MAC's ESPN deal looks even smarter today than it did in 2014
The MAC, meanwhile, went from getting about $1 million a year in its previous ESPN deal, which was set to expire in 2017, to reeling in well over $100 million in the new 13-year agreement. The final 10 years of the deal (2017-27) reportedly are worth about $10 million per year. Contrast that with Conference USA, which might be seeing its annual rights haul getting cut from $14 million-plus to about $2 million. Timing really is everything. We emailed a MAC source Tuesday and asked if the person felt even better about the ESPN deal after reading the SBJ story. The reply was simple, and telling: “You would be correct.”