AAC to ESPN+? | Page 2 | The Boneyard

AAC to ESPN+?

And a little encouraging news...via an old friend.

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UConnCat said:
$4.99/month for 4-5 months
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That $4.99/month for 5 months is relative. Everyone here is not in the same boat. I've been paying $13.99/month during the wcbb season to add the "sports pack" to my channel lineup on DirecTV the last 5-6 years, so that I could access SNY.

I cancel it right after the last game of the regular season that is carried by SNY. To me, $4.99/month to continue to view UConn games live is a bargain. I'll gladly pay it. :)
 
The deal doesn't go into effect until the 2020-21 season- it isn't worth panicking about SNY. They've said they're open to dealing with SNY, so let's see what happens.
 
j66kicker said:
Without ESPN there would be little or no coverage of WBB. I don't blame them. As part of their new deal with the AAC, UConn's conference take increases by $5 million. UConn is getting a raise and somebody has to pay for it - you.
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j66: strong points as is usually the case with you. Appreciate those thoughts.
 
zls44 said:
The deal doesn't go into effect until the 2020-21 season- it isn't worth panicking about SNY. They've said they're open to dealing with SNY, so let's see what happens.
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zls: also good clear points. And reassuring for now. Thanks. (I still don't like ESPN though) ( :
 
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ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ABC Women’s Basketball:
  • At least 13 regular season games per season, with a minimum of five on ESPN and ESPN2.
  • Conference Tournament Semifinals on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU and the Conference Final on ESPN or ESPN2.
ESPN+ Women’s Basketball:
  • Approximately 160 conference-controlled games per year in addition to those on ESPN’s linear networks, plus the first round and quarterfinals of the conference tournament.
ESPN PRESS RELEASE

Hmm, if the + games are "conference controlled", can we get them to choose other schools and send our remaining games to SNY?
 
I also read that ESPN will NOT, under this agreement, cover the production costs of the telecasts unless the game is on one of their broadcast channels (as has been the case in the past). So for the UConn WCBB games even to get on ESPN+, someone other than ESPN would have to hire announcers and camera folks to produce the broadcasts which ESPN+ would carry. It seems like that could only be SNY or UConn itself. I would think all three parties would have an interest in someone doing this, and SNY would seem like the logical choice for producing game broadcasts.

So I would envision a deal whereby SNY undertakes to produce the games, and would pay ESPN for the rights to the content. ESPN has an interest in maximizing the online audience for the games, and in fact would have no way even to offer them unless someone like SNY produces the broadcasts. So I'm sure they would be interested in a deal whereby they offer SNY broadcast rights in exchange for their content rights and some cash. That means SNY would pay ESPN rather than UConn for the broadcast rights, but might not pay any more than they are paying UConn now. UConn is being paid through the AAC deal, and might not get any other dollars out of the arrangement.

For us consumers, the end result would be pretty much the status quo, or so I would think.
 
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A good opportunity now to jump to the Big East in basketball...let football fend for themselves.
 
Maybe the State of Connecticut can just once remind ESPN where it’s headquarters reside.
 
UConnCat said:
Maybe the State of Connecticut can just once remind ESPN where it’s headquarters reside.
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If we had any politicians in this state worth their salt ESPN wouldn't get away with this sheat. ESPN is squeezing us. It should be the other way around.
 
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Wonder how much ESPN pays in taxes to CT., if any -- as opposed to SNY? And ESPN employs a lot of CT residents, who pay taxes. SNY I assume is NY based and doesn't employ the same number of staff from CT and I assume doesn't pay taxes to CT. Also, I get the impression from the BY that most UConn women's bball fans pay taxes in Arizona or Florida. If SNY contracts to broadcast the less competitive UConn games the money goes to Disney rather than directly to UConn, however. Maybe ESPN can license those games to CPTV, which at least employs CT residents!

If UConn's non-competitive games end up on ESPN+, I don't think the issue is the extra $5 during the fairly short bball season. Rather, it would be the quality of the broadcast streaming. ESPN3 on my computer (ethernet connection) does not compare favorably to SNY on cable, and, interestingly, the ESPN3 streaming picture via Comcast on a smart TV is, for the most part, comparable in quality to SNY on cable, but at this time Comcast doesn't carry ESPN+.

PAC12 picture quality on TV is generally agreed to be the worst in college sports, and I suspect ESPN+ may resemble PAC12 technology for viewers used to HD picture quality on TV. On the "plus" side I believe ESPN plans to use ESPN+ as the home of mixed martial arts at ESPN, so it might attract a younger demographic who could watch a women's bball game if nothing else is on on their smartphones or tablets. In the larger scheme of things, ESPN may be calculating that most of the UConn women's bball viewers will have died of old age by the time the contract goes into effect.
 
I’m guessing; Not only is the price going up, the quality is going down. No more half-time and post game Geno interviews, as well as Uconn half-time shows. Justine of SNY did a good job and seemed interested in the women’s program.
For proof of this quality issue on the women’s side?... just go to the womens college basketball section in the ESPN app. Games listed to be played that have already been played, there are incorrect playing times (by days sometimes).....It’s obvious ESPN doesn’t care. Oh well, i enjoyed it while it lasted. Women’s BB at Uconn may have already peaked as well.
 
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Don’t understand why people are trashing ESPN and not the AAC and Aresco.At least ESPN offered this small conference a deal. Arecso didnt have to accept or at least fought for UConn, but unfortunately UConn is no longer the premier school in the conference, it’s UCF, Houston and Cincinatti. Aresco obviously does not value woman’s basketball. SNY is NOT going to agree to any second tier contract where they just promote tv specials cause it’s not worth it to them without extensive games. I’m sure Eric Frede will probably continue doing games because he works for ESPN too but Meghan ( not a great analyst but a homer) and Kara( wish they moved her to tv) will probably be gone.
 
lanieer said:
Don’t understand why people are trashing ESPN and not the AAC and Aresco.At least ESPN offered this small conference a deal. Arecso didnt have to accept or at least fought for UConn, but unfortunately UConn is no longer the premier school in the conference, it’s UCF, Houston and Cincinatti. Aresco obviously does not value woman’s basketball. SNY is NOT going to agree to any second tier contract where they just promote tv specials cause it’s not worth it to them without extensive games. I’m sure Eric Frede will probably continue doing games because he works for ESPN too but Meghan ( not a great analyst but a homer) and Kara( wish they moved her to tv) will probably be gone.
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If ESPN wanted to really give the AAC a bone, I would have liked for them to create an "AAC Network" instead of throwing the AAC into the Mid-Major pool that are now occupies ESPN+. Then I could have died in peace. :rolleyes:
 
I think it would be helpful to Uconn administrators to get a real sense of how the Boneyard feels about having to pay $4.99 a month to watch Uconn women's basketball for about 12-15 games. How about a survey question asking all members to indicate whether they would pay to view.
 
lanieer said:
Don’t understand why people are trashing ESPN and not the AAC and Aresco.At least ESPN offered this small conference a deal. Arecso didnt have to accept or at least fought for UConn, but unfortunately UConn is no longer the premier school in the conference, it’s UCF, Houston and Cincinatti. Aresco obviously does not value woman’s basketball. SNY is NOT going to agree to any second tier contract where they just promote tv specials cause it’s not worth it to them without extensive games. I’m sure Eric Frede will probably continue doing games because he works for ESPN too but Meghan ( not a great analyst but a homer) and Kara( wish they moved her to tv) will probably be gone.
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ESPN has been the leader in the destruction of the University of Connecticut athletics and continues to do so. This new moves heralds the end of UConn women's basketball as well. People of CT need to actively lobby their legislators and governor to end subsidizing ESPN with tax breaks. Put tolls on the road outside ESPN studios. Aresco negotiated from a point of weakness. Unfortunately, UConn athletic programs over the past few years have been pretty bad and thus UConn is also in a position of weakness. This however, was all orchestrated by the big wigs at ESPN in conjunction with the Atlantic Coast conference members, BC, Syracuse, Florida State and MIami.
 
mbr33ct said:
A good opportunity now to jump to the Big East in basketball...let football fend for themselves.
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For roughly half the money that the new AAC deal will generate? Thanks but no thanks.

The NBE isn't remotely close to what the old Big East used to be. All the big time women's BB programs are gone...Syracuse, ND, WVU, Louisville and Rutgers What great BB programs are left? The Villanova men maybe, and that's it. DePaul and Marquette are the only two decent women's programs, and they're no better than UCF or USF in the AAC. What kind of media exposure does the NBE get for women's BB?

Also, dropping football is the same as waving a white flag of surrender regarding any hopes of getting a P5 invite when the next round of conference realignment hits in the 2020's.
 
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