The SEC has a network TV contract with CBS, a national cable deal with ESPN Networks
and a conference branded network called the SEC Network, which is completely owned by ESPN.
CBS has the rights to 12-15 regular season games and the conference championship.
Up to two of those games can be non-conference games. CBS will always have the top
choice of SEC games on a weekly basis. When CBS does a doubleheader that includes
a primetime game, CBS can choose the top two games on a given weekend. When
they do a doubleheader that includes a 12pm game, it must allow ESPN to reserve
two games before selecting their next game. Also, a school may not appear on CBS more than five times during the season, with some exceptions allowing for a sixth appearance. The SEC Championship Game is never part of the appearance count.
ESPN Networks has the rights to remaining SEC home games, primarily prime time telecasts. A content board will be established to determine which games will air on ESPN and the SEC Network. The plan is to air a tripleheader of games every week. There will overflow or alternate feeds of the network to allow for multiple games to air in a single telecast window.
For the pandemic revised 2020 season only, the conference will play intraconference games only. CBS has scaled back its schedule to 11 games and will have no doubleheaders.