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SEC football previewed an upcoming change on social media this week, flashing a graphic of its new partnership with ABC and ESPN which begins in the 2024 season.
That clip not only promoted all of the soon-to-be 16 member affiliates, but it gave fans a preview of what to expect before the kickoff of in-conference matchups. Unfortunately, there was one thing missing for most of those viewers.
The Southeastern Conference posted the video to its Twitter account on Tuesday night along with a caption that read, “Coming in 2024.”
The post was a promotion of its new partnership as the league moves on from CBS.
Following the 2023 campaign, the SEC’s deal with CBS will expire. The conference has moved forward with an exclusive partnership with ESPN and ABC worth around $300 million a year for football alone.
The Big Ten would swoop in and steal that patented 3:30PM college football slot at 7x the value of that previous SEC contract, inking an agreement worth around $350 million annually with CBS. They’ll also have games aired on NBC and Fox as a part of their lucrative new media rights deal.
Interestingly enough, the Big Ten’s deal with CBS starts in 2023, but it allows for the network to fulfill its final season of SEC on CBS for that mid-afternoon matchup.
While a move to ESPN makes sense for the SEC given the two sides already have a relationship with the SEC Network, there are things that will be missed.
Most notably, that pregame ‘SEC on CBS’ intro that fans grew accustomed to seeing ahead of big-time football outings in the league. After the SEC/ABC preview dropped this week, everyone had the same response.
The biggest musical decision of our time looms https://t.co/ZALVY4EdCt
— Josh Pate (@LateKickJosh) May 16, 2023
Everyone is begging for the SEC to bring back the old intro music. Fans have heard it for 15 years straight, and it’s become an iconic part of Saturday afternoons.
Buy the CBS jingle or we’re not watching 😡
— Drew (@DrewDudney) May 16, 2023
Please claim or purchase the rights to the CBS college football intro theme I will miss it on Saturdays
— J 🅴 (@CamNewtonFan69) May 16, 2023
Better buy that CBS jingle now rather than later.
— Shaun Mcdonald (@shaun_mcd37) May 16, 2023
I wonder what that would sound like…
What every SEC fan wanted to hear in this video pic.twitter.com/7IaxLQHygv
— Michael (@haazerm) May 16, 2023
Unfortunately, CBS will continue to use the tune for its Big Ten games moving forward, which just feels so wrong. Hopefully, ABC can find a suitable replacement for SEC fans.