NBC / ESPN Hybrid TV Contract?

[UConnDan97]

I just read this article, and I thought that it was an interesting idea. Marrying the ability for NBC to give us double and tripleheaders on their main channel on a Saturday, while trying to get a Thursday night game on ESPN has a lot of promise for exposure and name-recognition. Also, it would insure that our hoops stays in the limelight.

http://ucf.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1370666

I'm sure people are going to focus right in on the parts where it is mentioned that we will likely fall short of the ACC contract. But I'm much more interested in this hybrid tv station idea, and I wanted to get some Boneyarder opinions as to whether or not you all thought it was a good idea. I think it could be very good for UConn. Thoughts?

 

[SubbaBub]

If NBC wants a second or third Saturday FB game to bracket ND and ESPN wants weekday games and all hoops, then if the price is right it's fine with me.

In the dog eat dog world of broadcast rights, I doubt it would be than clean.

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk 2

 

[PRHusky]

I think a hybrid between ESPN and NBC or Fox is the best way to go for the BE. No way one single network will pay (or showcase) the BE what it wants. That said, it is a little concerning that the Memphis AD seemed to be content with the possibility of a $10million a year payout; that would be a disaster.

 

[CL82]

I think a hybrid between ESPN and NBC or Fox is the best way to go for the BE. No way one single network will pay (or showcase) the BE what it wants. That said, it is a little concerning that the Memphis AD seemed to be content with the possibility of a $10million a year payout; that would be a disaster.

Not for them. It's not one world in the BE that's one of our biggest problems.

 

[WestCoastHusky]

The hybrid media deal is the only way BE can maximize its media deal ala PAC-12. ESPN has not been kind to BE FB but they have been ok with BE basketball. We can sell our tier-1 basketball games to ESPN and tier-2 games to NBC. We can keep all of our FB games on NBC. Hopefully, UCONN will keep its own tier-3 rights so we can start our own Husky Network or put more stuff on the SNY channel.

 

[UConnDan97]

To be quite honest, I don't think it would be disastrous if we got 10 million / year from the new contract. I think it would be disastrous if we got 10 million / year and were locked in for 15-20 years at that price. I also think it would be disastrous if we got 13 million but didn't get a lot of "prime-time" exposure.

I really like the hybrid model, if it is possible, so that we get the most exposure we possibly can. It would be nice if it is a shorter length contract also, in my opinion.

 

[WestCoastHusky]

To be quite honest, I don't think it would be disastrous if we got 10 million / year from the new contract. I think it would be disastrous if we got 10 million / year and were locked in for 15-20 years at that price. I also think it would be disastrous if we got 13 million but didn't get a lot of "prime-time" exposure.

I really like the hybrid model, if it is possible, so that we get the most exposure we possibly can. It would be nice if it is a shorter length contract also, in my opinion.

Here is an article with projections from an actual media consulting company stating that BE FB only should get at least $7.8M per year. All sports should get over $10M easily.

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/may/31/big-east-will-pay-sdsu-firm-says/

The best thing is all the deals signed by conferences have blew away all the projections. I am hoping UCONN can get $15M per year while keeping our tier-3 rights.

If BE can get close to ACC deal money, it would be great. With our tier-3 rights and IMG deal, we should earn quite a bit from our deals. It will give us the financial resources to be in the game.

 

[UConnDan97]

Here is an article with projections from an actual media consulting company stating that BE FB only should get at least $7.8M per year. All sports should get over $10M easily.

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/may/31/big-east-will-pay-sdsu-firm-says/

The best thing is all the deals signed by conferences have blew away all the projections. I am hoping UCONN can get $15M per year while keeping our tier-3 rights.

If BE can get close to ACC deal money, it would be great. With our tier-3 rights and IMG deal, we should earn quite a bit from our deals. It will give us the financial resources to be in the game.

I hope your right, but keep this in mind; for every article that states we are going to get > 13 million, there are at least two articles that state we are going to get < 10 million.

I think a real area of concern for me is that the NBC sports website (the station that we are hoping will be our savior) is already starting "price-posturing reporting", a little term that I made up that describes a pre-negotiation tactic that tries to undermine any market value of something you want by saying it's not worth that much (ESPN has already done this to us plenty in the past):

http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsport...s-could-fall-well-short-of-other-conferences/

I hope you're right and that once the bidding starts, we can drive it up past 13 mil. Let's hope.

 

[Dann]

I have a hard time seeing NBC and Espn on a deal together. NBC moved into espns backyard looking for northeast blood(big east). I think that Espn might surprise ppl and offer a # the nbe can't refuse in order to screw NBC

 

[WestCoastHusky]

I hope your right, but keep this in mind; for every article that states we are going to get > 13 million, there are at least two articles that state we are going to get < 10 million.

I think a real area of concern for me is that the NBC sports website (the station that we are hoping will be our savior) is already starting "price-posturing reporting", a little term that I made up that describes a pre-negotiation tactic that tries to undermine any market value of something you want by saying it's not worth that much (ESPN has already done this to us plenty in the past):

http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsport...s-could-fall-well-short-of-other-conferences/

I hope you're right and that once the bidding starts, we can drive it up past 13 mil. Let's hope.

It is natural for companies that want to bid on a product to drive the price as low as possible. ACC was low balled by ESPN initially as well before FOX stepped in. I hope FOX and NBC will both bid in addition to ESPN. Hopefully, there will be enough interest to drive the media value up to a nice number.

 

[WestCoastHusky]

I have a hard time seeing NBC and Espn on a deal together. NBC moved into espns backyard looking for northeast blood(big east). I think that Espn might surprise ppl and offer a # the nbe can't refuse in order to screw NBC

BE has to balance exposure and money. ESPN will not be able to offer BE good exposure with all the conferences they already signed. NBC is where BE can get the best exposure going forward. Hopefully, it will be a combination of good exposure plus money vs. one or the other.

 

[Carl Spackler]

BE has to balance exposure and money. ESPN will not be able to offer BE good exposure with all the conferences they already signed. NBC is where BE can get the best exposure going forward. Hopefully, it will be a combination of good exposure plus money vs. one or the other.

That's hitting the nail on the head. My personal opinion, is that one of the factors, among the many...many....factors that led division 1-A football playing members of the big east to be unhappy, at least in the past decade, was scheduling. The big east leadership in the past, willingly allowed for our marquee matchups to be farmed out to espn on thursday and friday nights.

Friday's are simply not college football primetime. and thursdays? Especially not now with thursday night NFL. Wednesday's?

I personally don't ever want to see UConn play football on a wednesday night ever again.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Be prepared folks, for a media windstorm around the big east broadcasting contracts in the fall. Don't trust anythign you're reading about the big east unless it's coming internally directly from the commish, or the presidents.

Here's what I predict is going to happen. ESPN is going to end up offering a very, nice shiny coin to the Big East in september. THe problem with that coin, is that the value that we have going forward, the ability to schedule live sports coast to coast in primetimes.....for basketball and football......is something that ESPN is going to have serious problems delivering. In that case, the big east walks away from what very well might be - a BIGGER offer than what they got last year from ESPN.

Then all hell breaks loose in the media world, and the football programs in the ACC establish a whole new meaning and level to the #begharder concept......

and the big east goes to open market - to see who can deliver the best exposure to revenue ratio.

Exposure balanced with money. Bingo - west coast husky. I hope you get to see UConn play locally out there on Saturday afternoons/evenings in the near future. out there on the west coast.

To me - the exposure, is more important than the money right now, becuase the exposure is how you grow.

Getting relegated to weeknight football on ESPN? Nope. Not this time.

 

[Carl Spackler]

It is natural for companies that want to bid on a product to drive the price as low as possible. ACC was low balled by ESPN initially as well before FOX stepped in. I hope FOX and NBC will both bid in addition to ESPN. Hopefully, there will be enough interest to drive the media value up to a nice number.

THe only way I can see both Fox and NBC....NOT bidding on this, is if the Big East never makes it to open market. You nailed it man. I"m glad somebody else gets it......it's about scheduling.

THe big east is far ahead of the curve, thanks to basketball right now, when it comes to the ability to schedule. The ohter conferences tha thave had so much movement in the past 2 years, are struggling right now with scheduling, and I guarantee you, that whatever model the big east comes up with for football with so many members now, is what the other conferences will follow.

Except the other conferences don't have 4 time zones.

I've said it so many times, lost in all of this conference shuffling - is the basics of operating an athletic department......scheduling.

The expansion that the Big EAst has done, as far as I can tell, has been entirely about the ability to schedule well for athletic departments such that both their teams and fans aren't screwed over.

The television contract is going to have to match that.

ANd the big east has direct reach right now to 32 million television households. That's more than double the number of tv sets that any other athletic conference can reach.

You have to balance interest with reach..........but then on the other end of that scale is the growth potential.

I'll take a tiny share of the Houston and San Diego markets right now with the ability to grow, rather than the entire state of Nebraska, with no room to grow.


As for the post......absolutely....the media companies are all going to be using every bit of media effort they've got to devalue the big east in the speculative market right now, because it's all speculation right now....and speculation is big part of what's used to set a starting point for negotiations.

Warned y'all about this didn't I?




Have a nice day.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

To me - the exposure, is more important than the money right now, becuase the exposure is how you grow.

You could not be more wrong. Exposure is nice, though you still haven't come to understand that no network is going to pay for, nor is anyone going to watch Temple-SDSU football games. In this day and age, it's strictly about the money brought in from TV contracts, that's what shapes who is in what conference. It's the reason why the ACC is looking so bad right now. They get PLENTY of exposure from ESPN, but they've still got numerous members who want out because of a bad TV deal.

 

[whaler11]

Nebraska isn't valuable because of the people of Nebraska. It's valuable because when they play Wisconsin or Michigan or Iowa or Ohio State I want to watch.

I'll watch San Diego State under two conditions. I have wagered on the game or nothing else is on.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I just read this article, and I thought that it was an interesting idea. Marrying the ability for NBC to give us double and tripleheaders on their main channel on a Saturday, while trying to get a Thursday night game on ESPN has a lot of promise for exposure and name-recognition. Also, it would insure that our hoops stays in the limelight.

http://ucf.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1370666

I'm sure people are going to focus right in on the parts where it is mentioned that we will likely fall short of the ACC contract. But I'm much more interested in this hybrid tv station idea, and I wanted to get some Boneyarder opinions as to whether or not you all thought it was a good idea. I think it could be very good for UConn. Thoughts?

This has been my position for months. I think ESPN deperately wants Big East Basketball and will pay for it. I don't think they really want the additional football inventory. NBC could really use the football.

 

[junglehusky]

According to Wikipedia, the CAA signed a deal with NBCSN that put 5 FB games a year on the network and some of the regional Comcast sports networks are involved. If exposure is what we're going for, I'd hope that some local markets might show games on the local NBC affiliate... my understanding is ESPN (and probably ESPN2) gets in a lot more households than NBCSN. You have to weigh the "ESPN disses the BE" argument versus the "wait, do I get NBCSN, I don't know what channel it is" argument.

 

[UConnDan97]

This has been my position for months. I think ESPN deperately wants Big East Basketball and will pay for it. I don't think they really want the additional football inventory. NBC could really use the football.

So the real question is: can a joint acquisition of the Big East tv rights be made (I don't know what the precedent is), and if so, is it better for our league. My gut tells me that it is indeed better for the league, especially with the ability to have our Saturday football games on national tv, bracketing the ND football games. It would be an interesting venture.

 

[UConnDan97]

To add a little more to the random speculation of what the tv contract is worth, I just read this on the Big East Bias website (the name may have affected the outcome!):

http://www.bigeastcoastbias.com/201...boise-state-byu-television-contract#storyjump

It shows research done by a "third-party" that puts our new tv contract value > 10 million and > 7 million for the football-onlies. It also says that we could get somewhere around a 1/2 million bump per team if we could get BYU to join. The question for that, of course, is whether or not 1/2 million would cover all the headaches of trying to work out the deal with BYUtv.

 

[whaler11]

So the real question is: can a joint acquisition of the Big East tv rights be made (I don't know what the precedent is), and if so, is it better for our league. My gut tells me that it is indeed better for the league, especially with the ability to have our Saturday football games on national tv, bracketing the ND football games. It would be an interesting venture.

If they are willing to buy it that way of course it can be sold that way.

I still can't see NBC putting it on the broadcast network but that would be great.

 

[UConnDan97]

If they are willing to buy it that way of course it can be sold that way.

I still can't see NBC putting it on the broadcast network but that would be great.

I agree about it being great to see UConn on the broadcast network. As far as "buying it that way," is there really a way that they can hash out 6 to 8 years in advance (without complete schedules for most teams) who is going to get a certain Thursday night matchup on ESPN or a Friday night matchup on NBCSports? Doesn't that sound like a clusterf$%k to you?

You may be right about the fact that there is always a way if you are willing to pay, but if I'm a network, I'm not sure I want to walk into a multi-year contract where I don't know how much of the "good" content I will be getting. But maybe ESPN would look at this from a standpoint of "give me their basketball, and I won't be so mad if NBC takes UConn / Rutgers football game while I get Memphis / SMU..."

 

[whaler11]

I agree about it being great to see UConn on the broadcast network. As far as "buying it that way," is there really a way that they can hash out 6 to 8 years in advance (without complete schedules for most teams) who is going to get a certain Thursday night matchup on ESPN or a Friday night matchup on NBCSports? Doesn't that sound like a clusterf$%k to you?

You may be right about the fact that there is always a way if you are willing to pay, but if I'm a network, I'm not sure I want to walk into a multi-year contract where I don't know how much of the "good" content I will be getting. But maybe ESPN would look at this from a standpoint of "give me their basketball, and I won't be so mad if NBC takes UConn / Rutgers football game while I get Memphis / SMU..."

The NFL works out the Sunday night package, it's just a matter of how many games they get and what order they pick them in.

ESPN could get 10 games to put on whichever network they want and maybe they get the second choice in ten different weeks to use as they see fit.

It won't happen but it could be done.

 

[CL82]

Well, let me be the contrarian here. The notion of an NBC/ESPN combined deal scares the crap out of me. One of the biggest potential drivers in the potential value of our TV rights was NBC and ESPN bidding against each other. If they make nice, they are making nice with each other not with us. That means the deal is worth whatever they collectively decide it's worth. If you go to sell your shore house and you have two people actively bidding on it, you are likely going to do pretty well on the sale. If they instead decide that they'll buy it together and share it, you will do less well, you will get asking and no more. I don't view this as good news.

On the other hand the notion that we'll get two games a week (with ND taking the third) on broadcast tv is great news.

 

[whaler11]

Well, let me be the contrarian here. The notion of an NBC/ESPN combined deal scares the crap out of me. One of the biggest potential drivers in the potential value of our TV rights was NBC and ESPN bidding against each other. If they make nice, they are making nice with each other not with us. That means the deal is worth whatever they collectively decide it's worth. If you go to sell your shore house and you have two people actively bidding on it, you are likely going to do pretty well on the sale. If they instead decide that they'll buy it together and share it, you will do less well, you will get asking and no more. I don't view this as good news.

On the other hand the notion that we'll get two games a week (with ND taking the third) on broadcast tv is great news.

Its never going to happen.