Sarni's Scrolls: NCAA Signs New 8-Year Milestone Deal With ESPN

The NCAA and ESPN will continue their lifelong relationship... and that's great news for fans who love college sports.

The NCAA announced on Thursday a new milestone, eight-year deal with ESPN that will cover 40 NCAA championships domestically – 21 women’s and 19 men’s events (not including men’s basketball) – along with the international rights to the Division I men’s basketball tournament, as well as those same NCAA championships.

NCAA President Charlie Baker told "Sports Business Journal's" Ben Portnoy that the deal is worth an average of $115M annually, while an NCAA spokesperson confirmed at least 25% of that cost (around $28.75M) includes prodummction and marketing.

The new deal runs through 2032 and is roughly three times the value of the current contract that expires in 2024 and paid around $40M annually.

Speculation in recent months suggested the NCAA might look to break out pieces of the previous package owned by ESPN -- a discussion notably centered on the NCAA selling rights separately to the women’s basketball tournament.

Baker said the NCAA valued the women’s basketball rights specifically at around $65 million annually, or roughly 56% of the media rights portion oc bf the deal based on the numbers SBJ was provided. That said, he noted there was a desire to keep the championships under one banner and both parties acknowledged it made logical sense to package this deal similarly to how it had been previously.

Thursday marks a landmark win for Baker, who’s made significant strides in a short time atop an organization that has struggled to get out of its own way.

Baker created a stir with his proposal last month suggesting the creation of another subdivision within the NCAA structure allowing schools to directly compensate athletes. 

Combine that forward thinking with negotiating and netting a media deal with a large price tag increase amid a volatile media rights market and this is a feather in his cap.

“The trajectory of college sports is very strong -- the stock is a buy,” Karen Brodkin, co-head of WME Sports told SBJ. “It's not flat and it's not trending down. It's trending up.

"… Media buyers, you can make up 10 different reasons why they want to buy a package, but they're for-profit companies. They want to buy what people want to watch and where they think that they can grow the business, grow the fan base, bring more fans to their platforms. So college is definitely a growth area and it's been performing very, very well.”

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Get ready for possibly the most dramatic regular season finish in NFL history.

Eleven teams are alive for the five remaining playoff berths. Eight escontrol their own destiny --  win and they're in.

Key AFC games

■ Bills- Dolphins: Winner claims East. Dolphins in playoffs with a loss. Bills in if Steelers or Jags lose.

■ Colts-Texans: Winner earns wold card, South with Jags loss.

■ Jags at Titans: Jags take South with a win, need losses by Steelers and Broncos to make playoffs.

■ Steelers at Ravens: Need win plus loss by Bills. Jags or Raiders.

Key NFC games

■ Eagles at Giants; Cowboys at Commanders: Cowboys and Eagles tied at 11-5 but Cowboys have the tiebreakerTV

■ Bucs at Panthers; Saints at Falcons: Three teams are alive in the South, and all face win-or-go-home scenarios. The 8-8 Bucs clinch the division title and No. 4 seed. If the Bucs lose, the winner of 8-8 Saints vs. 7-9 Falcons wins the South, and the Bucs miss the playoffs.

■ Vikings at Lions: The Lions can’t fall lower than the No. 3 seed.

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Of the 100 most watched shows in 2023, 96 were football games (93 NFL, 3 CFB).

The non-football four: Thanksgiving Day Parade, State of the Union, Academy Awards, "Next-Level Chef" (post Super Bowl).

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ETC.

■ U.S. (-185) takes on Sweden (+135) in the World Juniors Men's Hockey championship game in Gothenberg on Friday (1:30 EST, Hockey Network, TSN, IFubo.

■ The PGA Tour is underway with The Sentry in Maui. Sahith Theegala (-9) is the first-round leader. 6, Golf Channel.

■ Victor Wembanyama celebrated his 20th birthday on Thursday with a ridiculous, behind-the-back dunk... Shot of the night: Nikola Jokic's 39-footer to lift the Nuggets over the Warriors, 130-127.

■ Zendaya's tennis movie "Challengers" has a release date -- April 26. Zendaya plays a former tennis player who has transitioned into coaching her husband (Mike Faust). Compl⅘ications arise when he unexpectedly faces his wife's former lover (Josh O'Connor) in a challenger tournament... Andre Agassi trained Zendaya for three  months for the part.

■ Al Michaels confirmed he will do Year 3 of his Amazon "Thursday Night Football" deal.

■ Will there be changes on CBS's "NFL Today?" Contracts are up for Phil Simms, Boomer Esiason and Bill  Cowher.

■ Jess Simms is joining ESPN's Primetime men’s college basketball package as a sideline reporter, replacing Holly Rowe who is focusing more on the women’s game.

■ The Lancashire heeler ‐- energetic, agile and obedient-- became the American Kennel Club's newest dog breed.

■ The Golden Gate Bridge has installed a suicide net for the first time in its 87-year history.

■ Amer sports -- maker of Wilson tennis rackets -- filed for an IPO was that could reportedly be valued at up to $10.B.

■ TGI Friday's suddenly closed 36 "underperforming" restaurants as part of a new growth strategy.

■ ESPN's Colorado-Arizona telecast: Frank Caliendo as Bill Walton alongside Bill Waltocn. Hilarious.

■ Do you have your Staney cup? The 40-oz. Stanley "Quencher", an insulated travel mug thn mat fits in a cup holder, appears to be the new it product among hydration-obsessed young people.

■ Dry January? More like Damp January as more young people are drinking.

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THEY SAID IT 

■ "If I messed up in high school, I could be one of these guys' dads." -- Browns QB Joe Flacco on his locker room.

■ "You will never see a 16-year-old as down to earth as him, he's just something else." -- World Darts Champion  Luke Humpries on sensational teen mm pmLuke Litter, who finished second.