‘They just copied NBC,’ say ESPN viewers as network debuts ‘sharp’ new broadcast feature ahead of SEC season
ESPN has unveiled a new graphics package for SEC college football games — but viewers had mixed reviews.
The Disney-owned network secured the league's exclusive broadcast rights in a 10-year deal reportedly worth $3 billion, which starts this fall.
As part of the agreement, ESPN and its sister network ABC will broadcast up to 15 top SEC games.
Those include the championship game as well as marquee matchups such as Alabama-Auburn and Florida-Georgia.
The network gave a sneak peek into the league's preparation for the upcoming SEC season, sharing a video featuring newly-designed TV graphics.
The 93-second clip showed the score bug that will be used during the broadcast, which ESPN president of communications Bill Hofheimer called "sharp" in an X post.
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Overall, college football fans liked the design.
However, some pointed out that the score bug is not much different from the one used by NBC during football games.
"2018-19 scorebug was elite. This just looks like the NBC scorebug," one wrote.
"I don't know how, but they made the NBC scorebug worse," another added.
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"They just copied the NBC scorebug. It looks very similar," a third said.
Many fans also hoped that the music used in the promo video isn't ESPN's official theme music for SEC games.
The Disney-owned network struck a deal with the SEC in 2020, putting an end to the league's nearly 20-year partnership with CBS.
"This new agreement was born from a strong foundation which began almost 25 years ago and now reflects a shared vision of the future with the SEC, commissioner [Greg] Sankey, and their member institutions," ESPN executive Jimmy Pitaro said at the time.
"With all the conference's games under the ESPN umbrella and adding ABC and ESPN+ to our distribution channels, ESPN will have complete scheduling flexibility, resulting in maximum exposure and adding significant benefits for SEC schools and fans."
ABC will air an SEC game every week, including a regular late-afternoon matchup.
College football's 2024 shake-up
Oklahoma and Texas switching from the Big 12 to the SEC is one of the biggest changes to college football in recent times.
And that has set off a chain reaction which has left the Pac-12 conference decimated.
The Pac-12 has lost 10 of its 12 members and is down to just Oregon State and Washington State.
Four of those teams are headed for the Big 12 - Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah.
Another four are going to the Big 10 - Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington.
And the other two teams, California and Stanford, will join the ACC conference.
No teams have left the SEC, Big Ten or ACC.
The network will also have the option to feature some of the matchups on its Saturday Night Football telecast.
"So Saturday night, prime time on ABC is the highest profile window, the biggest stage in terms of college football," Pitaro told the AP.
"And we love the fact that we can now bring the ABC platform into the mix, starting in 2024."
ABC will also air the SEC championship game.
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Meanwhile, a Friday-after-Thanksgiving SEC game will be televised by either ABC or ESPN.
The deal also includes eight marquee SEC basketball games.