As part of Thursday’s The Walt Disney Company’s Investor Day, it was announced that ESPN and the Southeastern Conference (SEC) have reached a new 10-year agreement – beginning in 2024-25.
For more on the landmark deal, watch ESPN host Laura Rutledge interviewing Executive Vice President, Programming and Original Content, Burke Magnus, and SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey. Here’s a sampling of social media reaction to the announcements, including some from Commissioner Sankey himself.
I participate in interviews, but don’t often watch. Thanks for @notthefakeSVP for the conversation, his production team for the great presentation and @StanfordSteve82 for sharing! This is (I think) worth watching… https://t.co/A4f1UmYxZA
— Greg Sankey (@GregSankey) December 11, 2020
ESPN pres Jimmy Pitaro at $DIS Investor Day announces deal with SEC starting in 2024 season. ABC "will become the new home for the SEC's marquee Saturday afternoon football games as well as select Saturday primetime games, and the annual SEC Championship game." @YahooFinance
— Daniel Roberts (@readDanwrite) December 10, 2020
An @SINow exclusive: Inside SEC’s new deal with ESPN.
-10-year contract starting in 2024
-best game can shift from 3:30 ABC to ABC primetime
-some SEC games assigned KO times in summer
-starting next year, ESPN+ has rights to 1 non-con game for each teamhttps://t.co/HP8fOK5jCz— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) December 10, 2020
SEC on ABC
ESPN Networks to become exclusive home of SEC football starting in 2024.
10-year deal.https://t.co/ZdJaJ0ceiC— Ralph D. Russo (@ralphDrussoATH) December 10, 2020
.@SmittySBJ and I spoke to ESPN's Jimmy Pitaro and SEC's Greg Sankey about their new deal that was just announced. https://t.co/Yc1SFv4lef
— John Ourand (@Ourand_Puck) December 10, 2020
ESPN UPDATE:
During #disneyinvestorday, ESPN's Jimmy Pitaro formally announces ESPN will become the exclusive new home of SEC college football starting with 2024 season.
ESPN now reaches 200 million sports fans in any given month, said Pitaro, on par with Google and Facebook.
— Michael McCarthy (@MMcCarthyREV) December 10, 2020
ESPN clearly going after casual sports fans with its new ESPN+ content — a daily morning show, Stephen A Smith, Tom Brady, etc. To this point, niche has largely driven growth for sports OTT.
— ✏️Jacob Feldman (@JacobFeldman4) December 10, 2020
Disney says ESPN+ will become viewable inside Hulu next year — so Hulu subscribers will be able to watch ESPN+ without leaving the Hulu app.
— Daniel Roberts (@readDanwrite) December 10, 2020
PEYTON’S PLACES
The Emmy-nominated series featuring NFL legend Peyton Manning and currently in its second season on ESPN+, will return for a third season (Fall 2021) and the franchise is growing!
Peyton Manning football docuseries #PeytonsPlaces is getting a third season at ESPN+ as the Disney-owned company looks to expand the franchise#DisneyInvestorDay https://t.co/hrTFIqSq4O
— Deadline (@DEADLINE) December 10, 2020
https://twitter.com/SportsObsessive/status/1337451304717873154?s=20
https://twitter.com/auburnredwing/status/1337176770915803136?s=20
MAN IN THE ARENA: TOM BRADY
The highly anticipated nine-part documentary series coming to ESPN+, is built around NFL great Brady’s never-before-seen, first-hand accounts of the journey to each of his nine Super Bowls.
https://twitter.com/OnlyInBOS/status/1337404269738258432
https://twitter.com/Jack_Aylmer/status/1337180294655434757?s=20
STEPHEN A.’S WORLD
ESPN+ will also launch a new, original program featuring the insights and opinions of one-of-a-kind personality Stephen A. Smith in January.
Uh Oh! Disney’s done gone ahead and started something. Stay Tuned, people! Stay Tuned! https://t.co/Kb9ZGBhuKb
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) December 10, 2020
https://twitter.com/LightsCameraPod/status/1337164492397043713?s=20
Disney's investor day announcements weren't all Marvel and Star Wars.
There was ESPN+ stuff too. Like a Stephen A. Smith studio show, a morning highlights show, and the expansion of PEYTON'S PLACES https://t.co/wAFzLOuMg3 pic.twitter.com/qnD5LTW2GG
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 11, 2020
Twitter Reacts to Stephen A. Smith Getting New TV Show on ESPN+; Here is When it Will Debut (Video) https://t.co/T3QjYDEeGp pic.twitter.com/TrMOPezsy8
— Robert Littal BSO (@BSO) December 10, 2020
ESPN+ will launch a sports highlights show and studio show featuring Stephen A. Smith exclusively on the platform. pic.twitter.com/jNuyBPbjFA
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) December 10, 2020
SPORTSNATION
A newly reimagined version of SportsNation will return weekday mornings, beginning in January, exclusively on ESPN+.
Say hello to the reimagined @SportsNation https://t.co/MmB3GNwLNQ
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) December 10, 2020
https://twitter.com/foss/status/1337162575017095169?s=20
Thanks for following along for all the big news from #DisneyInvestorDay! For more info, visit: https://t.co/LUBVlH4s96. Have a magical day!
— Disney (@Disney) December 11, 2020