Streaming College Sports

[nelsonmuntz]

You reacted to this post....I posted a fact as I saw it...not boastful...just based on my opinion.

Stream or linear....SEC folks will watch their teams...Ohio State.Michigan, FSU, etc will be watched...

That is what mainstream television thought before streaming. Then the entire market fragmented. The same thing is going to happen to sports.

Most people care about their team, not yours. If ESPN could have figured out a way for everyone to watch just 10 schools, they would have already done it.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

The TV and movie industry is a good roadmap to what will happen to sports broadcasting. Look at the ratings of the Top 30 shows 30 or even 10 years ago, and look at them today. When the filter of the network executives was removed by expanding the number of cable channels, and then streaming, the industry fragmented rapidly. There are probably 8 or 9 different networks that will have a show among the top 20 most popular shows this year. Programming went niche. What is the corollary with college sports? Everyone watching what they want to watch, not what they have to watch.

What did the new streaming world mean for the producers and the actors? There will never be another Friends, a show that generates so much money that it creates generational wealth for its stars. But there are a lot of good shows getting a lot of actors paid well.

Could the big program fanboys explain to me why college sports will be different than all other entertainment?

 

[billybud]

That is what mainstream television thought before streaming. Then the entire market fragmented. The same thing is going to happen to sports.

Most people care about their team, not yours. If ESPN could have figured out a way for everyone to watch just 10 schools, they would have already done it.

Oh but they have....of the top 25 most watched teams last year...24 of them will be viewed on ESPN (SEC..11) or (B1G... channels ...9)...or ESPN ACC....2.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Oh but they have....of the top 25 most watched teams last year...24 of them will be viewed on ESPN (SEC..11) or (B1G... channels ...9)...or ESPN ACC....2.

So you are telling me that when Fox and ESPN/ABC give all their best slots on the main linear channels to the same teams, a few more people will watch those games? Fascinating.

How is this relevant to streaming where there are no prime channels or really even prime time slots?

 

[billybud]

So you are telling me that when Fox and ESPN/ABC give all their best slots on the main linear channels to the same teams, a few more people will watch those games? Fascinating.

How is this relevant to streaming where there are no prime channels or really even prime time slots?

It is relevant in that folks will want to see marquee match ups....and not UMass, Northwestern, et al.

 

[billybud]

Just like the movies...people will vote with their money and eyeballs.

Of some 147 movies released in 2022...there will be winners and losers...

You can access some via Peacock, some by Netflix, Amazon, etc...

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Just like the movies...people will vote with their money and eyeballs.

Of some 147 movies released in 2022...there will be winners and losers...

You can access some via Peacock, some by Netflix, Amazon, etc...

Movies and television are a perfect model for what will happen. Fragmentation.

 

[WestCoastHusky]

I think Notre Dame's next media deal, if it will include some streaming component, will be very telling for the future of college football.

If ND can secure a big deal with one of the streaming companies in addition to NBC, it might start the process of big programs going indy for football in the future.

It would be really nice if conference realignment is limited to FB only while leaving other sports in a regional conference. UConn's and ND's situation right now is what I am envisioning for many programs in the future.

 

[JeepCSC]

Notre Dame has been independent and getting their own paychecks forever. I can’t imagine Ohio State or Alabama following them. If they breakaway from their traditional conferences, it would be for a new conference of the haves.

 

[UConnJim]

Heck no...FSU was the 15th most watched team last season...Florida was #11.

But FSU was playing ACC dreck on ACCN for many of their games...still more watched than Auburn, A&M, Michigan State.....

The viewership stats on FSU and many schools are skewed because of the teams they play. If FSU is playing an SEC team, Clemson, or Notre Dame, they get really good ratings. Generally, if they are playing an ACC school, not so much. ESPN put 6 FSU games last year on either the ACCN or regional sports network and they put only 2 Clemson games on the ACCN. I think that kind of shows ESPN's view of which team draws better ratings.

People have to remember with expansion, many of the best out of conference games that include an ACC team could go away if conferences go to a 10 or more conference schedule. Would Florida/FSU, Clemson/South Carolina, Georgia/GT be played every year? Now, if FSU was in the SEC, I think they would be a fine contributor to ratings, although large conferences could have, for example, a 4-4 FSU vs. 5-3 Tennessee. Would that be a ratings draw?

Here is how you can tell if a team is a real ratings draw: Rutgers/Ohio St. had 1.79 million viewers for a game broadcast on the Big Ten Network!

 

[WestCoastHusky]

Notre Dame has been independent and getting their own paychecks forever. I can’t imagine Ohio State or Alabama following them. If they breakaway from their traditional conferences, it would be for a new conference of the haves.

If Alabama can say get a $150M media deal on its own as an indy, I can see them leaving SEC. The other thing is big name schools like Bama, USC, Ohio State etc. can form their own national football-only conference and get similar media deals ($150M per year) while leaving Olympic sports in regional conferences, they might just do it. With how much media companies are paying for NFL, it is not hard to see someone forming a national conference like that.

Why would they want to get an equal share with schools like Rutgers who are basically just a body to take a loss when they play Ohio State?

 

[noeynox]

If Alabama can say get a $150M media deal on its own as an indy, I can see them leaving SEC. The other thing is big name schools like Bama, USC, Ohio State etc. can form their own national football-only conference and get similar media deals ($150M per year) while leaving Olympic sports in regional conferences, they might just do it. With how much media companies are paying for NFL, it is not hard to see someone forming a national conference like that.

Why would they want to get an equal share with schools like Rutgers who are basically just a body to take a loss when they play Ohio State?

The short answer is you need patsies. You gonna play Bama, Georgia, Ohio State, Michigan, type teams every week?

 

[JeepCSC]

The short answer is you need patsies. You gonna play Bama, Georgia, Ohio State, Michigan, type teams every week?

Yes, it’s one thing to get rid of Vanderbilt or Rutgers, it’s another to get rid of Tennessee or Wisconsin. For schools without national footprints (and there might be 5 total in the Notre Dame tier), independent contracts would not be sustainable long term.

 

[billybud]

I think regionalism and rivalries were at the heart of football for much of my lifetime....

As this board knows, I hated the ACC moving northeast. FSU with BC and Cuse as yearly opponents didn't seem to make sense.

I don't like the idea of a Big Ten that stretches from Maryland and New Jersey to the Pacific, a Big 12 that stretches from Orlando to wherever they end up.

It's a changing world and I must adapt, I guess...Get off my lawn !

 

[nelsonmuntz]

If Alabama can say get a $150M media deal on its own as an indy, I can see them leaving SEC. The other thing is big name schools like Bama, USC, Ohio State etc. can form their own national football-only conference and get similar media deals ($150M per year) while leaving Olympic sports in regional conferences, they might just do it. With how much media companies are paying for NFL, it is not hard to see someone forming a national conference like that.

Why would they want to get an equal share with schools like Rutgers who are basically just a body to take a loss when they play Ohio State?

I do not think that is how media deals will develop. More likely, there will be a reduction in the outliers. In a non-linear world, no program is worth what some of them make now. Alabama does not have that many more paying fans than every other program. Alabama has ridden ESPN's ceaseless promotion of the SEC, and the SEC's willingness to cheat, to the apex of its sport. ESPN's promotion does not matter that much, and paying players is no longer cheating. Talent will get dispersed and access to viewers will be a jump ball.

I am not bragging when I say that 11 months ago I said that NIL and the Transfer Portal were going to have a seismic impact on basketball and football, and that very season, TCU played for the National Championship and Florida Atlantic and SDSU made the Final Four. I am not bragging, because it was fairly obvious what was going to happen, and that is exactly what happened.

The talent gap between the haves and have nots is going to shrink, not grow, at least in the short term. Why would someone want to sit when they can play and get paid? And if you want to get paid, you need to get on the field.

 

[billybud]

UConnJim posted...

"The viewership stats on FSU and many schools are skewed because of the teams they play. If FSU is playing an SEC team, Clemson, or Notre Dame, they get really good ratings. Generally, if they are playing an ACC school, not so much. ESPN put 6 FSU games last year on either the ACCN or regional sports network and they put only 2 Clemson games on the ACCN. I think that kind of shows ESPN's view of which team draws better ratings."

Why sure...the opponent affects viewership as does the time slot and channel that you are assigned...you are selling one narrative and I may have a different view. By the by, FSU-Wake drew 2.48 million and that is not shabby.

Last year, following a 7-6 season...FSU was on five ABC prime time (3:30 and 7:30) slots and one prime 7:30 ESPN slot. That's showing a little respect in scheduling for a previously 7-6 team.

As an aside, defending and ultimate national champion Georgia had four of their games on SECN/RS1.

But I do agree that viewership is a function of your teams ability to get plugged into prime viewing slots and the attractiveness of the matchup.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

UConnJim posted...

"The viewership stats on FSU and many schools are skewed because of the teams they play. If FSU is playing an SEC team, Clemson, or Notre Dame, they get really good ratings. Generally, if they are playing an ACC school, not so much. ESPN put 6 FSU games last year on either the ACCN or regional sports network and they put only 2 Clemson games on the ACCN. I think that kind of shows ESPN's view of which team draws better ratings."

Why sure...the opponent affects viewership as does the time slot and channel that you are assigned...you are selling one narrative and I may have a different view. By the by, FSU-Wake drew 2.48 million and that is not shabby.

Last year, following a 7-6 season...FSU was on five ABC prime time (3:30 and 7:30) slots and one prime 7:30 ESPN slot. That's showing a little respect in scheduling for a previously 7-6 team.

As an aside, defending and ultimate national champion Georgia had four of their games on SECN/RS1.

But I do agree that viewership is a function of your teams ability to get plugged into prime viewing slots and the attractiveness of the matchup.

Are you still talking time slots on ABC?

 

[UConnJim]

UConnJim posted...

"The viewership stats on FSU and many schools are skewed because of the teams they play. If FSU is playing an SEC team, Clemson, or Notre Dame, they get really good ratings. Generally, if they are playing an ACC school, not so much. ESPN put 6 FSU games last year on either the ACCN or regional sports network and they put only 2 Clemson games on the ACCN. I think that kind of shows ESPN's view of which team draws better ratings."

Why sure...the opponent affects viewership as does the time slot and channel that you are assigned...you are selling one narrative and I may have a different view. By the by, FSU-Wake drew 2.48 million and that is not shabby.

Last year, following a 7-6 season...FSU was on five ABC prime time (3:30 and 7:30) slots and one prime 7:30 ESPN slot. That's showing a little respect in scheduling for a previously 7-6 team.

As an aside, defending and ultimate national champion Georgia had four of their games on SECN/RS1.

But I do agree that viewership is a function of your teams ability to get plugged into prime viewing slots and the attractiveness of the matchup.

You do realize that the 2.48 million WF/FSU viewers was the 4th lowest out of 13 games in the Saturday 3:30 PM time slot on ABC? But, it's not FSU's fault.

In my opinion, the ACC is killing FSU football due to the low interest opponents (lower ticket sales) and lower than SEC revenues.

Overall FSU would be more valuable in the SEC as the conference payout is higher and ticket sales would increase and they would be additive to the conference, but moving FSU to the SEC would severely damage the media value of the ACC conference.

One final point. There are 2 large states that really matter when it comes to football, Florida and Texas. The SEC has Texas locked up with Texas and Texas A&M as well as Oklahoma. The Big 12 has the 2nd tier Texas schools locked up. In Florida, there is no dominant conference. Grabbing Florida and FSU would make the SEC the clear leader in Florida. LT, the SEC will grab FSU.

 

[zls44]

In my opinion, the ACC is killing FSU football due to the low interest opponents (lower ticket sales) and lower than SEC revenues.

I bet SMU and Cal and Stanford help

 

[nelsonmuntz]

You do realize that the 2.48 million WF/FSU viewers was the 4th lowest out of 13 games in the Saturday 3:30 PM time slot on ABC? But, it's not FSU's fault.

In my opinion, the ACC is killing FSU football due to the low interest opponents (lower ticket sales) and lower than SEC revenues.

Overall FSU would be more valuable in the SEC as the conference payout is higher and ticket sales would increase and they would be additive to the conference, but moving FSU to the SEC would severely damage the media value of the ACC conference.

One final point. There are 2 large states that really matter when it comes to football, Florida and Texas. The SEC has Texas locked up with Texas and Texas A&M as well as Oklahoma. The Big 12 has the 2nd tier Texas schools locked up. In Florida, there is no dominant conference. Grabbing Florida and FSU would make the SEC the clear leader in Florida. LT, the SEC will grab FSU.

Ratings will be very different in a streaming environment. Think less CSI, and more Bridgerton. Niche and specialist appeal will win, general casual appeal will lose.

 

[huskymedic]

Assisted access:

CFB viewer's guide 2023: How to watch 900-plus games and what it'll cost

The nice thing about college football: Viewers can generally get as much or as little as they want. As long as they pay for it.

theathletic.com

 

[Kolumbo]

Saw this on the SU board

Spectrum.net

Sign in to your Spectrum account for the easiest way to view and pay your bill, watch TV, manage your account and more.

disneyespnfairdeal.com

 

[Kolumbo]

Spectrum cuts off ESPN at start of Utah vs. Florida: How to watch without cable

An ESPN outage on Spectrum cut cable subscribers across the country off from college football action between Utah and Florida. Here's how to tune in.

fansided.com

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Spectrum cuts off ESPN at start of Utah vs. Florida: How to watch without cable

An ESPN outage on Spectrum cut cable subscribers across the country off from college football action between Utah and Florida. Here's how to tune in.

fansided.com

Can you imagine a cable company doing that even 4 years ago?

 

[hoopsfan22]

Can you imagine a cable company doing that even 4 years ago?

Taking channels off the air because of a negotiation? Yes. They've done it for as long as I've been alive. Usually gets resolved fairly quickly, but it's not something new. For example 6 or 7 years ago people couldn't watch the Yankees in NYC because of a similar dispute.