Satellite football fans can rest easy, now: DirecTV has announced a deal to carry the SEC Network when the anticipated sports channel starts Aug. 14.
DirecTV, along with Wow!, which also signed a deal this week to carry the network, were two of the last major television providers for the Panama City area to ink a deal to broadcast the ESPN-based network.
They join Comcast Xfinity, Charter Communications, DISH Network and AT&T U-verse in committing to air around-the-clock Southeastern Conference sports. Mediacom, which serves Tyndall Air Force Base, Mexico Beach and parts of Gulf County, has not signed on to carry the network.
“The SEC boasts powerhouse athletic programs, especially in football, representing deeply loyal communities, many of which do not have any professional teams,” said Dan York, DirecTV’s chief content officer, in a press release announcing the agreement. “The depth of SEC competition and the quality ESPN brings to game production and complementary programming makes SEC Network a valuable addition to our sports programming lineup, and we’re excited to bring it into our customers’ homes and on their devices.”
The SEC Network is planning to air 45 college football games this season, with each of the conference’s 14 member schools playing at least one game on the network within the first four weeks of the season.
In total, the network expects to broadcast more than 1,000 SEC sports-related events in its first year, including more than 100 men’s basketball games, 60 women’s basketball games and 75 baseball games, as well as events from the 21 other sports at SEC schools.
Other programming will include commentary and analysis in studio shows, daily news and information original content such as SEC Storied and spring football games. Hundreds of additional live events from various sports will be offered exclusively on the digital platform.
In May 2013, ESPN — a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Co. — reached a 20-year agreement with the SEC to operate the new channel.
“Our agreement with DirecTV continues to push the SEC Network towards one of the most successful network launches when it debuts on Aug. 14,” said Sean Breen, Disney and ESPN Media Networks senior vice-president for affiliate sales. “We’re proud to deliver the SEC Network nationwide via DirecTV in advance of the Texas A&M and South Carolina game later this month.”
With DirectTV’s approximately 20 million subscribers, the SEC Network will now have more than 70 million subscribers nationwide, according to the latest subscriber and customer totals from the cable and satellite television providers that have signed on to broadcast it.
But outside of Comcast’s 21.7 million customers, DirecTV was the second largest television provider in the nation. This made the anticipation of its customers grow higher, as seen in social media complaints and Facebook posts, as Comcast and Charter both announced they’d deliver the channel within the past two weeks.
That level of hand-wringing, it seems, is now over.
“With opening day now firmly in sight, we are happy to count DirecTV, the country’s largest satellite provider, among our many distributors for the SEC Network,” SEC Commissioner Mike Slive said in a prepared statement. “The SEC is home to the most passionate fans in college sports, and I am pleased to have such a wide distribution by launch date for the benefit of SEC fans everywhere.”