Report: DirecTV expected to soon offer SEC Network
The SEC Network debuts on Aug. 14 but with a little less than a month remaining until the launch of one of the biggest sports network’s in the new millennium, one of the biggest cable providers, DirecTV, did not have an agreement to provide the channel.
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That all could change very soon, according to Outkick the Coverage’s Clay Travis who reports the company is “quite hopeful” and “expects to be able to provide the network soon.” Awful Announcing tweeted it could be “a couple of days” until the deal is confirmed.
Rival Dish Network was the first satellite company to come to an agreement to carry the network months ago. Several more cable providers have reached deals to carry the channel while DirecTV subscribers, more than 20 million in the United States, grew worried and frustrated they would not receive the channel on the first day it will be available.
More from OKC:
"“In conjunction with Outkick’s previous report that Comcast and the SEC Network are near an agreement, this would mean that every major cable and satellite company — excluding Time Warner — would carry the SEC Network, allowing ESPN and the SEC to hit their goal of roughly 75 million subscribers at launch.”"
DirecTV carries the Big Ten Network but does not carry the Pac-12 Network, failing to carry the SEC Network which will feature each of the 14 members on the channel during the first four weeks of the 2014 season would have resulted in a number of subscribers changing providers.
The agreement with the satellite provider and the SEC Network, which airs their first game on Aug. 28 between South Carolina and Texas A&M, will be a cash cow for ESPN and the 14 SEC schools who stand to receive an estimated $40 million in TV revenue, according to Travis’ report.