Projecting how Big Ten rights race will play out

[jostar1]

The Big Ten Conference is expected to start negotiating its new media rights deal in the spring. The last big sports rights deal of the decade, common wisdom has long been that the conference will command huge increases over the 10-year, $1 billion deal it has with ESPN and the six-year, $72 million deal it has with CBS for basketball. Both deals run through the 2016-17 seasons.

Common wisdom, however, could run into market realities, where a smaller cable TV universe will put pressure on how much networks can afford to pay out.

My bet is that the conference will see a huge rights fee increase and that ESPN and Fox Sports will come up with money to split the rights. Two significant factors, though, bear watching — either of which could throw a wrench into the Big Ten’s aspirations for a big payday.

I expect ESPN and Fox Sports to at least double the conference’s annual average payout and share the rights.


http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2015/11/23/Media/Sports-Media.aspx

 

[Seaa Blue]

I think Fox will come to the table ready to spend some of News Corp's cash. That will force ESPN to also be willing to spend.

Probably not as much as everyone was thinking a couple months ago, but still a lot of cash. I don't think either side can afford to not have a presence in the North, and Disney will understand that.

I would guess, as many people are, that a "split" is likely.

Question: How is UConn basketball (men's and women's) currently broadcast (OTA and cable) in New England?

 

[businesslawyer]

I think Fox will come to the table ready to spend some of News Corp's cash. That will force ESPN to also be willing to spend.

Probably not as much as everyone was thinking a couple months ago, but still a lot of cash. I don't think either side can afford to not have a presence in the North, and Disney will understand that.

I would guess, as many people are, that a "split" is likely.

Question: How is UConn basketball (men's and women's) currently broadcast (OTA and cable) in New England?

GAmes that are not on the ESPN family of networks, or subcontracted out by ESPN to CBS Sports, are taken by SNY -- the New York based cable sports network whose principal products is the Mets. They use it for out of season content in the NY Metropolitan area and, probably more importantly, to be able to penetrate Connecticut with the Mets.

 

[SubbaBub]

I saw everything I needed to see in Vegas this weekend. At 9am there was a line outside the sports bar waiting to get in to watch Saturdays games. Every single person in that except for handful or Europeans waiting to watch El Classico, was in Big Ten garb. No SEC, no ACC, no B12. Michigan, Michigan St, Penn St, Iowa, Purdue, Indiana, they were all there, except for Rutgers and Maryland.

UCONN was there though.

 

[SubbaBub]

I think Fox will come to the table ready to spend some of News Corp's cash. That will force ESPN to also be willing to spend.

Probably not as much as everyone was thinking a couple months ago, but still a lot of cash. I don't think either side can afford to not have a presence in the North, and Disney will understand that.

I would guess, as many people are, that a "split" is likely.

Question: How is UConn basketball (men's and women's) currently broadcast (OTA and cable) in New England?

Until the BE imploded, Women's BB had a long term contract with the local PBS station to broadcast games and the Men's BB and FB had a contract with SNY (NY Mets channel). The last year all contracts were folded into the league deal with ESPN. A few games not broadcast by ESPN are farmed out to SNY or CBSsports. Occasionally, it doesn't get picked up at all, but that is rare.

It should be noted that all these individual contracts were worth more than our current AAC share collectively. Though I think WBB was about $1M/yr.

I'm sure someone will correct me but that's what I remember.

 

[CL82]

WBB left CTTV (PBS) and went to SNY. The SNY paid @$1M for out Tier 3 woman's basketball. It allowed them to get onto CT cable company's basic cable based upon demand from our WBB fans. That is a pretty impressive fact that often goes overlooked when casual fans talk about UConn's value.

 

[Tenspro2002]

WBB left CTTV (PBS) and went to SNY. The SNY paid @$1M for out Tier 3 woman's basketball. It allowed them to get onto CT cable company's basic cable based upon demand from our WBB fans. That is a pretty impressive fact that often goes overlooked when casual fans talk about UConn's value.

Yeah, that's one aspect I really don't understand.

Women's basketball doesn't move the needle nationally, sure. But it draws immense viewership in the state of Connecticut. Shouldn't that be part of the consideration when the B1G assesses how much cable revenue the BTN can extract in new markets (e.g. CT)?

 

[Nostical]

Here's what's critical to those B1G TV rights discussions. Urban Meyer and Jim Harbaugh. Imagine if they had the PP/GDL syndrome going on--What if there were still Brady Hoke at boring UM and Luke Fickle at OSU, having been given the reigns after Tressel. Nebraska is morose, Wisconsin plodding, Penn State sputtering, Illinois a joke, Indiana a non-factor, Purdue a punching bag, Northwestern a preppy diversion, Maryland a swamp, Minnesota forlorn, Iowa shocking even themselves, Rutgers-- say no more, and East Lansing the freaking epicenter.

 

[SubbaBub]

Yeah, that's one aspect I really don't understand.

Women's basketball doesn't move the needle nationally, sure. But it draws immense viewership in the state of Connecticut. Shouldn't that be part of the consideration when the B1G assesses how much cable revenue the BTN can extract in new markets (e.g. CT)?

WBB and Hockey are the running boards and sport package on the BTN pickup. Nice, but neither essential nor a large factor in the buying process. Tie breakers at best.

BTN, academic compatibility, FB, MBB are the big four and the last two are really just a subset of the first one.

 

[CL82]

Yeah, that's one aspect I really don't understand.

Women's basketball doesn't move the needle nationally, sure. But it draws immense viewership in the state of Connecticut. Shouldn't that be part of the consideration when the B1G assesses how much cable revenue the BTN can extract in new markets (e.g. CT)?

WBB and Hockey are the running boards and sport package on the BTN pickup. Nice, but neither essential nor a large factor in the buying process. Tie breakers at best.

BTN, academic compatibility, FB, MBB are the big four and the last two are really just a subset of the first one.

I like the analogy. I'd say hockey and WBB are also a subset of BTN value as well. They both bring content, which is necessary and valuable for an in house network. The fact that UConn WBB will actually move the needle for viewers is net plus.

For what it is worth, though playing FBS football drives the bus, I suspect that quality is not a critical factor. It needs to be good enough not to dilute the conference power ranking excessively and that's about it, unless you are Nebraska or Oklahoma, etc.

Likewise, while playing MBB typically isn't going to be a huge factor, I suspect that it weighted is more heavily for us given our status as an elite program. If we are being evaluated against Kansas, this may well be a push, notwithstanding our success being more current.

Athletic Department overall quality is another factor. Those soccer and field hockey national championships are a plus but only in that they are and indicator of the overall health of our athletic department, and to a lesser extent that they provide content for the BTN.

In the end though, I agree with your core premise that value to the BTN is the going to be the biggest factor in determining the next B1G invite.

 

[SubbaBub]

If a smart Confernce TV exec wanted to make BTN Wednesday and BTN Sunday nights about WBB, you could build a following around that. Same for Friday night hockey. The CT PBS station practically funded itself solely on the pledge drives during WBB games. Those old geezers sure do love tote bags.

 

[NickyNewark]

I saw everything I needed to see in Vegas this weekend. At 9am there was a line outside the sports bar waiting to get in to watch Saturdays games. Every single person in that except for handful or Europeans waiting to watch El Classico, was in Big Ten garb. No SEC, no ACC, no B12. Michigan, Michigan St, Penn St, Iowa, Purdue, Indiana, they were all there, except for Rutgers and Maryland.

UCONN was there though.

RU and MD/DC are huge gains....the rest are stagnant....Delany knew it...your next most valuable though you won't see much UConn gear.

 

[NickyNewark]

If a smart Confernce TV exec wanted to make BTN Wednesday and BTN Sunday nights about WBB, you could build a following around that. Same for Friday night hockey. The CT PBS station practically funded itself solely on the pledge drives during WBB games. Those old geezers sure do love tote bags.

Wrestling is B1g in the B1g too...

 

[NickyNewark]

Here's what's critical to those B1G TV rights discussions. Urban Meyer and Jim Harbaugh. Imagine if they had the PP/GDL syndrome going on--What if there were still Brady Hoke at boring UM and Luke Fickle at OSU, having been given the reigns after Tressel. Nebraska is morose, Wisconsin plodding, Penn State sputtering, Illinois a joke, Indiana a non-factor, Purdue a punching bag, Northwestern a preppy diversion, Maryland a swamp, Minnesota forlorn, Iowa shocking even themselves, Rutgers-- say no more, and East Lansing the freaking epicenter.

lol..

 

[NickyNewark]

Yeah, that's one aspect I really don't understand.

Women's basketball doesn't move the needle nationally, sure. But it draws immense viewership in the state of Connecticut. Shouldn't that be part of the consideration when the B1G assesses how much cable revenue the BTN can extract in new markets (e.g. CT)?

Sorta like wrestling.......its big in the B1G but not sure how much it moves the needle....its a hard sport to gain a foothold in though. They take pride in it there though and it would give you a bigger edge.

 

[Dooley]

Sorry to say, but WBB does not matter outside of Connecticut and, maybe, Tennessee. Any TV ratings bump would be minimal, at best. Where WBB could be marketed as an asset in UConn's corner is ticket sales. Whatever B1G schools get in WBB attendance, you can double that figure for when UConn comes to town. Is it enough to move the needle for some of the mega-athletic departments like Michigan and Ohio St? Probably not. But for Purdue, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Rutgers, Maryland, etc, that could help them out somewhat. But like others have said, WBB should be viewed as a nice little extra benefit of adding UConn, definitely not as a primary asset. Our primary assets remain: good academics with AAU comps, good markets, elite men's basketball and, once again, competitive football.

 

[J187Money]

I was at a sports bar in Milford last night to watch our game. They had Penn State / Nebraska W Volleyball on BTN Saturday night.

The odd thing is the stands were full. At Nebraska.

 

[Seaa Blue]

Volleyball is huge at both Penn State and Nebraska. Put the two together in any given year and you're potentially looking at an NCAA championship match.

 

[J187Money]

Volleyball is huge at both Penn State and Nebraska. Put the two together in any given year and you're potentially looking at an NCAA championship match.

I know. It was like a UCONN WBB game.

 

[IMind]

Volleyball is huge at both Penn State and Nebraska. Put the two together in any given year and you're potentially looking at an NCAA championship match.

Women's college volleyball is pretty big in the PAC-12 too... I personally think is primarily due to the shorts.

 

[CAHUSKY]

I know. It was like a UCONN WBB game.

Nebraska is no joke when i comes to volleyball attendance. Over 8,000 per game.

2014 National Attendance
Rk Institution Total Avg. Matches
1. Nebraska 145,493 8,083 18
2. Hawai'i 120,776 6,357 19
3. Wisconsin 73,999 4,933 15
4. Washington 60,829 3,379 18
5. Minnesota 50,149 3,343 15
6. Colorado State 54,926 3,231 17
7. Northern Iowa 40,537 3,118 13
8. Wichita State 27,706 3,078 9
9. Illinois 45,410 3,027 15
10. Penn State 56,977 2,999 19

 

[Seaa Blue]

When Nebraska was invited to the Big Ten, a lot of people at Penn State were all geeked up about... Nebraska Volleyball.

1. Who will be left standing from the Big Ten?
As expected, the Big Ten led all conferences with nine teams selected to the NCAA field, including two among the top-four seeds: No. 2 Minnesota and No. 4 Nebraska. And guess which team the Golden Gophers may have to face to advance to the program's fourth final four? Penn State, winner of the past two NCAA titles and seven overall.

Penn State coach Russ Rose has been able to get his team to play exceptionally well in the NCAA tournament regardless of how it ends the regular season. The Nittany Lions made the final four in seven of the last eight years, winning six titles.

Penn State, the No. 7 seed overall, and Minnesota could meet in the Des Moines regional final. Last year, the Nittany Lions beat the team that won the Big Ten title, Wisconsin, for a trip to the final four.