Pump the brakes on ESPN bringing the RedZone model to college football.
After it was revealed that ESPN paid to license the RedZone brand name from the NFL as part of its new, groundbreaking partnership, rumors quickly swirled that the network could try (again) to put a college football RedZone on its streaming app.
The biggest obstacle to such a project would be assembling the vast lineup of live game rights throughout the college football world, and it sounds like Fox Sports is not interested in playing ball. Per Front Office Sports, Fox is “unlikely” to license its Big Ten and Big 12 games to ESPN because it would “cannibalize” Fox’s game broadcasts. Fox would reportedly want “significant ownership” of the venture if it were to participate.
Fox owns partial Big Ten rights alongside CBS and NBC as part of a $7 billion overall package completed in 2023. With a minimum of 24 games each season, Fox owns by far the biggest Big Ten slate. These rights primarily drive their Big Noon Saturday window each weekend in the fall. Fox also airs 26 Big 12 football games per season as part of a $2.3 billion overall package that sees Fox split football rights with ESPN.
The Worldwide Leader, however, has owned full rights to SEC football since 2024 and ACC football since 2016. But even if ESPN wanted access to all Power Four conference games each Saturday, it would need Fox to play ball.
Instead, ESPN may look to the model it deployed for a short-lived RedZone-style “whiparound” show in 2023. Pat McAfee and Rece Davis joined forces that season for a live Saturday evening broadcast on ESPN2 that combined live game footage with highlights from the afternoon slate. Because ESPN has highlight rights for the other major college football conferences, it can air these plays without issue.
This is not altogether different from NFL RedZone, where host Scott Hanson will often refer back to earlier highlights when the active games go quiet.
There is no incentive for Fox, CBS, or NBC to help ESPN. It could pull viewers from regular live games, and it also drives more attention and engagement to ESPN in the aggregate.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.