BCS, ESPN Reach Deal to Air Games Starting in 2011

Bowl Championship Series games will move to ESPN starting in January 2011.

The network and the BCS announced a four-year contract yesterday. ESPN outbid Fox, which is paying $80 million annually to broadcast the BCS games from 2007 to 2010.

ESPN's offer was for $125 million a year, according to a person with knowledge of the negotiations. The person requested anonymity because the networks are not releasing financial details.

Fox would not offer much more than $100 million annually, the person said.

The deal is the latest in a migration of high-profile sporting events from over-the-air television to cable. But this marks the first time the decisive game in the major U.S. pro sports leagues or NCAA college football or men's basketball will be broadcast on cable.

The agreement covers the Fiesta, Orange and Sugar bowls each year and the BCS title game from 2011 to 2013. The Rose Bowl will continue to be televised on ESPN broadcast partner ABC through 2014 under a separate, previous contract. . . .

Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp has been designated head coach-in-waiting by the university. He is expected to take over when Longhorns Coach Mack Brown retires. . . .

President Bush plans to take in the next chapter of one of college football's most storied rivalries, going to the Army-Navy football game on Dec. 6 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

· GOLF: Seve Ballesteros was released from intensive care after brain surgery on a malignant tumor. The 51-year-old Spaniard will remain in the hospital to continue rehabilitation following three operations in 18 days. La Paz hospital in Madrid said there was no timetable for his release. Ballesteros underwent a 6 1/2 -hour operation Oct. 24 to remove the tumor.

· BASEBALL: Pitcher Ryan Dempster and the Chicago Cubs agreed on a four-year, $52 million contract that includes a player option for 2012. . . .