On August 30, 2007, the Big Ten Network officially launched but it didn’t receive nearly the same hype as the SEC Network had for its official launch last evening. On ESPN.com, the website had a second-by-second countdown up until the launch. So the question is, was it worth all the hype? Here are some things you should know about college sports’ newest network.
First of all, the SEC Network is part of the ESPN family of networks. Most, if not all games that are broadcast on the new network will be broadcast on Watch ESPN including the SEC opener on Aug. 28 between Texas A&M and South Carolina. Also, top broadcasters such as Brent Musburger will be part of the play-by-play talent.
Overall, the network will focus on college football which makes 110% sense. Why create all this hype to simply turn around and heavily promote women’s volleyball. 45 SEC football games will be aired this season (including the opener on Aug. 28) along with 160 basketball games, 75 baseball games, 50 softball games, 40 volleyball matches and 25 women’s soccer games.
If you are a a watcher of the Big Ten Network, you have probably noticed over the years that the network does broadcast most of their football games that are not nationally televised. The SEC Network will do the same.
The network will also broadcast classic SEC games. As I’m sitting here writing this article at 9:34am EST on Aug. 15, the network is currently airing the BCS National Championship Game between Alabama and Notre Dame back in 2013.
SEC Nation will air Saturdays at 10:00am at the same time as ESPN’s College Game Day. SEC Nation will be hosted by Joe Tessitore with former Florida quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow along with Paul Finebaum and Marcus Spears.
Tebow is expected to help boost network ratings by his sheer popularity and charisma alone. He is already starring in a series of commercial promos to promote the network.
Besides the SEC Network and Big Ten Network, the Pac-12, Big-12 and ACC already have their own networks as well.