Will There Be a RedZone Channel For College Football?

By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man – Follow me on X.

TV Answer Man, the NFL RedZone channel is so dang popular, then why doesn’t some smart executive do the same thing for college football? I would think it would be a huge hit! – Tony, Las Vegas.

Tony, the NFL RedZone channel, which offers live look-ins at Sunday afternoon regular season games during pivotal moments, has become one of the most successful offerings in sports TV. Some fans say it’s even better than the NFL Sunday Ticket, particularly considering the RedZone is usually part of a sports add-on plan for less than $15 a month.

As for creating a RedZone channel for college football, some smart executive has already thought about it. Extensively. Jimmy Pitaro, chairman of ESPN, says he is evaluating bringing the RedZone franchise to other sports, including college football. ESPN is the right network to do it because the company has obtained the rights to the RedZone brand from the NFL, pending federal regulatory approval which could take a year or more.

However, although ESPN has the rights to a slew of college football games, it doesn’t have the rights to the Fox games. And without Fox, an ESPN college RedZone channel would be interesting but not as interesting if it included both.

Pitaro told the Front Office Sports conference this week that he would like to discuss a RedZone partnership with Fox. But even if Fox is receptive, until the NFL deal is approved by the feds, don’t expect to see a college football RedZone channel in your lineup.

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