• by David Goetzl , July 10, 2008

The sports media arm of IMG will handle negotiations for the next contract to carry the series of major college football bowl games and national championship face-off. The agency's announcement would seem to indicate that those crying for some sort of college football playoff won't cross the goal line.

Fox holds the current rights to the Bowl Championship Series' major bowl games for two more years, through January of 2010, and the national championship game through next year. IMG will negotiate a deal with either Fox or, if the network passes, another broadcaster, perhaps ESPN on behalf of ABC.

Fox gets a 30-day period to negotiate exclusively to re-up, according to Sports Business Journal.

It's unclear how long the new contract would be for - but a three-year deal through the games in January 2013 is a possibility, since the BCS package currently includes the Fiesta, Orange and Sugar Bowls and three national championship games. Not included is the fourth major bowl, the Rose, which ESPN will broadcast on ABC through January 2013.

If a new three-year deal is made, the BCS organizers could then bundle all the games into a single package to start in January 2014, which would surely command a premium. (The national championship games in 2010 and 2013 are on ABC and not part of the current package.)

Fox currently pays about $80 million a year, according to reports. The new deal IMG makes -- with college football increasing in popularity -- is expected to increase healthily before any "unification" deal.

Fox's interest in carrying the BCS was always curious, considering the network has no regular-season college football, though its affiliated regional sports networks do.

Much of what transpires with BCS negotiations could depend on what happens with negotiations for the next Olympics contract. Fox, ESPN and current rights holder NBC are said to be interested, and a network may not want to invest in both.

ESPN could be the front-runner for the BCS package, considering its vast resources and the wealth of regular season college football it carries.

At IMG, veteran Barry Frank will oversee the negotiations.