Logo

Announcement of NCAA 14-Year Deal with CBS Sports and Turner for the Division 1 Men’s Basketball Championship (March Madness)

Apr 22, 2010  •  Post A Comment

CBS Sports, Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. and the National Collegiate Athletic Association Reach 14-Year Agreement for Division I Men’s Basketball Championship

Agreement Includes Television, Internet, Wireless and Marketing Rights Through 2024

INDIANAPOLIS – The NCAA today announced a new 14-year television, internet and wireless rights agreement with CBS Sports and Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., to present the Division I Men’s Basketball Championship beginning in 2011 through 2024 for more than $10.8 billion. As part of the agreement, all games will be shown live across four national networks beginning in 2011 – a first for the 73-year old championship.

Additionally, CBS Sports and Turner Broadcasting have been licensed and will collaborate on the NCAA’s corporate marketing program.

Late Wednesday, the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee unanimously passed a recommendation to the Division I Board of Directors to increase tournament field size to 68 teams beginning with the 2011 Championship. The recommendation will be reviewed by the Division I Board of Directors at its April 29 meeting.

The new agreement sustains the long-term financial stability of the Association. As with the current contract, approximately 96 percent of the revenue generated from this new agreement will be used to benefit student-athletes through either programs, services or direct distribution to member conferences and schools. Further, the agreement ensures student-athletes across all three NCAA divisions will continue to be supported in a broad range of championship opportunities, access to funds for personal and educational needs, and through scholarships in Divisions I and II.

Beginning with the 2011 championship, opening- , first- and second-round games will be shown nationally on CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV. CBS and Turner will split coverage of the regional semi-final games. CBS will provide coverage of the regional finals, as well as the Final Four® including the National Championship Game through 2015. Beginning in 2016, coverage of the regional finals will be split by CBS and Turner with the Final Four and the National Championship game alternating every year between the CBS Television Network and Turner’s TBS.

CBS Sports has broadcast the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship since 1982. This year’s broadcast of the Championship game earned an average national household rating/share of 14.2/23, up 31% from a 10.8/18 last year, the highest rating in five years.

Under the new rights agreement, NCAA March Madness on Demand®, the Emmy Award-winning video player that provides live streaming video of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship, will continue to be launched from NCAA.com and CBSSports.com. Turner has also secured the rights for any Time Warner digital property. The player will be operated and developed by Turner and have enhanced digital rights allowing the NCAA to deliver content for multiple Turner and Time Warner platforms.

“This is an important day for intercollegiate athletics and the 400,000 student-athletes who compete in NCAA sports,” said NCAA Interim President Jim Isch. “This agreement will provide on average more than $740 million annually to our conferences and member schools to help student-athletes in 23 sports learn and compete.”

“We’re excited this agreement continues our long-standing relationship with CBS, a partner company that has captured the unique spirit of the collegiate model of athletics, and brings a new partner in Turner Broadcasting to the Championship and NCAA basketball,” added Isch.

“This agreement with our colleagues at Turner and the NCAA secures CBS’s standing as a year-round leader in sports television well into the next decade,” said Sean McManus, president of CBS News and Sports.

“In this agreement, we have created a new strategic partnership that not only makes this prestigious property an ongoing core asset in our stable of major television events, but a profitable one as well. We look forward to working with our friends at Turner as together we combine our industry-leading media assets to maximize the value of this great NCAA Championship.”

"This is a landmark deal for Turner Broadcasting and we’re extremely pleased to begin a long-term relationship with the NCAA and our partners at CBS and to have a commitment that extends well into the next decade," said David Levy, president of sales, distribution and sports, Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. “The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament has a rich tradition and is one of the most talked about sporting events every year highlighted by the Final Four and the National Championship Game.”

"We are well-positioned to monetize our investment in NCAA programming across three nationally distributed networks. With the combined linear and digital assets of these two large media companies we’ll be able to maximize the exposure of the Tournament, as well as provide incomparable access for viewers. "

Moving forward under the new contract, a committee headed by Harvey Perlman, University of Nebraska-Lincoln chancellor, will study and recommend prospective revenue distribution formulas to the Division I Board of Directors. Under the current contract, 96 percent of all NCAA revenue is returned to membership either in direct payments or in programs and services. The committee will follow principles of the current formula that ensure access to funds by student-athletes for educational, personal and emergency needs; that favor a broad-based approach to sports sponsorship; that continue to encourage more grants-in-aid rather than less; and that promote enhanced academic support of student-athletes.

Additionally, given the NCAA emphasis on academic reform, the committee will examine the need to strike a balance between Division I men’s basketball championship performance and academic achievement through either the NCAA’s Academic Progress Rate or Graduation Success Rate metrics or both.

ESPN, the long-standing home for NCAA Championships such as the Division I Women’s Basketball Championship, College World Series, Frozen Four and others, will continue to broadcast a full complement of events over the coming years as well.

“The economic challenges of the day are being felt on campuses across the country. The amount of revenue from this agreement isn’t the focus of this moment, rather it is the long-term security it provides as well as what is done with the money. We put our money where our mission is…supporting student-athletes so they can be successful in the classroom and in life,” said Isch.#

27 Comments

  1. Wonderful to read!

  2. Good post, thanks

  3. That is a very interesting post, Patents are needed for all new technology. If you come up with something be sure to get a patent on it or you may just have your technology copied.The Visto Philosophy mimics The Real Networks Philosophy… “When you can’t sell your products on your own, just sue anyone else that does the job better.”Getting A Patent Thanks

  4. Very good information I was searching Google for some thing and found this site of yours. By the way, is there any way to subscribe to new posts?

  5. Awesome facts I was searching Google for one thing and came across this blog of yours. By the way, is there any way to subscribe to new posts?

  6. Dear Nevada, You should stop Sharron Angle … the lady’s boasts appear as being an illustration of incoherent bigotry.

  7. Thank God we have a common interest, thank you for sharing, you’re a good author. Hope to see more of your articles. Juno sincere.

  8. Mariah Requires a Drop, Assistants Hurry to the — Cease The Squeezes!

  9. I really like the colors here on your blog. did you design this yourself or did you outsource it to a professional?

  10. Kudos to you! This is a really good blog here and I love your style of writing. How did you get so good at blogging?

  11. Great blog!! You should start many more. I love all the info provided. I will stay tuned 🙂

  12. Kudos for the great piece of writing. I am glad I have taken the time to read this.

  13. Thanks much for the great document. I am glad I’ve taken the time to learn this.

  14. Interesting thoughts here. I appreciate you taking the time to share them with us all. It’s people like you that make my day 🙂

  15. Sorry for the huge review, but I’m really loving the new Zune, and hope this, as well as the excellent reviews some other people have written, will help you decide if it’s the right choice for you.

  16. This is the best blog I’ve ever seen in my life! I really appreciate you taking the time out of your busy day to share your this with everyone.

  17. I would like to start my own blog one day. This was a really nice blog that you made here. Keep up the success 😛

  18. Keep focusing on your blog. I love how we can all express our feelings. This is an extremely nice blog here 🙂

  19. Excellent write-up bro. This specific is just a completely nicely structured post, just the awesome info I was seeking just for. Kudos

  20. Amazing blog=D Going to require a bit of time to examine the blog.

  21. I really like the colors here on your blog. did you design this yourself or did you outsource it to a professional?

  22. I’m not really very experienced in IT. Would you tell me is your site running wordpress or other?

  23. Insightful points=D Will require a bit of time to think over this site!

  24. Amazing article.. Going to take a decent amount of time to toy with this content:D

  25. Good post. Going to need a good amout of time to think about this info!

  26. Great post! Going to require some time to entertain your blog!!

  27. Good writing. Going to take a good amout of time to toy with the info!

Leave a Reply to Link Building Services Cancel Reply

Email (will not be published)