Greg Sankey reacts to success of SEC, ABC TV partnership: 'We've hit a long touchdown pass'

This season marked a year of change for the SEC as Oklahoma and Texas came aboard and divisions went away. But one of the biggest moves was on the TV side as the league’s new media rights deal with ABC kicked in.

The SEC’s partnership with CBS came to an end at the end of the 2023 season, meaning ABC became the exclusive home for the conference. Through the first 11 weeks, the agreement has been a success. The SEC on ABC is drawing big TV ratings, and commissioner Greg Sankey called it the a “long touchdown pass.”

The SEC typically has three time slots on ABC – Noon ET, 3:30 p.m. ET and 7:30 p.m. ET. However, ABC sometimes puts other games in the Noon window, such as Notre Dame vs. Navy and Miami vs. Duke. Still, it’s been an impressive run for the SEC, and Sankey said the agreement with ABC is paying off.

Over the first 11 weeks of the season, the SEC on ABC has been the most-watched game five times and the league had three games in the Top 5 most-watched games seven times, according to data compiled by Sports Media Watch. It’s been quite a way to start the 10-year, $3 billion agreement – which came together in late 2020, and is now finally here.

“When we struck that deal, I had hoped that maybe one or two times, we’d have this noon, midday and primetime opportunity for the SEC on ABC, and we’ve seen that over and over,” Sankey said on The Paul Finebaum Show. “And I felt it was critically important for us to have access to more broadcast television opportunities. With CBS, we had 15 of those windows. I think we’re in the high 20s now. So more of America has more access via broadcast TV to join in the pageantry, the excitement, the competition of the Southeastern Conference. And I just am so excited about how that’s played out.

“I’m really interested to see how the interest grows through the remaining weeks of the season. I think we’ve – it’s football, I guess we’ve hit a long touchdown pass or it’s been a home run to this point. Appreciate the promotional work, the work with Jimmy Pitaro and his staff, Ros Durant and Burke Magnus. There’s so many people that planned for this for so long, and to see it work so well is really rewarding and encouraging for our future.”

The SEC’s deal with ABC runs through 2034 and is one of the top media rights agreements in the country. Last year, the Big Ten began its seven-year, $7 billion deal with FOX, CBS and NBC, although CBS’ 3:30 p.m. ET window split the Big Ten and SEC to start. Now that the SEC is exclusively with ABC, the Big Ten on CBS is a weekly affair.