• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, April 22, 2010

Turner and CBS will share the NCAA basketball tournament under a new rights deal that has TBS airing the Final Four in alternate years starting in 2016. Overall, Turner will begin covering tourney games next year on three networks, along with CBS. 

In 2011, the NCAA tournament will be expanded to 68 teams (from 65), not the 96 that some feared would dilute its appeal.

The Turner-CBS agreement is valued at $10.8 billion and runs through 2024, meaning that TBS will get four Final Fours and CBS will have nine. Executives said the two companies will share expenses and revenues, but did not provide a breakdown.

Sean McManus, head of CBS Sports, said on a conference call that there will be a "unified sales team," which will sell the tournament as well as sponsorship rights to other NCAA events as part of a corporate-marketing program.

Expensive sports properties often serve as a loss leader for a company. NBC Universal recently announced a $223 million loss on the Winter Olympics, even though viewership was high.

McManus said the NCAA deal "puts CBS on solid financial footing for lasting profitability," likely referring to the company as a whole. "It meets all of our financial needs and programming needs," he said. McManus noted that ESPN was a competitor in the bidding, and CBS needed the partnership with Turner to continue with the tournament, which it has covered since 1982. "We needed a cable partner and needed the assets of Turner," he said.

Under the deal, CBS will have the Final Four -- which includes the national semis and championship game -- each year from 2011-2015. From 2016 through 2024, the Final Four bounces between CBS and TBS every other year.

Starting next year, the tourney's first two rounds will be shown on Turner's TNT, TBS and truTV and CBS -- which allows viewers access to all games, not just those shown in their home region if more than one game is happening at the same time.

Turner will air most of the first-round games with its three networks (24) and 9 in the second round. CBS will have 8 and 7, respectively. Turner and CBS will split Sweet 16 games (4 each) starting next year, while CBS will air the next round -- known as the regional finals or Elite Eight -- exclusively through 2016.

Then, Turner and CBS will split the Elite Eight games each year, and the alternate-year schedule starts with the Final Four.

CBS and Turner parent Time Warner will share rights to carry games live on the Web; games will also be accessible via NCAA.com. ESPN ducking out of the NCAA bidding could mean it has money to spend to grab Olympic rights.

With some Final Fours on TBS, the deal marks another marquee sports event moving to cable, a trend expected to continue. ESPN is taking over the Bowl Championship Series in January.