NCAA Tournament expansion has been a topic of discussion for some time now. Most fans are staunchly opposed, believing that March Madness as we know it is already perfect. But, of course, television executives see the dollar signs flashing before their eyes at the prospect of tourney expansion.
And former ESPN president John Skipper was among those advocating for NCAA Tournament expansion back when media rights for the men’s competition were on the market.
Speaking on a new episode of The Sporting Class podcast, Skipper revealed that ESPN made a strong push for NCAA Tournament rights and that the network wanted to “immediately” expand the tournament to 96 teams.
“We proposed immediately taking the tournament to 96 teams,” Skipper told co-hosts David Samson and Pablo Torre.
“We insisted on going to 96, and they did the great thing that the NCAA always does, which is they do something dumb which is, ‘Let’s go to 68,'” Skipper continued. “It’s like why would that be the response to, ‘Let’s go from 64 to 96, and 32 teams will get a first-round bye, and it’ll be great – there will be more games.'”
To ESPN’s credit, they did have a compelling case to the NCAA. At the time of these negotiations, CBS was unable to air all of the NCAA Tournament games themselves; the network would air regional action during the early rounds. ESPN, with its many linear networks, could’ve housed every tournament game.
That spurred the modern-day partnership between CBS and Turner Sports, which gave the NCAA enough linear television windows to air every game, without allowing ESPN, or the “evil empire” as Skipper jokingly called his old network, to take over men’s college basketball’s postseason and fundamentally change its structure.
And to the credit of CBS and Turner, their executives have been consistent in the belief that NCAA Tournament expansion should be viewed critically. Earlier this month, CBS Sports president and CEO David Berson and TNT Sports chairman and CEO Luis Silberwasser urged caution when considering expansion.
“This is an event that captivates the country for three weeks every year. There’s nothing, nothing like March Madness. So as they’re looking to see if there are tweaks to be made, I think everyone’s just being really diligent and smart and careful. Because while we might want to enhance it given the change in the college landscape that can justify expanding by a few teams, no one wants to do anything that’s going to take away from how special this tournament is. And I think that’s really where the focus is,” Berson said during a pre-tournament press conference.
There’s no doubt, expanding to 96 teams would certainly bring in more television revenue for the tournament. The question is, would 96 teams make for a better product? Many would argue, probably not.
And that’s the balance that needs to be struck. In today’s era of college sports, where it’s revenue generation first, ask questions later, it’s refreshing to hear TV execs think of the fan first.
If CBS and Turner hadn’t joined forces over a decade ago, keeping ESPN from obtaining tournament rights, it’s likely March Madness as we know it would’ve looked much different.
