For two decades, the SEC’s marquee game each week took place on CBS, and at 3:30 p.m. ET, fans were greeted to the biggest matchup of the week by the iconic SEC on CBS theme song.
With the SEC moving completely to ESPN and ABC as its broadcast home in 2024 (with CBS taking on Big Ten rights in place of the SEC), the league needed a new theme for its new home. The challenge there is, creating something new that fans will enjoy is always difficult, especially in the social media world where the first instinct is to call anything new (uniforms, theme songs, logos, mascots, etc.) bad. That’s particularly the case when following up something iconic that fans associate with the product, and so ABC was behind the 8-ball from the jump with needing to create a new SEC theme.
They attempted to tap into some nostalgia by taking inspiration from their early 2000s college football theme, but spinning it into something new for the SEC on ABC. However, the theme is just lacking a little something, it doesn’t really have the hit you want from a football theme — my first thought was it sounds like the music that plays after you beat Mario Tennis.
I’m sure in a few years we will all be used to it, but I think it could use a little more punch to become a theme people really latch onto. That said, the video also debuts their graphics package and I do think the new scorebug looks good and am encouraged by the visuals they’ll be running on broadcasts.