FOX blocks ESPN’s college RedZone plans over Big Ten, Big 12 rights

FOX blocks ESPN’s college RedZone plans over Big Ten, Big 12 rights originally appeared on The Sporting News

A College RedZone dream is blocked by a familiar rival.

For fans, a college football RedZone channel sounds like a dream: non-stop touchdowns, goal-line stands, and big plays from across the country, all in real time.

But ESPN’s plans for a college version of the NFL’s wildly popular RedZone just hit a huge roadblock. According to Front Office Sports, FOX Sports is refusing to license its Big Ten and Big 12 games for the new channel, and that could wreck the entire concept before it even starts.

What’s behind the cold shoulder? Years of turf war. Billions in rights deals. And a high-stakes media standoff that’s far from over.

FOX Doesn’t Want to Help Its Rival

FOX controls the crown jewels of Big Ten and Big 12 football, especially the Big Noon Saturday slot. It’s one of the most-watched college football windows each week. Letting ESPN air any part of those matchups, even as highlights or clips, risks stealing viewers and weakening FOX’s own broadcasts.

As one source told Front Office Sports, “Fox would require significant ownership in the venture to have any willingness to participate.” In other words: no favors, no freebies.

This Isn’t the First Battle Between the Two Giants

FOX and ESPN have been locked in a power grab for years, each trying to outdo the other as college football’s top dog. The three-letter network created Big Noon Kickoff in 2019 to compete with ESPN’s College GameDay. The networks have since loaded their pregame shows with big-name talent like Nick Saban, Pat McAfee, and Barstool Sports’ Dave Portnoy.

When it comes to conference loyalty, ESPN has the SEC locked up. FOX is all-in on the Big Ten. Both sides know that giving up any ground, even for a shared venture, can tilt the balance.

The College Football Rights Landscape Is a Mess

Unlike the NFL, college football’s media rights are fractured. ESPN needs more than just FOX on board to make RedZone work. It also needs CBS, NBC, and others that own slices of Big Ten games.

CBS and NBC, who, along with FOX, pay over $1 billion annually for Big Ten rights, haven’t committed to sharing content either. And ESPN has already lost the Big Ten completely after the conference signed with those three networks in 2023.

Without Big Ten or Big 12 access, ESPN’s RedZone could miss the biggest games every Saturday. That’s a hard sell for fans expecting wall-to-wall action.

What Happens Now?

There’s still time. ESPN is expected to take control of the RedZone trademark from the NFL, part of its acquisition of NFL Network, but that deal won’t finalize for at least a year.

And while NFL commissioner Roger Goodell recently teased a college version of RedZone on SportsCenter, nothing’s official. This delay may force ESPN to rethink the entire model. Could it build a RedZone using just SEC and ACC games? Would that be enough to compete?

For now, fans eager for a seamless, Saturday-long whiparound channel will have to wait, or watch multiple games the old-fashioned way.

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