TV & Streaming: who broadcasts what
Sports media rights have become some of the most valuable contracts in entertainment — here's who holds them.
DirecTV remains a major carrier of premium sports packages
DirecTV continues to be one of the primary distributors for out-of-market sports packages and premium sports tiers, competing with streaming-only options as the industry shifts. Its commercial and residential distribution remains central to how bars, restaurants, and sports fans access out-of-market games not available through basic cable or streaming alone.
Congress is weighing a plan to bundle all college football rights together
A proposal to consolidate FBS broadcast rights across all conferences could more than double the current combined media value of roughly $3.5 billion annually, according to a study commissioned by the American Athletic Conference. The SEC and Big Ten — who together are projected to roughly double the media revenue of the ACC and Big 12 over the next decade under their current separate deals — are actively lobbying Congress to reject the plan, since consolidation would likely redistribute value away from the two biggest conferences toward smaller ones.
Source: CBS Sports →ESPN's 2026 college football coverage spans nine networks
ESPN's 2026-27 season coverage runs across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SEC Network, ACC Network, ESPN+, SEC Network+, and ACCNX, with more than 1,000 games total and every game streaming on the ESPN App — reflecting how thoroughly college football rights have fragmented across linear and streaming simultaneously rather than consolidating onto one platform.
Source: Sports Video Group →