ABC Will Honor CFA Agreement

ABC Sports announced Friday that it will honor its agreement with the College Football Assn., beginning in 1991, minus Notre Dame.

ABC declined to discuss what it will pay, but a source said the price for the five-year package was trimmed from $210 million to $175 million, or $7 million a year.

The price was reduced because Notre Dame pulled out of the CFA television package to make a deal of its own with NBC for its home games.

ABC said: “The CFA has confirmed the participation of its entire membership in the ABC package, with the exception of Notre Dame, whose away games ABC has the option to carry. ABC will have the right to select home games of 63 member institutions.”

ESPN also reached an agreement with the CFA by picking up an extra year for only $15 million. ESPN had been close to a one-year extension for $30 million before Notre Dame bolted.

ESPN originally had a four-year, $110-million agreement with the CFA. Now the cable network has five years for $125 million.