Fox’s 4-year BCS deal over as college football’s premium bowl games move to ESPN next year

BCS moves to ESPN next season, says goodbye to Fox

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. — The BCS moves to ESPN next season, but it has already said goodbye to Fox after four years with that network.

Because the Rose Bowl has a separate TV deal from the rest of the BCS games, ABC will broadcast Thursday night’s BCS title game between No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Texas.

ESPN paid $125 million for the TV rights to the Fiesta, Orange and Sugar bowls, as well as the BCS title games, from 2011-14. ABC will continue to be the home of the Rose Bowl during that time.

Fox’s BCS deal ran from 2007-10 and was worth $80 million.

ESPN runs ABC Sports, so for that network, this season’s game is in a way the first of a new era for the BCS on TV.

“To be able to have two games this year through our good friends at the Pasadena Tournament of Roses in the Rose Bowl game and the championship game here in California is special for us to … get a jump-start on our full new BCS relationship next year,” said Burke Magnus, ESPN senior vice president for college sports programming.

Brent Musberger will handle play-by-play for the game Thursday night, with Kirk Herbstreit doing analysis.

Dave Miller, senior coordinating producer for sports programming at ESPN, said 30 cameras will be used for the BCS championship game.

Fox is owned by News Corp.; ESPN and ABC are units of The Walt Disney Co.