2023 is the last season that CBS will carry SEC football. Here is everything you need to know to watch SEC football games live online in 2023 and beyond.
With two new teams joining the conference, but not quite yet, and a new TV deal looming for 2024, there will be a lot of confused SEC football fans on our site come fall.
If you give me three minutes of your time, I will clear everything up for you in this blog post. First, Texas and Oklahoma are still in the Big 12 for the 2023 season, so take that issue off your plate for now.
Now, on to the new SEC TV deal. That is a go, but it doesn’t kick in until 2024.
The current SEC TV deal (for the 2023 season)
Under the current SEC TV deal, CBS still has the rights to broadcast its popular SEC Game of the Week on Saturdays at 3:30 EST. This marquee game features the biggest and best SEC matchup of the week. CBS will also air SEC Football night games in 2023.
CBS’ TV rights expire after the 2023 season, which means there are two seasons left on the current deal. Disney valued the SEC TV rights at 300 million per season, but the CBS deal is set at 55 million per season. It’s a good bet that the CBS brass will want to hold on to the SEC TV rights for two more years at the old, and very competitive, rates they negotiated a few years back.
For 2023, ESPN has the rights to broadcast SEC Football games, but CBS gets first pick for its SEC Game of the Week.
The new SEC TV deal (2024 and beyond)
CBS paid 55 million per season for the old SEC TV rights. Under the new deal, Disney (which is the parent of ABC and ESPN) outbid CBS, and now holds the exclusive rights to all SEC football broadcasts. Starting in 2024, Disney will pay 300 million per season for the rights to air SEC sports, including football.
The SEC Game of the Week will move from CBS to ABC in 2024.
There has been chatter that Disney may buy out the remaining years of the SEC deal with CBS, but there is no movement on that issue at present.
What SEC football fans need to know
It’s simple: to watch SEC Football, you need a package that carries:
- CBS,
- ESPN,
- ESPN2,
- and SEC Network (owned by ESPN).
In the table below, I have laid out the live TV streaming providers that carry each channel, and whether they are currently offering a free trial.
| DIRECTV STREAM – Choice | DIRECTV STREAM | FuboTV Sports Lite | Fubo | Hulu + Live TV | Orange & Blue Sports Extra | YouTube TV | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| $99.99 / month | $74.99 / month | $84.99 / month | $74.99 / month | $69.99 / month | $65 / month | $72.99 / month |
Yes, CBS is losing its long-held TV rights to air SEC Football, including the SEC Game of the Week and the SEC Championship game, after the 2023 season. Starting in 2024, the SEC will be an all-ABC/ESPN network, and CBS will only air Big Ten football games.