Streaming College Sports

[hoopsfan22]

Unfortunately, that is what they need to charge to try to remain close to revenue neutral due to cord cutting and I don't think it has been successful.. People are speculating that the Red Sox have been cutting payroll in front of the reality that revenues from NESN have peaked and will decline going forward. (Remember the Bally Sports RSNs going bankrupt?)

And, NESN does not carry all of the Red Sox games as some games are on FOX/TBS/ESPN/Apple TV+ so you would need access to those services to watch all of the games.

The Red Sox are cutting payroll because they want to reset the luxury tax penalty plus FSG (a.k.a. John Henry) is overextended and took his profits from the Red Sox to go buy other teams. What you say about NESN 360 is true that they don't carry all of the games, but this is par for the course in sports in general. For example, to watch last weekend's 3-game Red Sox-Yankees series you had to have Apple TV+, Prime Video, and NESN/YES/MLB on cable, and depending on how close you live to Yankee Stadium where the games were played determined which service was gonna work for which games. It's a mess - cable and streaming - and there's no end in sight to this ridiculous setup.

Spreading the content across multiple networks and platforms is how they are squeezing every last drop of blood from the stone. The B1G is taking a page out of MLB's playbook with its latest TV contract as it has also discovered that selling the parts is worth more than the whole. In the end if people don't want to pay for sports because they have better ways to spend their time, then they're not going to, and it will just die as a form of entertainment. Maybe then schools can get back to being just schools.

 

[noeynox]

Here is a good article.

TV giants clash over NBA, NHL, MLB games as local rights go up for grabs

Rights to local NBA, NHL and MLB games may be on the market as the Diamond Sports' bankruptcy progresses. Broadcast station groups want those rights.

www.cnbc.com

That dynamic has led distributors, which have also shown interest in short-term deals to carry games, to express concern to the leagues about more games going to local broadcast stations being provided free to viewers with a TV antenna and no paid package, the people said. They fear local sports moving to broadcasting could further accelerate cord-cutting.

 

[noeynox]

Makes me think, is UConn for once trying to get out in front of things with their recent deal with WFSB? Could they laying the groundwork for playing FB games on local TV while providing a pay option via UConn+ to out of market customers?

 

[metsfan2323]

Makes me think, is UConn for once trying to get out in front of things with their recent deal with WFSB? Could they laying the groundwork for playing FB games on local TV while providing a pay option via UConn+ to out of market customers?

How do our opponents televise the game to their fans?

 

[noeynox]

How do our opponents televise the game to their fans?

Pay a 1 day sub? I don't know.

 

[pepband99]

Makes me think, is UConn for once trying to get out in front of things with their recent deal with WFSB? Could they laying the groundwork for playing FB games on local TV while providing a pay option via UConn+ to out of market customers?

0% chance. WFSB can afford peanuts.

 

[noeynox]

0% chance. WFSB can afford peanuts.

If you read the article things are headed toward OTA options. The bundle is dying and fast.

 

[metsfan2323]

Pay a 1 day sub? I don't know.

That's the problem though. We already have a hard time scheduling; we won't get any good opponents without free national television. That's why CBS can get away with paying us almost nothing for these games. Even more important than the so-called exposure, is the ability to find willing opponents. As a desperate independent the ability to schedule supersedes everything, without it we die.

Being "independent" makes us a cheap whore.

 

[noeynox]

That's the problem though. We already have a hard time scheduling; we won't get any good opponents without free national television. That's why CBS can get away with paying us almost nothing for these games. Even more important than the so-called exposure, is the ability to find willing opponents. As a desperate independent the ability to schedule supersedes everything, without it we die.

Being "independent" makes us a cheap whore.

Definitely hear you, but things are definitely changing. We will see how it shakes out.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Makes me think, is UConn for once trying to get out in front of things with their recent deal with WFSB? Could they laying the groundwork for playing FB games on local TV while providing a pay option via UConn+ to out of market customers?

Doesn't CBS Sports hold the rights to televise our football games?

 

[noeynox]

Doesn't CBS Sports hold the rights to televise our football games?

Yeah i was thinking they may transition to something that they can generate more revenue from if CBSSN wants to continue paying them pittance for games.

One thing i have thought about if whether CBSSN or someone else, UConn goes to them and says currently B1G Teams or SEC teams get X dollars per game. Be our partner in giving us X per game and we will schedule and pay them for a trip E Hartford. So schedule a home and home with Tennessee and pay them for the return trip here.

Dont know if it will work but UConn has to think of different ways to generate interesting schedules and revenue because its clear they are frozen out of the Power Structure and they're going to have do things outside the box and soon.

 

[huskymedic]

Shortcut <<

 

[pepband99]

If you read the article things are headed toward OTA options. The bundle is dying and fast.

Yes, and OTA are just as coupled to bundling. Cable subs dropping drops their retransmission fees, which drops their revenue.

Yes, they can go back to ad revenue only, but that's the equivalent to ESPN going streaming. It's a big leap.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Yeah i was thinking they may transition to something that they can generate more revenue from if CBSSN wants to continue paying them pittance for games.

One thing i have thought about if whether CBSSN or someone else, UConn goes to them and says currently B1G Teams or SEC teams get X dollars per game. Be our partner in giving us X per game and we will schedule and pay them for a trip E Hartford. So schedule a home and home with Tennessee and pay them for the return trip here.

Dont know if it will work but UConn has to think of different ways to generate interesting schedules and revenue because its clear they are frozen out of the Power Structure and they're going to have do things outside the box and soon.

Everyone is going to be in the same boat. A “P4” schedule of games people don’t care about is not going to drive subscribers.

Whittingham knows the Big 12 is a cash grab placeholder. Every conference will need to reassess scheduling. The games are the product, not the teams.

 

[noeynox]

Everyone is going to be in the same boat. A “P4” schedule of games people don’t care about is not going to drive subscribers.

Whittingham knows the Big 12 is a cash grab placeholder. Every conference will need to reassess scheduling. The games are the product, not the teams.

Not sure i follow. More people will tune in to watch Oklahoma than Tulsa. More will watch Florida than Florida Atlantic.

 

[billybud]

The national public has shown they have interest in watching marquee match ups, big football brands, and games between ranked teams.

There will be boutique offerings available to stream like Appalachian State versus ECU...but the big numbers will be in the marquee matches.

That could be why there seems to be a trend of concentrating "brands" in fewer conferences....ultimately, it will be a P2 that becomes the heavyweight division.

 

[JeepCSC]

I think the point is Oklahoma-Texas is a draw in a way Oklahoma-Tulsa is not. Casual flipping to random games is a luxury of the cable past. The key would be for the top conferences to root out the Tulsa’s amongst them.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Not sure i follow. More people will tune in to watch Oklahoma than Tulsa. More will watch Florida than Florida Atlantic.

Iowa fans will want to see Iowa play Minnesota and Wisconsin and Illinois, not half a schedule of Rutgers, Maryland, UCLA and Oregon. Throwing a bunch of random games on streaming and hoping people watch is a bad strategy.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

The national public has shown they have interest in watching marquee match ups, big football brands, and games between ranked teams.

There will be boutique offerings available to stream like Appalachian State versus ECU...but the big numbers will be in the marquee matches.

That could be why there seems to be a trend of concentrating "brands" in fewer conferences....ultimately, it will be a P2 that becomes the heavyweight division.

That is the linear argument. Try that in a streaming world, let me know how it goes.

 

[noeynox]

Iowa fans will want to see Iowa play Minnesota and Wisconsin and Illinois, not half a schedule of Rutgers, Maryland, UCLA and Oregon. Throwing a bunch of random games on streaming and hoping people watch is a bad strategy.

Iowa fans are going to tune in to see Iowa no matter who they play. I'd be shocked if there was any difference in the #of Iowa fans that tune in to watch Iowa/Oregon vs Iowa/Minnesota.

 

[billybud]

That is the linear argument. Try that in a streaming world, let me know how it goes.

LOL...we'll all see how it goes....the crowds will line up to stream UMass vs RI.

 

[billybud]

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

Indiana, Northwestern, Appy State, not so much.

 

[billybud]

My guess is that those schools in the bottom 50 of merchandising sales...BC, USF, Colorado State, Northwestern, JMU, Temple, etc...may correlate to fewer die hard streamers....while the top 25 in merchandise sales will see more streamers...

 

[nelsonmuntz]

LOL...we'll all see how it goes....the crowds will line up to stream UMass vs RI.

This is the high water mark for FSU. ESPN and the ACC have set the entire ACC TV contract and broadcast structure to maximize viewers for FSU. Anyone that was ever going to be a FSU fan is already an FSU fan. It is all downhill from here.

In streaming, ESPN can’t tell us who to watch. People will watch their team, and maybe a few other games. There won’t be a linear broadcaster to shove FSU down all of our throats.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Iowa fans are going to tune in to see Iowa no matter who they play. I'd be shocked if there was any difference in the #of Iowa fans that tune in to watch Iowa/Oregon vs Iowa/Minnesota.

I agree that Iowa fans will always watch their own team over some random borderline top 25 like FSU, but within Iowa’s schedule, all games won’t be the same. Rivalries matter.

 

[noeynox]

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

Indiana, Northwestern, Appy State, not so much.

Lets not act like FSU is Florida now.

 

[billybud]

Lets not act like FSU is Florida now.

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.....

 

[billybud]

“We must hang together or surely we shall hang separately.”

ESPN, and thus sports at large, benefitted from the cable subscriber who did not watch sports. When you bundle products together, maybe everyone benefits.

If we’re living in a world where every interest is going to be a niche moving forward, that means that there’s less and less money available for any one thing. And the dictates of capitalism are grow or die.

All of us pay for TV that we do not watch....those niches are available (cooking shows, religious channels, travel channels, home building channels, etc) because they are bundled. How many wiould exist as an expensive stand alone niche show ?

I know that I am a Boomer (and a first Boomer born in "46)...and my view reflects my experiences and may be different than a Millenial....but as a Florida guy for 66 years, I view what is happening in college football as similar to what happens when the mangroves were cut and marshes begin to wash away. Taking the PAC away weakens the whole system. Leaving college football vulnerable to the next storm.

The loss of regionalism in conferences has been an erosion and we are now beginning to see collapses of that ecosytem.

The strength of the SEC has been their regional culture, the strength of the regional fans. Fans that watch as many games of other SEC teams as they do. Fans that chant SEC, SEC even while their team is a bottom dweller in conference....kids in the south want to play in that league.

The PAC going through a diaspora may not see weakened football interest in the west, but it could be chipped away...erosion.

 

[noeynox]

I agree that Iowa fans will always watch their own team over some random borderline top 25 like FSU, but within Iowa’s schedule, all games won’t be the same. Rivalries matter.

I think you are right in that sense, but it matters more to the schools left behind. I think Oregon State and Washington State are gonna learn the lesson we learned in the AAC. Their state legislatures should DEMAND that OU and UW play their sister schools yearly. They will slowly see their fan interest dissipate if forced to play schools they view as being a lower level. No different than how slowly our fan interest waned when we had to play ECU and Tulsa in basketball.

 

[noeynox]

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.....

Florida is like #3 in Merch sales. FSU barely in the top 25. FSU had a bounce back season last year winning 10 games while UF was had the same record as UConn. At least compare Apples to apples. FSU is the little sister UF football. Be real.