Conference USA will see vastly reduced TV revenue next season

[huskymedic]

http://pilotonline.com/sports/colle...cle_f89181d1-f34f-58fc-9e73-53809bbbcc60.html

>>Old Dominion and the other 13 Conference USA schools apparently will have to make do with about $500,000 less in television revenue next season.

League TV revenue is likely to fall by about half when new contracts with Fox Sports and the CBS Sports Network take effect July 1, according to sources at three schools familiar with C-USA’s TV contract negotiations.

The two networks paid the league more than $14 million per year – about $1.17 million per school – for the past six years. Although the new contracts haven’t been finalized, negotiations are nearing completion, sources said.<<

 

[nelsonmuntz]

This is unraveling faster than I thought it would. What does a Board of Trustees meeting look like when they discuss the athletic budget? They have a recent data point that makes their football program worthless. Why would they continue to fund it? Why not make it non-scholarship? I expect more schools to go the UAB route.

 

[UConnTrumbull]

You can think of this in two ways.
1. BAD FOR UCONN: G5 is dead. No way TV companies are paying good money for a G5 product.
2. GOOD FOR UCONN: More value placed towards the AAC and we are the closest thing to a P6 conference.

 

[B1GOSU]

No surprise here. When the current Conference USA contract was signed, most of the current AAC were the members at the time. When the schools leave, the money follows.

 

[CL82]

No surprise here. When the current Conference USA contract was signed, most of the current AAC were the members at the time. When the schools leave, the money follows.

Except it didn't.

 

[B1GOSU]

Except it didn't.

Sure it did. The AAC is making Conference USA style money now because the AAC is essentially the old Conference USA.

 

[CAHUSKY]

This is unraveling faster than I thought it would. What does a Board of Trustees meeting look like when they discuss the athletic budget? They have a recent data point that makes their football program worthless. Why would they continue to fund it? Why not make it non-scholarship? I expect more schools to go the UAB route.

You expect more schools to cancel football and bring it back the next year?

 

[nelsonmuntz]

No surprise here. When the current Conference USA contract was signed, most of the current AAC were the members at the time. When the schools leave, the money follows.

On an apples to apples basis, are ratings for Big 10 games 50x what a CUSA game gets? Because that is the delta in revenue.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

You expect more schools to cancel football and bring it back the next year?

I had no idea they brought it back.

Public schools are slowly going private. Taxpayer subsidies are shrinking while the costs of athletic programs are going up. How do schools justify paying millions of dollars to subsidize a football program that is in no way self-sufficient financially?

 

[CL82]

Sure it did. The AAC is making Conference USA style money now because the AAC is essentially the old Conference USA.

That gives 0 value to the Big East Schools that were making more. Now it is possible that all the value in our deal is based on the CUSA teams, but I suspect that that is not the case. So in all likelihood they brought less than their CUSA market value. Said differently, market value is decreasing for college sports.

 

[huskymedic]

From actual article for those who didn't click

MID-MAJOR CONFERENCE TV REVENUES (Yearly revenue per school):
American Athletic Conference, $2 million
Mountain West Conference, $1.64 million
Conference USA, $1.17 million (drops about half in 2016-2017)
Mid-American Conference, $670,000
Sun Belt Conference, $100,000

 

[Fairfield 1st]

I had no idea they brought it back.

Public schools are slowly going private. Taxpayer subsidies are shrinking while the costs of athletic programs are going up. How do schools justify paying millions of dollars to subsidize a football program that is in no way self-sufficient financially?

They brought it back because the political firestorm in the Alabama legislature and because local supporters pledged millions to keep the program going. The disbanding of the UAB football program was a focus of an ESPN piece (I think outside the lines, very well done). The prime culprit was the desire for the State Board of Trustees for the university system wanted to shift more football money to Tuscaloosa..

That being said, Nelson is 100% correct,. There is no way a mid major program can justify a football budget. How does the MAC survive? The football may continue, but it will be a collection of Ivy league type models...

Prior posts in other threads mentioning how the "broadcast partners" have really screwed this up are spot on.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

The only potential silver lining, and I am digging really deep here, is that the revenue gets so bad that a couple of dozen CUSA, Sun Belt and MAC schools decide it isn't worth it and downgrade their football programs. The problem is that the playoff revenue and the guarantee game fees are probably just enough to make the football program subsidy manageable for a Sun Belt school if they keep costs down.

I can not come up with a scenario where UConn can maintain its current athletic department in these headwinds. Thoughts?

 

[B1GOSU]

That gives 0 value to the Big East Schools that were making more. Now it is possible that all the value in our deal is based on the CUSA teams, but I suspect that that is not the case. So in all likelihood they brought less than their CUSA market value. Said differently, market value is decreasing for college sports.

The Big East schools did increase value somewhat.

AAC revenue = $2 million per year/per school.

Old Conference USA revenue = $1.17 million per year/per school.

So the "net value" of the old Big East schools to the old Conference USA schools in the AAC would be an increase from $1.17 million to $2 million per school.

New Conference USA revenue = ~$500,000 per year/per school.

The "net loss" to Conference USA is around $500,000 per year/per school for the schools that joined the AAC.

Those numbers don't statistically match up to each other when comparing what was gained and what was lost. The difference would come from the overall value of the current conference members playing each other vs. the overall value of the former conference members playing each other. The former Big East schools took a huge hit in the AAC and the former Conference USA schools make more money in the AAC by nearly double.

One way to look at it - the UConn lost money from the old Big East is going to Tulsa, Tulane, East Carolina, etc. to allow them to have twice the athletic budget that they previously had.

 

[1999.2004.2011]

They brought it back because the political firestorm in the Alabama legislature and because local supporters pledged millions to keep the program going. The disbanding of the UAB football program was a focus of an ESPN piece (I think outside the lines, very well done). The prime culprit was the desire for the State Board of Trustees for the university system wanted to shift more football money to Tuscaloosa..

That being said, Nelson is 100% correct,. There is no way a mid major program can justify a football budget. How does the MAC survive? The football may continue, but it will be a collection of Ivy league type models...

Prior posts in other threads mentioning how the "broadcast partners" have really screwed this up are spot on.

When autonomy was granted to the P5 conferences, I believe that this will eventually be the (in)direct result of that move. As these schools keep operating in the red, they will be forced to either dissolve their programs or relegate themselves to D1-AA as the cost of operating a D1 football program will continue to outpace the revenue generated by these programs. Soon enough, the G5 will be marginalized by the P5 and all that will remain in D1 will in-fact be those 65ish teams currently in power conferences. The million dollar question is whether or not UConn will be apart of the P5 by the time this scenario plays out?

 

[Husky25]

This is unraveling faster than I thought it would. What does a Board of Trustees meeting look like when they discuss the athletic budget? They have a recent data point that makes their football program worthless. Why would they continue to fund it? Why not make it non-scholarship? I expect more schools to go the UAB route.

What take two years off and then comeback? I can't imagine how this helps recruiting. UAB is reinstating football effective 2017.

The G-5 conferences' biggest problem, outside of $$, is perception. They are perceived as weaker without real proof, but cannot change that perception because they are being increasingly blackballed by (even the weaker) P-5 programs. They are only afforded only 1 of 12 spots in NYD bowls that 65 other programs are vying for, compared to 11 spots for P-5 programs, and even when Houston beat Florida State, it was because FSU was disinterested, not that Houston necessarily "won." Say what you want about the BCS, but at least there was a national championship game and left ample room for multiple mid-major storylines in the same year.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

What take two years off and then comeback? I can't imagine how this helps recruiting. UAB is reinstating football effective 2017.

The G-5 conferences' biggest problem, outside of $$, is perception. They are perceived as weaker without real proof, but cannot change that perception because they are being increasingly blackballed by (even the weaker) P-5 programs. They are only afforded only 1 of 12 spots in NYD bowls that 65 other programs are vying for, compared to 11 spots for P-5 programs, and even when Houston beat Florida State, it was because FSU was disinterested, not that Houston necessarily "won." Say what you want about the BCS, but at least there was a national championship game and left ample room for multiple mid-major storylines in the same year.

You missed your window for the "gotcha" post. Someone else beat you do it. Nice try though.

The biggest problem is the money. There is no way to get past that revenue gap.

 

[UConn Dan]

What some are forgetting is that even if college athletics programs are operating at a loss that it's essentially a marketing cost (recruiting new students and donors - not just for athletics) and an experiential cost (keeping students, alumni and donors engaged in with the university).

 

[B1GOSU]

If UConn doesn't get into a P5 soon, Rutgers will have a more valuable athletic program than UConn in the not too distant future. Even though Rutgers doesn't get a full share of B1G revenue until 2021, that share increases each year until then.

If UConn did join the B1G, I wonder what kind of deal would be reached for the years leading up to the full equal share of B1G revenue? On one hand, UConn has a strong overall athletic program outside of football. On the other, UConn has no leverage to negotiate. In fact, UConn has less negotiation clout at this point than Rutgers would have had when they joined and the Big East was still in existence. The B1G could get UConn for a steal. The only question is.......would UConn increase the revenue of the B1G in per school/per year payout after becoming an equal revenue partner?

 

[The Funster]

You missed your window for the "gotcha" post. Someone else beat you do it. Nice try though.

The biggest problem is the money. There is no way to get past that revenue gap.

There is a way to get past that revenue gap. The school will fund it. Whether it funds it by student fees or some other indirect way, each school can choose to fill that gap. As UConn Dan says, and I'll paraphrase, football can be a loss leader, so to speak.

 

[businesslawyer]

You missed your window for the "gotcha" post. Someone else beat you do it. Nice try though.

The biggest problem is the money. There is no way to get past that revenue gap.

I just want to understand your logic here. You are attacking someone else for pointing out you were wrong even when you are admitting you are wrong?

Thank you Mr. Trump.

 

[Husky25]

You missed your window for the "gotcha" post. Someone else beat you do it. Nice try though.

The biggest problem is the money. There is no way to get past that revenue gap.

Well I am the first one to correctly point out that UAB is taking 2 years off, not 1. Be that as it may, as the Master-of-all-trades that you purport yourself to be, you should have know this before being called out on it three separate times.

You just basically parroted what I wrote (The G-5 conferences' biggest problem, outside of $$, is perception.). It stands to reason that in list form, the ranking would appear:
1. Money
2. Perception

Gotta brush up on you comprehension to maintain your master-status, Mr. Muntz.

 

[The Funster]

If UConn doesn't get into a P5 soon, Rutgers will have a more valuable athletic program than UConn in the not too distant future. Even though Rutgers doesn't get a full share of B1G revenue until 2021, that share increases each year until then.

If UConn did join the B1G, I wonder what kind of deal would be reached for the years leading up to the full equal share of B1G revenue? On one hand, UConn has a strong overall athletic program outside of football. On the other, UConn has no leverage to negotiate. In fact, UConn has less negotiation clout at this point than Rutgers would have had when they joined and the Big East was still in existence. The B1G could get UConn for a steal. The only question is..would UConn increase the revenue of the B1G in per school/per year payout after becoming an equal revenue partner?

How many individual schools, right now, are worth $30m per year? 40m per year? Not many off the top of my head. If you want to look at it a different way, "What schools can substantively add to my future revenues?". I think the spotlight lands squarely on UConn. Yep, mediocre football and only making $2M is a poor negotiating position. However, helping to tie up the NYC market, adding in the #30 market in the state, having a strong reach into western Mass, Vermont and New Hampshire lead by womens BB with a weaker reach into the Boston area should be an eye opener. Add in the fact that we have strength in a number of other team sports, which is great for a conference network, and I think UConn is uniquely positioned to add value to a conference who wants to grow into VIRGIN TERRITORY. Imagine capturing the entire Northeast as a market by simply adding 1 school to your conference. What other school has that kind of potential? The ACC thought BC could do it and they screwed up. The ACC thought Syracuse could help do it and they screwed up again. Delany could do it and he'd look like a freakin' genius 10-20 years down the road.

 

[CallMeBruce]

Well I am the first one to correctly point out that UAB is taking 2 years off, not 1. Be that as it may, as the Master-of-all-trades that you purport yourself to be, you should have know this before being called out on it three separate times.

You just basically parroted what I wrote (The G-5 conferences' biggest problem, outside of $$, is perception.). It stands to reason that in list form, the ranking would appear:
1. Money
2. Perception

Gotta brush up on you comprehension to maintain your master-status, Mr. Muntz.

Why are you talking to him? I promise, this board is much more enjoyable if you put the freak shows on ignore.

 

[Husky25]

Why are you talking to him? I promise, this board is much more enjoyable if you put the freak shows on ignore.

I can't bring myself to put anyone on ignore. Maybe it's my knack to find enjoyment in the craziest of things.