AAC reworking media deal

[businesslawyer]

Why is ECU's number so much lower then?

1. The ECU number was based on 45 events a year, not 60.

2. The $15k to $25k Pac Ten coverage is probably for a higher quality broadcast than it makes sense for ECU to be paying for. If HD, P5 can do an event for $15k to $25k, I'm sure ECU can do an event for less than the low end of what the Pac Ten is currently doing.

Those two factors are going to be most of the difference.

 

[CallMeBruce]

Why is ECU's number so much lower then?

Either they're underestimating the total cost of the events or they're planning on putting on events with production quality that's comparable to ECU athletics.

 

[Waquoit]

For my niece's D-3 volleyball they stick a camera in the corner (making sure the scoreboard is in the frame) and we're good.

 

[Husky25]

Either they're underestimating the total cost of the events or they're planning on putting on events with production quality that's comparable to ECU athletics.

Are high school students in greater Greenville necessarily ECU fans? The A/V club coordinators could be considered impartial.

 

[Husky25]

. In either case, that TV deal is going to involve a significant haircut for every team that isn't willing to put out low-cost trash.

They could get away with low cost trash for a few years at the outset back then, particularly for low profile events/sports, because HD was still a luxury item. Now it's the standard.

 

[Hurleyman216]

I would think the value of UConn’s media rights alone should fall somewhere in the $20-25 million per year, so if the contract remains at 12 years I would think the new contract would be in the range of $250-300 million less than the original $1 billion...yes, UConn alone was likely accounting for almost 25% of the value of the AAC’s media rights. I guess time will tell. This may be the only time ever that we’re on ESPN’s side. We want them to hammer the AAC in this contract negotiation because the BE conference will be able to directly extract our value to use in their next negotiations with Fox. ESPN dug their own grave and now they get stuck holding the pile of crap that is the AAC for the next 12 years without the biggest piece of the puzzle remaining.

 

[businesslawyer]

Either they're underestimating the total cost of the events or they're planning on putting on events with production quality that's comparable to ECU athletics.

When my son was at GW from '09 to '13, home games not picked up by a network (so most of them) were televised on GW's athletic department website. The broadcast consisted of (IIRC) 2 or 3 cameras, and using the feed of the professional radio play by play announcer (Byron Kerr). The costs were minimal. It's not going to look like when NBC covers an olympic sport on the Olympic channel. It will be done more cheaply. But truth be told, there is no reason why East Carolina should be spending more to get its home basketball games on the internet than George Washington does.

 

[businesslawyer]

I would think the value of UConn’s media rights alone should fall somewhere in the $20-25 million per year, so if the contract remains at 12 years I would think the new contract would be in the range of $250-300 million less than the original $1 billion...yes, UConn alone was likely accounting for almost 25% of the value of the AAC’s media rights. I guess time will tell. This may be the only time ever that we’re on ESPN’s side. We want them to hammer the AAC in this contract negotiation because the BE conference will be able to directly extract our value to use in their next negotiations with Fox. ESPN dug their own grave and now they get stuck holding the pile of crap that is the AAC for the next 12 years without the biggest piece of the puzzle remaining.

There's no way it's that high, because our football rights -- given our schedule, our failure and our fanbase -- are relatively worthless. If we get $2M a year from SNY for 6 or 7 homes games, I'd be shocked. Fox is currently paying, what, about $5M a year to Big East for everything else? Let's say our mens basketball, given our fanbase and getting back to success, is worth more than the average. Say double the average. $10M? And women's basketball, knowing what was paid for rights within Metro New York, is worth another $2 or $3M. (If our women's rights were truly marketable for $10M, we never would have accepted the AAC paying everyone an equal share without exempting women's basketball.) That takes you to $15M, at the utterly high end which frankly I don't believe. More likely closer to $10M, which is still double what other Big East programs make in TV rights.

But I will be the first to admit these guesses are just a little more educated than being pulled out of my rear.

 

[MadMax1999]

Whatever the case is I am excited to see us on Fox Sports. I think they are starting to pass out ESPN in overall quality of the broadcast.

 

[Slasher]

I would think the value of UConn’s media rights alone should fall somewhere in the $20-25 million per year, so if the contract remains at 12 years I would think the new contract would be in the range of $250-300 million less than the original $1 billion...yes, UConn alone was likely accounting for almost 25% of the value of the AAC’s media rights. I guess time will tell. This may be the only time ever that we’re on ESPN’s side. We want them to hammer the AAC in this contract negotiation because the BE conference will be able to directly extract our value to use in their next negotiations with Fox. ESPN dug their own grave and now they get stuck holding the pile of crap that is the AAC for the next 12 years without the biggest piece of the puzzle remaining.

If this were the case UConn would be in the ACC or the B1G. The overall value of the contract is likely to go down like many people have said, but you have to remember that 70% of the media value of a TV contract is football. The only content ESPN is losing in this case is two football home games a year from UConn. One of those almost always was against an FCS school and relegated to ESPN3. The conference games are getting replaced. They also didn't have enough room for all the AAC games as it was, one of the many reasons AAC plays weird time slots on Thurdays/Fridays and games on CBSSN.

 

[CallMeBruce]

When my son was at GW from '09 to '13, home games not picked up by a network (so most of them) were televised on GW's athletic department website. The broadcast consisted of (IIRC) 2 or 3 cameras, and using the feed of the professional radio play by play announcer (Byron Kerr). The costs were minimal. It's not going to look like when NBC covers an olympic sport on the Olympic channel. It will be done more cheaply. But truth be told, there is no reason why East Carolina should be spending more to get its home basketball games on the internet than George Washington does.

I believe the PAC-12 deal specifically stipulates that they can't just recycle the radio broadcast. I'm not sure exactly what the AAC deal says, but ESPN will certainly be setting some standards. This won't be "school website" level stuff. In either case, I don't particularly care how much it costs ECU or Tulsa to put their games on ESPN+. I care about how much it would have cost UConn, who was definitely not going to do that to their WBB broadcasts.

 

[businesslawyer]

I believe the PAC-12 deal specifically stipulates that they can't just recycle the radio broadcast. I'm not sure exactly what the AAC deal says, but ESPN will certainly be setting some standards. This won't be "school website" level stuff. In either case, I don't particularly care how much it costs ECU or Tulsa to put their games on ESPN+. I care about how much it would have cost UConn, who was definitely not going to do that to their WBB broadcasts.

There is no reason to think the AAC is going to be held to Pac -12 standards for one twentieth the money. If almost no one is watching, what difference does it make how good the broadcast is. The only ones watching will be diehard fans who will watch what you give them.

 

[Husky25]

...one of the many reasons AAC plays weird time slots on Thurdays/Fridays and games on CBSSN.

All one of them?

 

[WestHartHusk]

If this were the case UConn would be in the ACC or the B1G. The overall value of the contract is likely to go down like many people have said, but you have to remember that 70% of the media value of a TV contract is football. The only content ESPN is losing in this case is two football home games a year from UConn. One of those almost always was against an FCS school and relegated to ESPN3. The conference games are getting replaced. They also didn't have enough room for all the AAC games as it was, one of the many reasons AAC plays weird time slots on Thurdays/Fridays and games on CBSSN.

The Big10 isn't adding a school that makes $25m a year to pay them $60m a year.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

That had zero to do with the league and everything to do with one Jim Calhoun. But then we used to sell out the old field house for URI and UNass in old Yankcon days too. But why let facts get in the way of a nice story

Wow, you go way back.
By the time I first starting going they'd already done the name-change from Nassachusetts.

How about you lay things out in simplicity for those in ignorance who want to know what you see that others don't.
Maybe you're right..

 

[Hurleyman216]

If this were the case UConn would be in the ACC or the B1G. The overall value of the contract is likely to go down like many people have said, but you have to remember that 70% of the media value of a TV contract is football. The only content ESPN is losing in this case is two football home games a year from UConn. One of those almost always was against an FCS school and relegated to ESPN3. The conference games are getting replaced. They also didn't have enough room for all the AAC games as it was, one of the many reasons AAC plays weird time slots on Thurdays/Fridays and games on CBSSN.

The reason we’re in the conference we’re in has a lot more to do with politics than it does our media rights value. We’ll just wait and see what ESPN comes back with, but the drop in the contract will be big (much more than 1/12th). You can also argue that UConn in the Big East is an even more valuable media property than they were in the AAC due to regional rivalries, NYC media exposure, etc. I didn’t just pull the $20-25 M value out of thin air, it’s a pretty close estimate of our value which is why it’s so ridiculous that we were left on the sidelines while the likes of Rutgers got an invite to the B10.

 

[weyuo]

The reason we’re in the conference we’re in has a lot more to do with politics than it does our media rights value. We’ll just wait and see what ESPN comes back with, but the drop in the contract will be big (much more than 1/12th). You can also argue that UConn in the Big East is an even more valuable media property than they were in the AAC due to regional rivalries, NYC media exposure, etc. I didn’t just pull the $20-25 M value out of thin air, it’s a pretty close estimate of our value which is why it’s so ridiculous that we were left on the sidelines while the likes of Rutgers got an invite to the B10.

At the time Rutgers football was actually competitive and they were making bowl games. That's only one reason they got picked over UConn. Of course AAU status and proximity to NYC were major factors but the fact that they had a better football team at the time was the straw that broke their way and against UConn. Once they joined the B1G their football program moved into a different level of football that they haven't been able to compete with....yet. Rutgers football moving to the B1G is like UConn moving from Yankee Conference to D-1. It's going to take time for both.

 

[SubbaBub]

Ummm...no. 1. NYC DMA and a distant 2. was AAU. FB had zero to do with Rutgers elevation.

 

[imno1]

Why are people playing along with freescooter's trolling act?

There's no possible way he's as dumb as all these posts would suggest.

I think you might be underestimating him

 

[buddy]

If this was the case, how come ESPN couldn’t do something to get UConn into the ACC or another Power 5?

They could have, they didn't want to.

 

[scoscox]

Whatever the case is I am excited to see us on Fox Sports. I think they are starting to pass out ESPN in overall quality of the broadcast.

As someone who watches a lot of both, I think they're better. and their streaming is definitely better. announcers are a mixed bag

 

[Waquoit]

I think they are starting to pass out ESPN in overall quality of the broadcast.

Or is ESPN coming back to Fox?

 

[gampelcrazies]

Fox is a 1000x better than ESPN. IMO CBS (not CBSSN) and FoxSports do the best.

 

[Watchdog]

The Big10 isn't adding a school that makes $25m a year to pay them $60m a year.

Because they learned the hard way by doing it with Rutgers (only worth $5M per year)?

 

[Big East Fa]

Whatever the case is I am excited to see us on Fox Sports. I think they are starting to pass out ESPN in overall quality of the broadcast.

FOX SPORTS took a giant leap with Big Noon Kickoff. Showcasing the major game at noon. When you have Paul Finebaum giving phrase to FOX, when saying my boses won't like it, FOX/FS1 is doing something right.