ESPN Will Be The Big Winner If Nick Saban Goes To Texas

Getty ImagesTJ Ford and Kevin Durant on the set of the Longhorn Network

With rumors running rampant that the University of Texas will hire Nick Saban to replace Mack Brown as the head football coach, the biggest winner may end up being ESPN and its fledgling Longhorn Network.

Two years after the university and ESPN partnered to launch the Longhorn Network, it's still not available in all homes in the state of Texas.

Among the programming dedicated solely to University of Texas sports were three Texas football games this season that were unavailable on other networks.

That means Longhorn fans in the state of Texas that subscribe to Comcast, DirecTV, or Dish Network, were unable to watch 25% of the school's games this season.

If Texas does hire Saban, demand to watch Texas games will not only increase in the state of Texas, but there will also be more pressure for cable providers and satellite companies to carry the network nationally.

Not only will this increase ESPN's subscriber fees for the network, but it will also help justify the network at all. ESPN is reportedly paying the university $15 million per year for the network.

Saban is just the buzz ESPN and the Longhorn Network need. And if it works, it could push ESPN to start similar networks with other schools.