The New SEC Network: All They Need is More Money

((ht: sports.yahoo.com))

Like they needed another money printing license.

According to a report by Yahoo Sports reporter Pat Forde, commissioner Mike Slive told him the SEC will debut their own, self-encomapssing TV Network in about a month.

Yes, those who follow the Southeastern Conference say, "They already have a network".

Well, no actually they don't, they have a digital network, lots of programming that they have to contract out to run.

They want something akin to the "Big Ten Network" or the "PAC-12 Network". Those networks, available to cable and satellite subscribers make their respective conference's a lot of money.

Read more from Mr. Forde's report on Yahoo Sports RIGHT HERE

No, this quite honestly isn't a game changer, it's been expected for a long time.

The reasons Conference do this are rather simple. They net money based on TV homes. Well, okay, actually subscribers.

They convince carriers, (ie: Comcast Cable, DirecTV, U-Verse etc) to pay for clearing the network, the carrier in turn adds that fee to your overall bill. So even if you aren't an SEC fan, if the network is on your top tier of channels, congratulations, you just made the SEC even richer. And, if the hundreds of millions the Big 10 gets for their network is any indication, the SEC is sitting on a pot of gold.

This also comes about as the conference begins renegotiating their TV deal next year. Forde's article and general speculation assumes that ESPN will buddy up with the league for this and will pay handsomely to be a part of college TV's most popular and lucrative conference.

So enjoy what you've got, expect your cable or satellite bill to go up, but in return, you'll get the leagues 3rd level games and a whole bevy of baseball, women's basketball and other less revenue generating sports.