ESPN EXTENDS BIG EAST FOOTBALL CONTRACT; ABC LANDS GAMES

          ESPN reached an agreement to extend its Big East
     Conference football contract through 2007 in a deal that
     also calls for ABC to replace CBS as the Conference's
     broadcast network home.  Under terms of the agreement, ESPN
     lands national, regional and int'l TV rights, as well as
     Internet and ESPN Classic rebroadcast rights.  The
     agreement, which takes affect with the 2001 season, also
     grants ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 a minimum of five games per
     season each, with ESPN Regional airing games on a regional
     basis in at least nine windows (ESPN).  USA TODAY's Rudy
     Martzke values the deal at "about" $15M a year and reports
     that CBS "passed on renewing" because it is committed to an
     "extensive" deal with the SEC.  ABC Senior VP Loren
     Matthews: "If there was an area we weren't showing growth,
     it was the Northeast.  The Big East gives us that."  CBS
     Sports President Sean McManus: "With our commitment to the
     SEC for national games, we can't accommodate enough Big East
     games to justify a deal that makes sense" (USA TODAY, 3/22).