Mistaken assumptions about AAC and ESPN3

[upstater]

That was my response to the CBS contract that you claim to know as fact. I do disagree with you with respect to CBS. I think CBS owns 12 games and can air them on any channel they want. I suspect they will be on CBS because they are good games, but I think they have the right to air them on CBS Sports.

So, let's get this straight. In separating the best 12 games from the rest of the package (which is an extension of what they did in the old contract), they decided to give the games to CBS so that CBS can bury them on its cable sports, even though the AAC has been emphasizing exposure over everything else? That makes absolutely no sense. They could have given those 12 games to ESPN instead, gotten more money too!

 

[jbdphi]

Interview with Aresco is on the front page of cbssports.com. The interview itself seems a bit old but the following Q&A is very relevant to this post:

CBSSports.com: Can you expound on the details of TV for college basketball and football? You've said 113 basketball games will be part of the ESPN package. Are some/a lot of those games cloaked in going to ESPN3, or will nearly all be on television?
MA: All 113 will be on TV, though some of them can be sublicensed to networks that have, for instance, over 74 million homes. They'll do a deal perhaps with other networks. In football, 58 out of 66 this year, and will be more in future years. Only a handful of football games will be on ESPN3 or regionals.

 

[upstater]

Interview with Aresco is on the front page of cbssports.com. The interview itself seems a bit old but the following Q&A is very relevant to this post:

CBSSports.com: Can you expound on the details of TV for college basketball and football? You've said 113 basketball games will be part of the ESPN package. Are some/a lot of those games cloaked in going to ESPN3, or will nearly all be on television?
MA: All 113 will be on TV, though some of them can be sublicensed to networks that have, for instance, over 74 million homes. They'll do a deal perhaps with other networks. In football, 58 out of 66 this year, and will be more in future years. Only a handful of football games will be on ESPN3 or regionals.

He may be lying.

 

[jbdphi]

He may be lying.

When you start referencing things like minimum homes passed penetration for sub-licensing of games, I think it's pretty fair to say that is coming from specific language in the contract. We'll see when it all actually comes to pass but lack of national TV exposure for football / basketball is probably the one thing you can't really try to say is a problem with this league going forward.

What I'm going to be really interested in is if we're still here in 2-3 years, what happens with respect to a renegotiation with ESPN? Aresco has said publicly that one of the primary reasons for keeping the tenor of the deal so short at six years was to allow for a renegotiation in only a few years once the league had "proven" itself. It obviously doesn't come close at the moment to what the Power 5 get but there is a lot of room between what the ACC has and what the MWC has which the American would fit into.

 

[whaler11]

I read half of this nonsense. Are you guy really debating about a CBS contact that pays like 50k per team a year?

 

[whaler11]

Upstater is completely out of his mind but the new deal has been positioned as television. ESPN3 isn't television. It might turn out Aresco is playing a semantics game, but if he is he'll lose his job over it.

 

[upstater]

I read half of this nonsense. Are you guy really debating about a CBS contact that pays like 50k per team a year?

Yeah, TV is nonsense.

 

[upstater]

Upstater is completely out of his mind but the new deal has been positioned as television. ESPN3 isn't television. It might turn out Aresco is playing a semantics game, but if he is he'll lose his job over it.

Way to be consistent. Either I'm out of my mind or I'm right. Pick. Because your post makes no sense.

 

[whaler11]

Yeah, TV is nonsense.

You are obsessed with a handful of basketball games on CBS. Go back to the thread where it was announced - people mistook the total contract for one year.

The AAC is almost literally worthless. For some reason you think a handful of basketball games on network TV changes that.

NBC offered nothing. ESPN matched
nothing. CBS is paying nothing. The networks think nobody wants to watch these games. They are right.

 

[whaler11]

Way to be consistent. Either I'm out of my mind or I'm right. Pick. Because your post makes no sense.

You are out of your mind generally. The games are going to be televised on ESPNU. Somehow you and the people you argue with are both wrong. It's hard to watch. They say ESPN3 and you say ESPN and ESPN2. It's painful.

 

[upstater]

You are obsessed with a handful of basketball games on CBS.

Pointing out that the games won't be on CBS Sports Network is a fact. I like UConn games oN CBS. It's a good thing. You think it counts for nothing. I'm obsessed, you're boring and blase.

Go back to the thread where it was announced - people mistook the total contract for one year.

Non sequitir.

The AAC is almost literally worthless. For some reason you think a handful of basketball games on network TV changes that.

UConn on national television is a great thing. You want to dismiss it. This whole thread was started because of the mistaken assumptions about ESPN3 last week.

NBC offered nothing. ESPN matched
nothing. CBS is paying nothing. The networks think nobody wants to watch these games. They are right.

Yeah, nobody will watch Uconn. Why do you even bother?

 

[upstater]

You are out of your mind generally. The games are going to be televised on ESPNU. Somehow you and the people you argue with are both wrong. It's hard to watch. They say ESPN3 and you say ESPN and ESPN2. It's painful.

Never said what you said I said. In fact, as is typical of you, you're making things up. What's painful is the constant making stuff up from you.

 

[whaler11]

Never said what you said I said. In fact, as is typical of you, you're making things up. What's painful is the constant making stuff up from you.

Guy two days ago you were challenging people to predict what network specific games would be on and saying 2/3rds of AAC games would be on at least ESPN2.

 

[upstater]

Guy two days ago you were challenging people to predict what network specific games would be on and saying 2/3rds of AAC games would be on at least ESPN2.

And that has absolutely nothing to do with this: "They say ESPN3 and you say ESPN and ESPN2."

Again you make stuff up.

 

[whaler11]

Yeah, nobody will watch Uconn. Why do you even bother?

Explain to me why the entire league gets a half million dollars a year combined for CBS basketball games.

Because people are dying to watch.

Jesus. No one wanted to see UConn play Cincinnati when both were in the Big East. Now it's the frigging second best matchup in the AAC.

 

[whaler11]

And that has absolutely nothing to do with this: "They say ESPN3 and you say ESPN and ESPN2."

Again you make stuff up.

What am I making up. You think the games will be on ESPN2. The idiots think ESPN3. People who can think realize the games will be on ESPNU.

 

[upstater]

Explain to me why the entire league gets a half million dollars a year combined for CBS basketball games.

Because people are dying to watch.

Jesus. No one wanted to see UConn play Cincinnati when both were in the Big East. Now it's the frigging second best matchup in the AAC.

A year ago UConn was in a league that got $3m and yet its ratings for bball were as high as anyone's for national games.

 

[upstater]

What am I making up. You think the games will be on ESPN2. The idiots think ESPN3. People who can think realize the games will be on ESPNU.

Nope, never said that. You're making stuff up. I included ESPNU every time I laid out the options.

 

[whaler11]

A year ago UConn was in a league that got $3m and yet its ratings for bball were as high as anyone's for national games.

So when are you going to explain why the whole league gets 500k a year for the best dozen basketball games they have? If the ratings are so high. Why no money?

 

[whaler11]

Nope, never said that. You're making stuff up. I included ESPNU every time I laid out the options.

You challenged people to pick a network for specific games and said two thirds would be on ESPN2. Do I really have to quote your post again? Do you not even remember what you say?

 

[upstater]

You challenged people to pick a network for specific games and said two thirds would be on ESPN2. Do I really have to quote your post again? Do you not even remember what you say?

And what does that have to do with this conversation about TV rights? Nothing. I never said games will only be on ESPN or ESPN2. You're making that up.

 

[upstater]

So when are you going to explain why the whole league gets 500k a year for the best dozen basketball games they have? If the ratings are so high. Why no money?

There was no money in the past and they still got as good ratings as anyone. Probably because the best national ratings for bball are about 2.5 average. That's why there's no money in it.

Football is where the money is at.

No one here is saying UConn football will get great ratings on national games.

 

[whaler11]

There was no money in the past and they still got as good ratings as anyone. Probably because the best national ratings for bball are about 2.5 average. That's why there's no money in it.

Football is where the money is at.

No one here is saying UConn football will get great ratings on national games.

So if you get ratings and no money. Who give a f*u*c*k?

If it doesn't translate to something tangible why would anyone give a damn?

 

[upstater]

So if you get ratings and no money. Who give a f*u*c*k?

If it doesn't translate to something tangible why would anyone give a damn?

What are you arguing now anyway? Who gives a damn?

Uh, most fans that like to watch games. The exposure in the past contributed to recruits for UConn. It contributed to 3 national championships.

UConn has been making no conference money for a couple decades now. And, for all the stuff about the BE payout, it's going to be less than $2 million more than the AAC payout, AND what UConn loses there will be made up by getting the exposure and interest that drive up UConn's licensing rights to be top 10-20 in the entire nation (after you back out conference TV money).

 

[CAHUSKY]

So if you get ratings and no money. Who give a f*u*c*k?

If it doesn't translate to something tangible why would anyone give a damn?

Me. Because if you get ratings you will get $$$ next time