.svg) | |
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Nationwide |
| Headquarters | Charlotte, North Carolina |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | English |
| Picture format | 720p (HDTV) (HD feed downgraded toletterboxed480i forSDTV sets) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | ESPN Inc. (The Walt Disney Company, 80%;Hearst Communications, 20%) |
| Sister channels | |
| History | |
| Launched | August 14, 2014; 10 years ago (2014-08-14) |
| Replaced | SEC TV,Longhorn Network |
| Links | |
| Webcast | www (U.S. cable internet subscribers only; requires login from pay television provider to access content) |
| Availability | |
| Streaming media | |
| Service(s) | Sling TV,DirecTV Stream,fuboTV,YouTube TV,Hulu + Live TV,Vidgo |
SEC Network (SECN) is an American multinationalsports network owned byESPN Inc., ajoint venture betweenThe Walt Disney Company (which operates the network, through its 80% controlling ownership interest) andHearst Communications (which holds the remaining 20% interest). The channel is dedicated to coverage ofcollegiate sports sanctioned by theSoutheastern Conference (SEC) including live and recorded event telecasts, news, analysis programs and other content focusing on the conference's member schools.[1][2] The network is estimated to have 70 million subscribers, more than any other dedicated sports network.[3]
The network's coverage serves as the successor to an eponymous syndication package (later renamedSEC TV), which was produced by its syndication armESPN Regional Television.[1] SEC Network is operated out of ESPN facilities inCharlotte,North Carolina, shared withESPN Events, some operations for theACC Network, and formerlyESPNU. While Charlotte is not an SEC market itself, it is in close proximity to universities that are members of the conference and shares a television market with the northern part ofSouth Carolina, which is part of theSouth Carolina Gamecocks' television market.[4][5]
The network's digital platform,SEC Network+ (SECN+), carries SEC events not broadcast on linear television. It streams onESPN+, as well asESPN.com and the ESPN app for SEC Network subscribers.
On May 2, 2013, SEC CommissionerMichael Slive and ESPN presidentJohn Skipper formally announced that as part of a long-term, 20-year agreement lasting through 2034, ESPN would launch SEC Network, a network devoted to the conference and an accompanying digital platform, in August 2014. The network would aim to provide "unparalleled content from one of the most competitive conferences in the country with the highest quality, most innovative production partner in the sports industry", and joins theBig Ten Network andPac-12 Network as cable television networks devoted entirely to a single college athletics conference.[4][5]
During the announcement of the SEC's football schedule for the 2014 season, Michael Slive officially announced that SEC Network would launch on August 14, 2014. Its first live regular season football games aired on August 28, 2014, betweenTexas A&M andSouth Carolina,[2] andTemple andVanderbilt.[6]
SEC Network officially launched on August 14, 2014, at 6:00 p.m.ET with the premiere of its news programSEC Now, which featured live broadcasts from each SEC school, highlights from football training camps, and live look-ins of an exhibition women's soccer game between theArkansas Razorbacks andCreighton Bluejays (which was broadcast in its entirety viaWatchESPN as the first live event produced by SEC Network).[7][8][9]
In July 2024, SEC Network subsumed the scope ofLonghorn Network after theTexas Longhorns move to the conference from theBig 12.[10][11]
SEC Network airs events across the 21 sports that are sanctioned by the conference; within its first year, the network and its digital outlets planned to broadcast at least 1,000 live events, with at least 450 on television. For football, SEC Network airs three Saturday games per week in early, afternoon and evening windows (plus any additional games on the alternate channel, if necessary), typically the least prominent games of the week. WhileCBS maintained its first pick of games for its 3 p.m. ETSEC on CBS window, SEC Network would be able to air other games in the window alongside CBS.[4] SEC Network announced plans to broadcast football games featuring all fourteen of the conference's member schools within the first month of the2014 season.[12]
Events not broadcast on television are streamed online through ESPN.com, the ESPN app, andESPN+ under theSEC Network+ branding. ESPN staff worked with each SEC member school to ensure that they have in-house production facilities capable of originating programming and live events for SEC Network. These games also include homeConference USA men's soccer matches featuring the two men's soccer playing members of the SEC.[13][14]
Original content on SEC Network includes studio and analysis programs, along with programs produced by the SEC's member institutions.[4]Paul Finebaum signed withESPN Radio to hostThe Paul Finebaum Show, which is simulcast by SEC Network, along with Finebaum's previous flagship stationWJOX-FM.[15][16] During college football season, it airsSEC Nation, a travelling pre-game show similar to ESPN's ownCollege GameDay, hosted by ESPN commentatorLaura Rutledge. The network also airs encore presentations of SEC events, along with classic games involving its members.[4][7] 2018 saw the premiere of the network's first non-sports series,True South, where food writerJohn T. Edge travels throughout the Southeast and highlights local cuisine and history.
During late July/early August, the network airs a marathon of programming featuring all 16 of the conference's schools, with each school “taking over” the network for 24 hours and airing various sporting events from the previous season and classic games as well.
On December 30, 2013, ESPN announced that formerUniversity of Florida,Denver Broncos andNew York Jets quarterbackTim Tebow had signed a multi-year deal with ESPN to serve as a college football analyst. Tebow also will make appearances onSEC Nation.[17]
On March 12, 2014, ESPN namedBrent Musburger andJesse Palmer as lead game announcers for SEC Network's football telecasts. As a result, Musburger was no longer assigned toSaturday Night Football or post-season bowl games. He remained a commentator forBig 12 basketball games aired on ESPN,[18][19] and made a one-off return to call the 2014Iron Bowl game.[20] Musburger left ESPN in 2017 to pursue his new Las Vegas-basedsports betting networkVSiN,[21][22] and was replaced on the flagshipSEC Saturday Night by the new team ofTom Hart,Jordan Rodgers andCole Cubelic.[23]
On March 24, 2014, it was announced that formerUniversity of Alabama andNew York Jets quarterbackGreg McElroy was hired as a college football analyst for the SEC Network on a multi-year contract.[24] In August 2016, formerVanderbilt University quarterbackJordan Rodgers (brother ofGreen Bay Packers quarterbackAaron Rodgers) was hired as a college football analyst.[25]
AT&T U-verse was announced as the first television provider to agree to carry SEC Network. On January 13, 2014,Sports Business Journal reported that ESPN was seeking a carriage rate of $1.30 per subscriber per month in SEC markets, and $0.25 in non-SEC markets; in comparison,Big Ten Network charges around $1 per subscriber in Big Ten markets. It was also noted that SEC Network's opening doubleheader may have been intended to put pressure onComcast,Time Warner Cable andCharter Communications to carry the network, as they predominantly involved teams located within their service areas.[26]
In March 2014,Dish Network reached an agreement to carry SEC Network as part of a wider carriage deal withDisney–ABC Television Group for its ABCowned-and-operated stations and cable television networks.[27][28] On April 30, 2014,Google Fiber was added as a carrier.[29] In June 2014, network head Justin Connolly expressed concern for the lack of carriage deals for SEC Network beyond those with AT&T and Dish Network, and considered the situation to be "alarming." However, he also noted that the network may successfully negotiate more carriage deals closer to its launch.[30]
On July 9, 2014,Cox Communications, whose subscriber base includes four SEC markets, reached an agreement to carry SEC Network. Exact terms were not disclosed.[31] Nine days later, ESPN also reached a deal with Comcast to carry SEC Network; in SEC markets, the provider will pay a carriage rate of $1.40 per-subscriber per month.[32] On July 25, Time Warner Cable andBright House Networks reached deals to carry SEC Network,[33] followed byCable One andWide Open West on August 1.[34][35] On August 2, 2014,Suddenlink Communications announced that it had reached an agreement to carry the network on the launch date.[36] On August 4, 2014,DirecTV,[37] andC Spire Wireless both announced agreements to carry the network (the latter deal was made through the National Cable Television Cooperative, in which C Spire would provide its Fiber to the Home HDTV subscribers with access to the SEC Network App).[38] These announcements were followed by an agreement with Charter Communications on August 6, 2014.Mediacom reached an agreement to carry the network on August 14, 2014.[39][40]
With the Mediacom agreement, the two major television providers that did not reach a carriage deal prior to launch wereVerizon FiOS andCablevision.[41] However, on August 21, 2014,Sports Business Daily reported that Verizon FiOS had reached a deal to carry the network in itsTexas andFlorida service areas (which are within the SEC footprint). Cablevision does not have any markets within the SEC footprint.[42]NASA (whoseJohnson andKennedy Space Centers are well within SEC territory) arranged for the SEC Network to be made available on theInternational Space Station.[43]
Some of SEC Network's programming is carried onSirius XM, includingThe Paul Finebaum Show (which airs onESPN Xtra), and as part of Sirius XM SEC Radio, which launched in March 2018.[44]
The SEC Network is also carried by bothPlayStation Vue[45] andSling TV.[46] Outside the United States, SEC Network became available in Mexico in 2017.[47]
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