
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, February 12, 1994                   TAG: 9402120201
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BIRMINGHAM, ALA.                                LENGTH: Medium

CBS, SEC MAKE DEAL FOR FOOTBALL

The Southeastern Conference plugged a gaping hole in the CBS sports lineup Friday with a football and basketball television deal worth more than $85 million over five years.

The network, which lost pro football and major-league baseball in the past year, will televise about 12 football games involving SEC teams annually from 1996 through 2000. At least two of those games will be shown nationally each year.

CBS will show 18 to 20 men's and women's basketball games each season beginning this fall, with the men getting most of the exposure.

"It certainly enhances the coverage of SEC football, which has long been the premier sport of this conference," said Roy Kramer, the SEC's commissioner. "Now, basketball is elevated to this same national level."

CBS' gain was the College Football Association's loss.

The SEC - a founding member of the CFA - will pull out of the association's TV package after the 1995 season, when the CFA's deal with ABC and ESPN expires. The contract is worth $300 million, and the SEC makes up about one-quarter of the package.

Chuck Neinas, the CFA's executive director, said the organization was "disappointed" to lose the 12-team SEC from its TV package, which includes 63 universities.

"But that is the prerogative of their members," Neinas said in a statement. "The CFA will move with dispatch to determine the preference of the remaining members relative to a future television plan and be prepared to respond accordingly."

The SEC commissioner would not discuss financial details of the deal. But Joe Dean, Louisiana State's athletic director, had said CBS offered $17 million annually for five years of football, or $85 million total. Basketball rights will be purchased on a per-game basis.

Kramer said the conference would remain a member of the CFA, which addresses issues involving NCAA Division I-A football.

CFA marketing director Mike Bohn said ABC and ESPN expressed interest in negotiating for TV rights with the remaining members of the CFA package.

CBS purchased exclusive network rights to SEC football games, which will kick off at 3 p.m. Saturdays after a pregame show.

CBS' contract does not include the SEC championship game or any bowls. ABC, which broadcast the first two SEC title games, has rights for the next two.

Memo: longer version ran in the New River edition.

by CNB