BREAKING NEWS: Yesterday, the NCAA announced that it has agreed to a 14 year contract worth $10.8 billion with CBS and Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. The contract assures these networks exclusive presentation of the Division I Men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament from 2011 through 2024. The new contract will allow up to 4 games to be shown live across 4 national networks (CBS, TBS, TNT, truTV).
The other big story from the contract agreement is the decision about NCAA tournament expansion. The NCAA committee unanimously decided to recommend expansion of the tournament by 3 teams to 68 teams, instead of the supposed 31 team expansion to 96 teams that was anticipated by many during this year’s NCAA Tournament (College basketball fans can now take a collective sigh of relief). This preliminary decision will be reviewed at the April 29th NCAA Board of Directors meeting.
Stay tuned tomorrow for my analysis about the importance of yesterday’s decision by the NCAA.