The SEC is implementing a nine-game conference football schedule starting in 2026; Disney CEO Bob Iger discusses how the company looks at linear and digital content; and FOX One is now available on Prime Video. Plus news on NASCAR, the NFL Dublin Game, Craig Carton, FanDuel Sports Network.
SEC to implement nine-game conference football schedule beginning in 2026
The SEC is instituting a nine-game conference football schedule plus a power opponent beginning in the 2026 season, it was announced on Thursday. The nine-game format will result in SEC teams facing three annual conference opponents and taking part in a rotation through six other teams for every season.
“The SEC has established itself as the leader in delivering the most compelling football schedule in college athletics,” Greg Sankey, commissioner of the SEC, said in a statement. “Fans will see traditional rivalries preserved, new matchups more frequently, and a level of competition unmatched across the nation.”
ESPN is currently entering the second football season under its ten-year deal with the conference worth a reported total of $3 billion, and the company has indicated that it would be willing to increase its payment if a ninth league game was added. SEC football teams have been playing eight conference games per season since last year, and there has been widespread debate over whether or not the conference schedule should be expanded.
This development takes place amid larger discussion regarding the College Football Playoff, which recently expanded to 12 teams and could end up growing larger in the years to come. The CFP recently announced revisions for the selection process that includes a new strength-of-schedule metric and changes to the recusal policy on the panel. Emerson reported that Sankey and others in the SEC “have been pushing for the conference’s schedule strength to get more respect.”
Iger: Disney is managing linear, digital television together
In a CNBC interview Thursday, Disney CEO Bob Iger explained why the company will no longer disclose subscriber numbers for its DTC products. “As a company, we’re now agnostic when it comes to linear television and digital television or digital content. We manage them together and holistically, and so we don’t really measure them as much individually. We look at the whole, and that’s what we will do here.”
During the interview, Iger said that investors will still see Disney’s sports business performance and that the new ESPN DTC product will “contribute nicely” to the bottom line for ESPN over time. “This is an important component of ESPN and obviously critical in terms of its future, and we think it will have a positive impact, but we’re also doing this for our shareholders and also for the fans, for both, and breaking out subs to me is irrelevant,” Iger said.
ESPN is part of the “Sports” business segment at The Walt Disney Company that was created when the media conglomerate engaged in a strategic restructuring two years ago. During the fiscal third quarter, ESPN amassed $3.93 billion in domestic revenue, representing a 1% year-over-year increase. Yet the company’s domestic operating income was down by 7% at $1.01 billion, which was attributed to augmented costs related to programming and production.
FOX One available on Prime Video
Prime Video users in the United States can now purchase the new FOX One streaming service within the app, it was announced Thursday. “It is a priority at FOX to ensure that our news, sports, and entertainment content is available wherever our customers want to watch and to provide them with as seamless an experience as possible, especially in seeking to address the fragmentation of sports in streaming,” Pete Distad, chief executive officer of direct to consumer at Fox Corporation, said in a statement.
FOX One will also be available in a bundle with the new ESPN direct-to-consumer service starting on Friday, Oct. 3 for $39.99/month. The two companies previously worked with Warner Bros. Discovery on the Venu Sports joint streaming venture, but the conglomerates chose to discontinue the service in January and instead focus on “existing products and distribution channels.”
Plus: NASCAR, NFL Dublin Game, Craig Carton, FanDuel Sports Network
- TNT Sports will be broadcasting the return of NASCAR to Chicagoland Speedway in 2026 for the second round of the In-Season Challenge taking place on Sunday, July 5. This will mark the first time the facility will hold a NASCAR race in seven years, and it will be part of the five-round challenge within the Cup Series.
- The broadcast team for the NFL Dublin Game airing on NFL Network will consist of FOX Sports play-by-play announcer Joe Davis, analyst Greg Olsen and sideline reporter Pam Oliver. NFL Network host Jamie Erdahl will also be a sideline reporter for the game, which takes place on Sunday, Sept. 28 at 9:30 AM ET.
- FS1 personality Craig Carton will be hosting a new one-hour daily podcast in partnership with Red Seat Ventures. The program, titled “The Craig Carton Show,” is scheduled to take place every weekday live at 11 a.m. EST, and it will be available on YouTube and all major podcast outlets.
- FanDuel Sports Network, owned by Main Street Sports Group, has extended its carriage agreement with Comcast, allowing Xfinity Ultimate TV subscribers to continue accessing their regional sports networks. Main Street Sports Group televises local games for various MLB, NBA and NHL teams in addition to concomitant pregame and postgame coverage.
