In a bit of surprise news, Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz revealed during his press conference Tuesday that senior defensive end Tre Williams is no longer with the team. Williams, a Columbia native, was honored as part of the team’s Senior Day festivities prior to Saturday’s win over Arkansas.
“Tre came in and had a conversation about the future, about his future with Mizzou football, and as of right now, he's exploring opportunities outside of Mizzou football,” Drinkwitz said.
Though Drinkwitz didn’t use the phrase “opt out,” Williams is the second senior to end his 2020 season in as many weeks, joining cornerback Adam Sparks. Sparks, who had spent the prior two weeks in quarantine due to COVID-19, opted out before the Arkansas game.
Drinkwitz spoke highly of Williams, saying he’s “earned the right” to look into other opportunities.
“I love Tre,” Drinkwitz said. “I love everything about him, the way he plays. And so we wish him the absolute best in whatever he decides to do with his future.” [Reply]
Maybe he's just trying to preserve another year of eligibility? That's this year's COVID rules if you opt out, right? It'll be a bummer if he goes elsewhere. [Reply]
Originally Posted by kepp:
Maybe he's just trying to preserve another year of eligibility? That's this year's COVID rules if you opt out, right? It'll be a bummer if he goes elsewhere.
Everyone gets an extra year. TBH, he's lucky he wasn't kicked off the team last year. [Reply]
A “significant announcement” is coming from the SEC this evening. No one seems to have a great idea of what it is though.
This afternoon, the league announced that commissioner Greg Sankey will speak to the media at 6 p.m. ET.
Obviously, most figure this is football-focused. We are nearing the end of the season, and are just weeks from an Alabama vs. Florida SEC Title game.
Perhaps the most notable option has to do with the league’s TV deal. The SEC already has deep partnerships with the ESPN, with which is launched SEC Network years ago. Last year, it was reported that the CBS ceased negotiations with the league to renew its own contract. Disney, ESPN’s parent company, has its Investor Day today, which has many speculating about a big new deal between the league and network
Of course, that may not be it at all. Plenty around the college football internet have weighed in with their ideas for what this could mean. Many of them are obviously not too serious.
We’ll find out whatever this big news is in a few short hours. The TV deal definitely makes the most sense given the timing, and is a significant deal for the future of the conference.
Check back for more at 6 p.m. ET when Sankey speaks to the media. [Reply]
Originally Posted by :
CBS will walk away from the SEC when its contract ends after the 2023 football season, and all indications are that the package will move to ESPN/ABC.
CBS decided to exit the negotiations for college football's most-watched TV package after making an aggressive bid in the neighborhood of $300 million per season -- a massive increase from the $55 million it currently pays annually. CBS Sports execs decided that it made more sense to invest the money they would have paid the SEC into other sports. When contacted this afternoon by SBJ, CBS Sports PR emailed the following statement: “We made a strong and responsible bid. While we‘ve had success with the SEC on CBS, we are instead choosing to aggressively focus on other important strategic priorities moving forward.”
Multiple sources said ESPN/ABC is in the final stages of negotiating a deal that is expected to pay more than six times the $55 million per year fee that CBS currently pays, sources said.
Fox Sports execs still are planning to make an official bid presentation at SEC HQ in Birmingham next month. But sources say ESPN’s negotiations are in the final stages. ESPN and Fox Sports would not comment.
CBS plans to carry SEC football for the four seasons it has left on its contract, unless the conference or winning network is able to buy it out. CBS has carried SEC football since 1996 and network execs were interested in extending. When bidding went well over $300 million per season for 15-17 football games, including the conference championship game, CBS opted to bow out.
The decision to move away from CBS carries some risk for the SEC, especially considering that it has been college football’s most-viewed package for more than 10 years running. The conference will go from a network where it is the only college football conference to one where it will be one of many conferences. Insiders credit some of the SEC’s success on Saturday afternoons with being the sole focus of CBS’ Emmy-winning coverage.
The decision to walk away from the SEC does not suggest that CBS is tight-fisted. Since its merge with Viacom, CBS has dug into its pockets for the UEFA Champions League and has agreed on terms for an extension with the PGA Tour that will see a 60% increase in rights fees. CBS is expected to be aggressive in retaining its NFL Sunday afternoon package.
ESPN won the conference over with its argument that it can be more creative with scheduling when it controls all of the rights. With ESPN owning all of the SEC’s football rights, it’s possible that more than one game will be produced for broadcast TV; more top-tier games can be moved to primetime; and the conference can schedule more late afternoon games without having to worry about running into CBS’ exclusive window. SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey has been concerned about all of the league’s rights being tied up with ABC/ESPN because of the leverage it would give the media company, sources said. It is not known if ESPN opened up its contract to operate SEC Network or its cable rights as part of these negotiations. Those contracts run through 2034.
Originally Posted by Pitt Gorilla:
Damn, that would be a HUGE increase. Yet, that's not enough? That's crazy.
If ABC/ESPN is willing to pay 6 times what CBS was paying, The Disney Company is obviously serious about ESPN continuing to be a major part of its business.
Sports broadcast rights, especially football is the only valuable thing left on live TV.
A lot of smoke that this kid is about to decommit from Arizona State and that Mizzou might be the destination.
We are anticipating that Lovett will announce a decommitment from Arizona State and a commitment to Missouri today. We do not have a time. We do not know how he will do it. He’s not a kid that tweets or posts on Instagram much. He’s not a kid who’s done many interviews lately. It’s going to happen on his time when he’s ready to make it happen. When it happens, we’ll certainly be ready for it. If it doesn’t happen today, don’t panic. We think it will, but things change sometimes in recruiting.
As things stand, we would anticipate Lovett being an early enrollee in Columbia. [Reply]