ESPN interested in bidding for the rights to March Madness

11-4-09--If the NCAA opts out early next year from its 11-year, $6 billion contract with CBS for the men's basketball tournament,ESPN would be interested in bidding for the rights to March Madness, said Burke Magnus, ESPN's senior vice president of college sports programming.
CBS' contract runs through 2013. But the NCAA has the right to opt out by July 31, 2010. If it does, it would leave CBS's annual rights fees, according to NCAA numbers, of a little more than $2.2 billion for 2011-2013 in search of a bigger payday from another TV partner.
"We do 1,100 college basketball games a year and they all lead to one thing and that's the NCAA tournament," Magnus told USA TODAY Wednesday. "If it were to become available, and fit the definition of a business decision for us, I'm quite certain we'd be interested."
Mike Aresco, executive vice president of programming for CBS Sports, declined to comment on whether the NCAA might opt out early: "We have a great relationship with the NCAA. We expect to be in business with the tournament for a long time."

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