CBS and Turner Sports could team up to provide joint coverage of an expanded NCAA Tournament.
Sports Business Journal reports that CBS and Turner are in discussions to make a joint bid for NCAA Tournament rights, should the NCAA opt out of its current deal with CBS at the end of the 2010 season.
CBS and Turner would alternate coverage of the Final Four every year, with the network airing the Final Four paying 60% of the annual rights fee, and the other network paying 40%.
The NCAA sent out a “request for proposal … to potential bidders” last year. In the RFP, obtained by Sports Business Journal, the NCAA said it is looking for a 14-year deal with a “no-penalty, early termination right in favor of the NCAA,” and expressed a desire to expand the NCAA Tournament to 68 or 96 games.
The NCAA also outlined the parameters of a split-rights agreement, in which two networks would submit a joint bid for NCAA Tournament rights.
Under the 96-team scenario, the cable partner would air 54 games and the broadcast partner would air 38, excluding the Final Four (3 games).
If the proposed CBS/Turner deal is successful, that would give CBS with 41 games in years where it aired the Final Four (and 38 games otherwise), and Turner with 57 games in years where it aired the Final Four (and 54 games otherwise).
CBS and Turner have previously partnered to provide coverage of the Olympic games. The two outlets have also been rumored to be considering a joint bid for the 2014 and 2016 Olympics.
