Weren't most of those 70 markets in syndication already in place? I know here in Cincy we already got the Jefferson Pilot game every Sat. on Ch. 64. It was usually a lousy matchup with even worse video quality (due to the station it was on locally) - but more college football is always welcome at my house.
I don't think the syndication is gonna have much of an impact at all, even if it was expanded a bit. At least around here they're just rebranding the games that were already being shown or perhaps filling the spots left open when ESPN+ lost the games on the Big Ten undercard when BTN was started.
I think the biggest things to come out of this new deal are of course the money, but also the way ESPN is likely going to double down on pimping the SEC. Also, I don't think it's really gonna impact the way the remaining major conferences get their teams out there, and that's where I think we're gonna see big increase in exposure. I look forward to the possibility of getting access to even more games from out west especially once the other conferences make their move to try to keep up.