SEC Daily Fever: SEC Media Policy Upsets the Press

Posted: Aug 21, 2009

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A huge debate is about to happen regarding the direction of the league’s media coverage. Three major media groups are protesting the SEC’s restrictive credential policy.

The words of the Associated Press' associate general counsel, David Tomlin, towards the conference will become a major issue:

The SEC and some other big college conferences want to become publishing and broadcasting businesses now. They see the pro leagues doing it and they think it's the way to go. So the strategy is to push independent news coverage into a corner to make room for their own information services and programming.

Normally, the sound of the media complaining shouldn't bother the fan at all. Our only word of caution to the SEC is don't make any decisions that alienate your fan base.

We've written before comparing the SEC to NASCAR. Although the audiences might be different, they are driven by the same dynamic - fan passion. NASCAR's quests for growth certainly has hurt its following in our Footprint in the last few years.

There is no doubt we are entering an era where the leagues-professional and some collegiate- try to create economic streams and positive news coverage through control of their own networks. We say that's fine, as long as the fan base is served.

The people at the top must never forget that the fans are the life blood of SEC football.

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