The unofficial online home for fans of the Western Michigan University Broncos. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

This has gotten so far out of control. It's crazy. Not too many years ago, Ohio St was being viewed as crazy for an entire athletic budget of $30.0m.

College Football Budgets

I love sports, but this is going to crash at some point.

I think the crash will start when chord cutting/shaving really takes off with home entertainment.

We're hitting the upward curve of that trend now.

But sports are one of the the only things that people watch live anymore.

A few years ago, I thought the "bubble" would burst, but now, with the NBA's new TV deal being worth more per game than the NFL, there just might be enough money/advertising to keep the sports business model going.

I think from what I am seeing, anectdotal evidence only, people don't miss it when they cut the chord.

if the MLB/NHL could fix their blackout rules, i'd no longer have a reason to have cable. Those rules won't ever be going away though, as long as TV Deals are as expensive as they are.

(10-14-2014 01:44 PM)DesertBronco Wrote:  I think from what I am seeing, anectdotal evidence only, people don't miss it when they cut the chord.

right on right on

(10-14-2014 02:00 PM)SilentStryk09 Wrote:  if the MLB/NHL could fix their blackout rules, i'd no longer have a reason to have cable. Those rules won't ever be going away though, as long as TV Deals are as expensive as they are.

In that respect, I'm fortunate, I don't live in a blackout area for pro teams that I have an interest in, NHL and MLB wise.

That and I can take or leave NFL, NBA, and BC$ games.

I cut it, go back, cut it, etc. This time with the good Moho antenna instead of the Phillips POS that I relied on before, I'm thinking this is going to stick and I pocket about $110 per month.

Quote:if the MLB/NHL could fix their blackout rules, i'd no longer have a reason to have cable. Those rules won't ever be going away though, as long as TV Deals are as expensive as they are.

Ummmm -- legally anyway, "won't ever" just happened this month. :)

FCC votes to drop blackout rule
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/116177...ays-change

However, that won't stop a sports league from negotiating with cable & satellite companies, though -- so yeah, may not Really end.

The cool thing about the NFL is that all of a local team's games are on over the air TV. Been a long time since you could say that about the Tigers for example.

(10-14-2014 03:56 PM)thegeneral Wrote:  The cool thing about the NFL is that all of a local team's games are on over the air TV. Been a long time since you could say that about the Tigers for example.

True. We just dropped Uverse, and my friend let me have his old digital antenna (he just married a nurse, so now they can afford uverse).

The picture is BEAUTIFUL.

(10-14-2014 02:02 PM)Hiller4Hyz09 Wrote:  

(10-14-2014 01:44 PM)DesertBronco Wrote:  I think from what I am seeing, anectdotal evidence only, people don't miss it when they cut the chord.

right on right on

Yep. We dumped ours nearly two years ago now. I built an HTPC and we stream/download/record (OTA + Windows Media Center) the relatively few shows we watch.

Cost of the PC build aside (which was break-even within a year) it all runs me a whopping $0/month. Wouldn't have it any other way.

Quote:Yep. We dumped ours nearly two years ago now. I built an HTPC and we stream/download/record (OTA + Windows Media Center) the relatively few shows we watch.

Dude -- get XBMC. And PrimeWire & IceFilms as add-ons. It's great. I pay $0/month and watch Homeland, Daily Show, South Park, and any other shows aired on any channel for free.

Have fun in jail pirate!

HA.

(10-14-2014 11:15 PM)toddjnsn Wrote:  

Quote:Yep. We dumped ours nearly two years ago now. I built an HTPC and we stream/download/record (OTA + Windows Media Center) the relatively few shows we watch.

Dude -- get XBMC. And PrimeWire & IceFilms as add-ons. It's great. I pay $0/month and watch Homeland, Daily Show, South Park, and any other shows aired on any channel for free.

I use MediaBrowser with WMC, plus a fully automated torrent system to download/rename/organize shows - should've noted that.

On a related note, this is pretty huge - a shift is afoot in the industry:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2014/...ng-in-2015

(10-14-2014 03:34 PM)toddjnsn Wrote:  

Quote:if the MLB/NHL could fix their blackout rules, i'd no longer have a reason to have cable. Those rules won't ever be going away though, as long as TV Deals are as expensive as they are.

Ummmm -- legally anyway, "won't ever" just happened this month. :)

FCC votes to drop blackout rule
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/116177...ays-change

However, that won't stop a sports league from negotiating with cable & satellite companies, though -- so yeah, may not Really end.

Yeah this ruling was more about the NFL's blackouts for not selling games out. Blackouts in local regions as they exist now will likely stay in place, since they're not barring an entire region from watching a game. They're just restricting it to one medium.

I'm thinking when the market makes them react to the market, then you'll see change. Do without, make them be the service provider once again. It could happen.

This is just the beginning.