Let's find out in the only way the internet knows how to resolve abstract disputes.

The SEC ESPN Network, a burden of riches

Thursday in Atlanta, the SEC and ESPN revealed a collaboration that will pump even more money into southern college sports.

SEC Network announced: Launching in 2014, AT&T already on board

Thursday is SEC Network day. Follow along here for notes on the news as it breaks in Atlanta.

SEC Network announcement has Steve Spurrier talking player payments

The Gamecocks head coach believes that players in the two major revenue sports deserve a slice of the profits they generate.

Expect SEC Network to be ominous, expensive, everywhere

The SEC and ESPN are partnering on a SEC-only TV network, which will be revealed soon.

SEC Network announcement coming soon, league and ESPN to announce Tuesday

The SEC will launch its own dedicated TV channel in a partnership with ESPN, so college football's strongest league can really begin raking in the cash.

SEC Network to be revealed soon, says Mike Slive

The long-rumored SEC TV network will be formally announced in April, according to commissioner Mike Slive.

SEC Network, ESPN Preparing For Potential 2014 Launch, According To Report

The SEC Network is likely to become a reality before the 2014 football season as a partnership between the conference and ESPN, according to Sports Business Journal.

The report states that the TV rights issues still yet to be cleared are in the process of being streamlined for the potential all-SEC network, and that a August 2014 date is the tentative launch. Among the most pressing items in the way are the schools' local TV rights, currently held by a variety of different companies. Those rights are good for at least one football game per season and 6-8 men's basketball games, per SBJ:

CBS has the rights at LSU, while Learfield has Alabama, Missouri, Mississippi State and Texas A&M. IMG College has the rights at the rest of the schools, except for Ole Miss, plus a minority share of the Alabama property.

Also, the report forecasts Charlotte, N.C., as the likely home of the new network. Despite sitting outside of the league's footprint, Charlotte is home to ESPN Regional Networks, the company responsible the ESPNU Network, ESPN's SEC regional football coverage and also ESPN's bowl game and basketball tournaments.

Aside from the shared revenue -- the SEC Network is expected to be the most lucrative conference-specific network to date -- ESPN will also gain control of the league's marketing, SBJ notes:

Being able to package TV advertising from the new network into corporate sponsorships will give ESPN a sales advantage when it takes over the SEC’s marketing rights. The SEC’s list of corporate champions includes Allstate, AT&T, Dr Pepper and Regions Bank, while a second tier of sponsors has Aaron’s, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Golden Flake, UPS and eight others.

New SEC Network Confirmed By Ole Miss, Mizzou ADs

The SEC is now the latest conference to follow in the Big Ten's footsteps by creating its own television network. The network, currently dubbed "Project X," will reportedly be available in more than 80 million homes.

The conference is in the process of renegotiating its television deal following the addition of Texas A&M and Missouri. Adding its own network will further increase potential revenue. Ole Miss athletic director Ross Bjork said the SEC's network "will be every bit as big as the Big Ten Network."

A conference network can be a major revenue generator for the member schools. Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany said the Big Ten Network will generate between $4 billion and $5 billion dollars over the next 15 years.

Other conferences have tried to duplicate the Big Ten's success. The ACC has its own network, while the Pac-12 Network will launch later this summer. The SEC developing its own network was a necessary step to keep up in the arms race of college athletics.

SEC presidents will reportedly vote, as soon as this week, to determine the next steps for the network.

SEC Network Given Super Awesome Code Name

SEC Network Coming, Expansion Money Could Be Less Than Hoped For

The ACC's re-upped television deal with ESPN currently projects to average more money per school per year than the SEC's deal with ESPN and CBS. The ACC makes more money than the SEC! That's not counting the fact that the SEC's about to alter its own deals and is apparently building a SEC Network, the Sports Business Journal reports:

SN sister pub Sports Business Journal: #SEC near SEC Network deal, begin early as 2014. Also #CBS balking at major $ increase with Mizz/TAMU

— Matt Hayes(@Matt_HayesSN) May 21, 2012

That's big news. We'll have to wait and see what that looks like.

As for the latter part, CBS, which gets the SEC's best games (its Tier 1 games), may feel it has little reason to pay very much more for the additions of Texas A&M and Missouri since SEC games already do well enough in those markets, or what have you. CBS is already carried nationwide, so there's no way to expand its footprint, only its ratings in places where it already is.

Think about it -- how many games per year will Mizzou play that will be better than everything else the SEC has to offer that week? One or two, tops?

Still, this doesn't mean ESPN won't pay more, and it doesn't mean a SEC Network won't do very well. But it is very important to note the whole point of realignment -- getting more TV money -- isn't quite as automatic as other conferences made it look to those of us on the outside.

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SEC Set To Re-Negotiate TV Contracts, Now That Expansion's Done

SEC commissioner Mike Slive met with the Missouri Tigers' KC Tiger Club Tuesday. Dave Matter has the best list of quotes, including Slive shooting down any Longhorn Network-esque concerns and refusing to explain how Mizzou wound up in the East, but this may be the most important note:

Slive: SEC now having look-in talks with TV partners to re-negotiate deals. Says, "I'm optimistic we can make Mike Alden very happy."

— Dave Matter (@Dave_Matter) March 27, 2012

That's Mike Alden, Mizzou athletic director, who like his Texas A&M counterpart is set to get exceedingly richer. Other SEC ADs will only get far richer, not exceedingly richer, as they're all already exceedingly rich.

The SEC's TV contracts included language that would allow the conference to re-negotiate in the event of new teams joining up. With those new teams delivering* at least three very big TV markets, the SEC's set to cash in and show everybody what all this fuss was all about.

* Conference realignment rule: if any sports team is anywhere near any big city, then it's assumed by the people in charge that said city is absolutely insane about the local team and will tune in to watch any game involving the local team. This is the only thing conference realignment is about.

For more on Mizzou football, visit Missouri blog Rock M Nation, plus SEC blog Team Speed Kills, SB Nation Kansas City and SB Nation St. Louis.

Missouri To SEC Would Mean Big TV Money Boost, According To School Memo

Oh right, the Missouri Tigers and the SEC. It's been a few days since anything Mizzou has emerged on the conference realignment front. Here's something: the Associated Press reports it obtained a university memo that shows the Missouri athletic department could make up to $12 million more in renegotiated conference TV money by going to the SEC instead of staying in the Big 12.

That's important, and it's also important that Mizzou wants you to know about these financial figures, or so it appears.

Leaving the Big 12 could make the Tigers look like they're turning their backs on the Kansas Jayhawks and other rivals. But they can't come right out and say they'd have to excuse themselves from $120 million over the next decade in order to remain linked to KU. Making the press aware of such an aggressive estimate is a hands-clean way to get the word out.

Read this one differently if you'd like, but this seems like another strong sign that Missouri is putting more and more pressure on the Big 12 as it considers a move to the SEC.

For more, visit Mizzou blog Rock M Nation and SEC blog Team Speed Kills. Stay tuned for more conference realignment news.