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Background: Analysis: Plenty of questions, issues and options as Mountain West negotiates new TV deal
Mountain West future on line as TV talks take place
>>Sports media expert Joel Lulla, a lecturer at Texas, said he thinks a marriage between the Mountain West and the growing ESPN-Plus digital service makes sense.
The American Athletic Conference agreed to a 12-year, $1 billion deal with ESPN that includes a major portion of games being played on the digital format, setting the precedent of what’s expected to come. It’s about four times what the American made on its previous ESPN deal, but AAC fans who want to see their favorite team must pay $4.99 per month to watch.
“The number the American Athletic Conference got, it’s a little misleading because the AAC is going to have to produce a lot of events, and that’s going to cost millions of dollars,” said Lulla, the former head of ABC Sports’ legal and business department and a lead counsel at IMG. “But if ESPN-Plus and ESPN are not interested in the Mountain West, they’ve got a big problem because I don’t know who else is going to step up in any real way.
“They’re currently between the CBS deal and the ESPN deal somewhere in the $16, $17 million-a-year range. If ESPN-Plus is interested, they could double that easily. If ESPN is not interested, they could be looking at a 50 percent haircut.”<<
>>The Mountain West’s current deals with CBS Sports, ESPN and AT&T SportsNet expires in 2020, paying each school about $1.1 million each year. CBS Sports had the first negotiating window.<<
Mountain West future on line as TV talks take place
>>Sports media expert Joel Lulla, a lecturer at Texas, said he thinks a marriage between the Mountain West and the growing ESPN-Plus digital service makes sense.
The American Athletic Conference agreed to a 12-year, $1 billion deal with ESPN that includes a major portion of games being played on the digital format, setting the precedent of what’s expected to come. It’s about four times what the American made on its previous ESPN deal, but AAC fans who want to see their favorite team must pay $4.99 per month to watch.
“The number the American Athletic Conference got, it’s a little misleading because the AAC is going to have to produce a lot of events, and that’s going to cost millions of dollars,” said Lulla, the former head of ABC Sports’ legal and business department and a lead counsel at IMG. “But if ESPN-Plus and ESPN are not interested in the Mountain West, they’ve got a big problem because I don’t know who else is going to step up in any real way.
“They’re currently between the CBS deal and the ESPN deal somewhere in the $16, $17 million-a-year range. If ESPN-Plus is interested, they could double that easily. If ESPN is not interested, they could be looking at a 50 percent haircut.”<<
>>The Mountain West’s current deals with CBS Sports, ESPN and AT&T SportsNet expires in 2020, paying each school about $1.1 million each year. CBS Sports had the first negotiating window.<<