INDIANAPOLIS
-- The NCAA hopes to expand the men's basketball tournament from 65 to 68
teams beginning next year, and announced a new, $10.8 billion broadcasting
deal with CBS and Turner Broadcasting on Thursday that will allow every game
to be shown live for the first time.
The three-team expansion is much more modest than 80- and 96-team proposals
the NCAA outlined just a few weeks ago at the Final Four. The move coincides
with the new, 14-year broadcasting arrangement that interim NCAA president
Jim Isch said will provide an average of $740 million to its conferences and
schools each year.
"It was a goal from the very, very beginning, and I believe it's what our
memberships want and it's what our fans want across the country," Isch said.
"I think without question, it was one of the driving factors in our position
and why CBS and Turner make such great partners."
The NCAA said the Division I Men's Basketball Committee unanimously passed
the proposal and it will be reviewed by the Board of Directors next
Thursday.
"We are very comfortable with 68, that's what the deal is based on and it
meets all our financial needs and programming needs," said Sean McManus,
president of CBS News and Sports.
The men's tournament last expanded in 2001, adding one team to the 64-team
field that was set in 1985. Talk of tweaking March Madness again generated a
lot of chatter from fans worried the competition would be watered down and
those who feared the additional bracket guesswork needed to predict a
winner.
Any move hinged on the NCAA's $6 billion, 11-year television deal with CBS
Sports, which has broadcast championship games since 1982. The deal, signed
in 1999, had a mutual opt-out until July 31, and the NCAA took it amid
speculation that ESPN might become a partner in one of the most popular and
lucrative tournaments in sports.
"We made an aggressive bid and believe our combination of TV distribution,
digital capabilities, season-long coverage and year-round marketing would
have served the interests of the NCAA and college fans very well," ESPN said
in a statement. "We remain committed to our unparalleled coverage of more
than 1,200 men's and women's college basketball games each season."
The NCAA's agreement with CBS and Atlanta-based Turner Broadcasting System
Inc. runs from 2011 through 2024. It means every game next March will be
shown live -- on CBS, TBS, TNT or truTV -- for the first time in the
tournament's 73-year history.
Next year, everything through the second round will be shown nationally on
the four networks. CBS and Turner, an entity of Time Warner Inc., will split
coverage of the regional semifinal games, while CBS will retain coverage of
the regional finals, the Final Four and the championship game through 2015.
Beginning in 2016, coverage of the regional finals will be split by CBS and
Turner; the Final Four and the championship game will alternate every year
between CBS and TBS. Under the agreement, the NCAA and CBSSports.com will
again provide live streaming video of games, although Turner secured rights
for any video player it develops.
"This is a landmark deal for Turner Broadcasting and we're extremely pleased
to begin a long-term relationship with the NCAA and our partners at CBS and
to have a commitment that extends well into the next decade," said David
Levy, president of sales, distribution and sports for Turner Broadcasting.
Some fans may find themselves scrambling to find their favorite teams,
though.
McManus acknowledged late Thursday afternoon that if Kentucky, for instance,
has a game scheduled on truTV, it won't be shown on CBS -- even in the
team's home city.
How critical is the deal to the NCAA? More than 95 percent of the governing
body's total revenue comes from the broadcast rights to the men's basketball
tournament.
And it clearly was important to New York-based CBS. McManus said the "new
strategic partnership" was a core asset and a profitable one, although he
hinted that the annual payments of $700 million over the last three years of
the original deal were a load.
"We were prepared to do the last three years of the current deal; it was no
secret that those three years would be very challenging," he said. "But this
deal was based on the NCAA coming to us saying that we would like a new deal
in place."
A 96-team field likely would have enveloped the 32-team NIT, the NCAA's
other, independently run season-ending tournament.
Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith, the incoming tournament committee
chair, was ecstatic that he wouldn't have to manage a 96-team field.
"It was thought that 96 teams would generate more money to support the
NCAA's many sports and initiatives," Smith said. "But we were all able to
come to an understanding that gives us the support without adding that many
teams."
The proposal is strictly for the men's tournament. Another NCAA committee is
looking at whether to expand the women's tournament or keep it in the
current format.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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