Everything Coming Up Roses For Granddaddy of ‘Em All
By Kyle Kensing
Per Sports Business Journal‘s Michael Smith & John Ourand, the Granddaddy Of ‘Em All is about to become the Daddy Warbucks Of ‘Em All. ESPN is set to pay $80 million per year for 12 years of broadcasting rights for college football’s most storied affair, the Rose Bowl Game.
Smith and Ourand write that the deal is almost a 100 percent increase in the annual revenue the game generates via its deal with the Disney Corp, and worth almost half of what ESPN pays for all five BCS games currently. More from SBJ:
"The Rose Bowl’s partners, the Pac-12 and Big Ten, keep all of that media revenue, except in years when the Rose Bowl is a semifinal game in the playoffs. When the bowl is part of the playoffs, that media revenue would flow through the playoff system and be distributed to all of the FBS conferences. That method of distribution has not been determined yet."
No wonder the Big Ten and Pac-12 fought so fervently to keep its partnership alive. The Rose Bowl’s tradition is unparalleled, and a new postseason posed challenges to that. Ultimately though, cash supersedes all else in college football’s landscape. The Rose Bowl manages to bring in the dollars and maintain tradition.
Also explained is the expedience of responses of the Big 12/SEC and ACC/Notre Dame to establish bowl season partnerships after the Big Ten and Pac-12 declared their Rose Bowl solidarity. Brass in each program saw the money to be made in partnerships.
If one bowl game is so valuable, there is no telling just how lucrative the playoffs will prove to be. This Rose Bowl contract sets the market price on playoff negotiating. There has been murmurings of FOX seeking to reenter the college football fray, but the bidding war should prove costly.
Mickey Mouse’s red pants have deep pockets.