If E$PN truly wants a monopoly on televising college sports, why hasn't E$PN made an attempt to outbid CBS for the NCAA tournament?? Why let CBS have anything??

They tried too, they were outbid.

(05-11-2022 12:27 AM)DawgNBama Wrote:  If E$PN truly wants a monopoly on televising college sports, why hasn't E$PN made an attempt to outbid CBS for the NCAA tournament?? Why let CBS have anything??

They have tried.
They were out bid.
And I’m glad; ESPIN can’t have a monopoly on everything

CBS has a nice thing going with the tourney followed by the Masters. There is a huge void that has to be filled in the spring. Also the pro league tournaments don't get underway on TNT/ESPN/ABC until deep in the spring.

Not sure how they replace the SEC. I mean, that's a void you just can't fill. Home Depot late afternoon games were perfect on CBS. I'd like them to go for a Big 12/PAC12 package.

I thought I read somewhere that the reason is because nobody would televise the women's tournament if ESPN were televising the men's tournament.

(05-11-2022 07:09 AM)zibby Wrote:  I thought I read somewhere that the reason is because nobody would televise the women's tournament if ESPN were televising the men's tournament.

well that's unquestionably not true

FWIW, the CBS contract is through 2032. Not much ESPN (or anybody else) can do about that

(05-11-2022 07:14 AM)MattBrownEP Wrote:  

(05-11-2022 07:09 AM)zibby Wrote:  I thought I read somewhere that the reason is because nobody would televise the women's tournament if ESPN were televising the men's tournament.

well that's unquestionably not true

FWIW, the CBS contract is through 2032. Not much ESPN (or anybody else) can do about that

Who would televise the women's tournament if ESPN didn't?

ESPN+

CBS was bleeding lot's of money on the NCAA tournament several years ago.
The contract, like most media contracts was back-end loaded and the expenses started outstripping revenue.
That's when they brought in Turner as a partner, which turned out to be a brilliant move.

I think ESPN has shied away from the NCAA's a a primary, because the tournament is so unpredictable. A few upsets and some bad match-ups and the ratings can go south in a hurry.
So why not ESPN? Risk management.

For arguments sake, let’s say they did have the rights. Games would be on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, and ?? Last time I checked, ESPNU is in 40 million less homes than TruTV.

(05-11-2022 07:15 AM)zibby Wrote:  

(05-11-2022 07:14 AM)MattBrownEP Wrote:  

(05-11-2022 07:09 AM)zibby Wrote:  I thought I read somewhere that the reason is because nobody would televise the women's tournament if ESPN were televising the men's tournament.

well that's unquestionably not true

FWIW, the CBS contract is through 2032. Not much ESPN (or anybody else) can do about that

Who would televise the women's tournament if ESPN didn't?

Almost anybody? CBS, Fox, NBC, Turner, streaming options, shoot, maybe even Lifetime. Ratings for the event have exploded over the last two years, and even the NCAA's official report admitted that it is priced dramatically below value.

https://frontofficesports.com/womens-mar...ce%202004.

https://kaplanhecker.app.box.com/s/qz5v7...sdo3gwzdbt

I know a lot of folks here don't like women's basketball. But that doesn't mean consumers don't like women's basketball.

Even if ESPN keeps the rights to the tournament, they will almost assuredly need to pay a TON more money for it, as the NCAA is facing enormous pressure to spin off the women's tournament from the rest of their postseason rights package and sell it as a one-off.

(05-11-2022 08:02 AM)DoubleRSU Wrote:  For arguments sake, let’s say they did have the rights. Games would be on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, and ?? Last time I checked, ESPNU is in 40 million less homes than TruTV.

FX or Freeform would be the most viable options.

(05-11-2022 08:58 AM)MattBrownEP Wrote:  

(05-11-2022 07:15 AM)zibby Wrote:  

(05-11-2022 07:14 AM)MattBrownEP Wrote:  

(05-11-2022 07:09 AM)zibby Wrote:  I thought I read somewhere that the reason is because nobody would televise the women's tournament if ESPN were televising the men's tournament.

well that's unquestionably not true

FWIW, the CBS contract is through 2032. Not much ESPN (or anybody else) can do about that

Who would televise the women's tournament if ESPN didn't?

Almost anybody? CBS, Fox, NBC, Turner, streaming options, shoot, maybe even Lifetime. Ratings for the event have exploded over the last two years, and even the NCAA's official report admitted that it is priced dramatically below value.

https://frontofficesports.com/womens-mar...ce%202004.

https://kaplanhecker.app.box.com/s/qz5v7...sdo3gwzdbt

I know a lot of folks here don't like women's basketball. But that doesn't mean consumers don't like women's basketball.

Even if ESPN keeps the rights to the tournament, they will almost assuredly need to pay a TON more money for it, as the NCAA is facing enormous pressure to spin off the women's tournament from the rest of their postseason rights package and sell it as a one-off.

$81-$112 million/year. Significantly higher ratings than the men's hockey tournament, apparently.

Speaking of which, I imagine there is money to be made if the NCAA would try to develop that property, too.

(05-11-2022 12:53 PM)OhioBoilermaker Wrote:  

(05-11-2022 08:58 AM)MattBrownEP Wrote:  

(05-11-2022 07:15 AM)zibby Wrote:  

(05-11-2022 07:14 AM)MattBrownEP Wrote:  

(05-11-2022 07:09 AM)zibby Wrote:  I thought I read somewhere that the reason is because nobody would televise the women's tournament if ESPN were televising the men's tournament.

well that's unquestionably not true

FWIW, the CBS contract is through 2032. Not much ESPN (or anybody else) can do about that

Who would televise the women's tournament if ESPN didn't?

Almost anybody? CBS, Fox, NBC, Turner, streaming options, shoot, maybe even Lifetime. Ratings for the event have exploded over the last two years, and even the NCAA's official report admitted that it is priced dramatically below value.

https://frontofficesports.com/womens-mar...ce%202004.

https://kaplanhecker.app.box.com/s/qz5v7...sdo3gwzdbt

I know a lot of folks here don't like women's basketball. But that doesn't mean consumers don't like women's basketball.

Even if ESPN keeps the rights to the tournament, they will almost assuredly need to pay a TON more money for it, as the NCAA is facing enormous pressure to spin off the women's tournament from the rest of their postseason rights package and sell it as a one-off.

$81-$112 million/year. Significantly higher ratings than the men's hockey tournament, apparently.

Speaking of which, I imagine there is money to be made if the NCAA would try to develop that property, too.

Makes sense - the Hockey tournament is much more regional and only has 16 teams. The women's tournament, while a lot more "chalky" than the men's, still has a national audience and 4x the number of games.

I’d like to think the only way CBS stays in the game with college sports right now is because they have no issues jamming every stoppage with ad content, and that goes a long way with leverage. And ESPN and Fox just won’t commit to that kind of level/model, so they can’t compete.

I think it also helps that the CBS station cluster (CBS, TBS, TNT, etc.) model, since it includes national broadcast and major/entrenched cable stations, has more reach than what ESPN could do? Other than ABC/ESPN dumping a wheelbarrow of money at the NCAA’s feet (and it could be that simple and effective maybe), I think there’s a potential reach issue the more stations you toss into a similar model there (as in, beyond ABC and ESPN, reach gets more challenging deeper into the ESPN dial). And Fox has, what, the almost invisible FS duo? What, do you pull in FX or FXX? To some degree, it’s not unlike the Olympics across the NBC stations…and a bit of a dicey ask to make people go to MSNBC or CNBC for spill-over coverage.

(05-11-2022 01:13 PM)e-parade Wrote:  

(05-11-2022 12:53 PM)OhioBoilermaker Wrote:  

(05-11-2022 08:58 AM)MattBrownEP Wrote:  

(05-11-2022 07:15 AM)zibby Wrote:  

(05-11-2022 07:14 AM)MattBrownEP Wrote:  well that's unquestionably not true

FWIW, the CBS contract is through 2032. Not much ESPN (or anybody else) can do about that

Who would televise the women's tournament if ESPN didn't?

Almost anybody? CBS, Fox, NBC, Turner, streaming options, shoot, maybe even Lifetime. Ratings for the event have exploded over the last two years, and even the NCAA's official report admitted that it is priced dramatically below value.

https://frontofficesports.com/womens-mar...ce%202004.

https://kaplanhecker.app.box.com/s/qz5v7...sdo3gwzdbt

I know a lot of folks here don't like women's basketball. But that doesn't mean consumers don't like women's basketball.

Even if ESPN keeps the rights to the tournament, they will almost assuredly need to pay a TON more money for it, as the NCAA is facing enormous pressure to spin off the women's tournament from the rest of their postseason rights package and sell it as a one-off.

$81-$112 million/year. Significantly higher ratings than the men's hockey tournament, apparently.

Speaking of which, I imagine there is money to be made if the NCAA would try to develop that property, too.

Makes sense - the Hockey tournament is much more regional and only has 16 teams. The women's tournament, while a lot more "chalky" than the men's, still has a national audience and 4x the number of games.

The baseball and softball College World Series are also properties that the NCAA can better monetize.

(05-11-2022 07:14 AM)MattBrownEP Wrote:  

(05-11-2022 07:09 AM)zibby Wrote:  I thought I read somewhere that the reason is because nobody would televise the women's tournament if ESPN were televising the men's tournament.

well that's unquestionably not true

FWIW, the CBS contract is through 2032. Not much ESPN (or anybody else) can do about that

A ton of networks out there looking to lose a tremendous amount of money? News to me.

(05-11-2022 08:58 AM)MattBrownEP Wrote:  

(05-11-2022 07:15 AM)zibby Wrote:  

(05-11-2022 07:14 AM)MattBrownEP Wrote:  

(05-11-2022 07:09 AM)zibby Wrote:  I thought I read somewhere that the reason is because nobody would televise the women's tournament if ESPN were televising the men's tournament.

well that's unquestionably not true

FWIW, the CBS contract is through 2032. Not much ESPN (or anybody else) can do about that

Who would televise the women's tournament if ESPN didn't?

Almost anybody? CBS, Fox, NBC, Turner, streaming options, shoot, maybe even Lifetime. Ratings for the event have exploded over the last two years, and even the NCAA's official report admitted that it is priced dramatically below value.

https://frontofficesports.com/womens-mar...ce%202004.

https://kaplanhecker.app.box.com/s/qz5v7...sdo3gwzdbt

I know a lot of folks here don't like women's basketball. But that doesn't mean consumers don't like women's basketball.

Even if ESPN keeps the rights to the tournament, they will almost assuredly need to pay a TON more money for it, as the NCAA is facing enormous pressure to spin off the women's tournament from the rest of their postseason rights package and sell it as a one-off.

Fun. Now do the WNBA. Tell us how undervalued that is.

(05-11-2022 12:27 AM)DawgNBama Wrote:  If E$PN truly wants a monopoly on televising college sports, why hasn't E$PN made an attempt to outbid CBS for the NCAA tournament?? Why let CBS have anything??

Basketball

(05-11-2022 01:13 PM)e-parade Wrote:  

(05-11-2022 12:53 PM)OhioBoilermaker Wrote:  

(05-11-2022 08:58 AM)MattBrownEP Wrote:  

(05-11-2022 07:15 AM)zibby Wrote:  

(05-11-2022 07:14 AM)MattBrownEP Wrote:  well that's unquestionably not true

FWIW, the CBS contract is through 2032. Not much ESPN (or anybody else) can do about that

Who would televise the women's tournament if ESPN didn't?

Almost anybody? CBS, Fox, NBC, Turner, streaming options, shoot, maybe even Lifetime. Ratings for the event have exploded over the last two years, and even the NCAA's official report admitted that it is priced dramatically below value.

https://frontofficesports.com/womens-mar...ce%202004.

https://kaplanhecker.app.box.com/s/qz5v7...sdo3gwzdbt

I know a lot of folks here don't like women's basketball. But that doesn't mean consumers don't like women's basketball.

Even if ESPN keeps the rights to the tournament, they will almost assuredly need to pay a TON more money for it, as the NCAA is facing enormous pressure to spin off the women's tournament from the rest of their postseason rights package and sell it as a one-off.

$81-$112 million/year. Significantly higher ratings than the men's hockey tournament, apparently.

Speaking of which, I imagine there is money to be made if the NCAA would try to develop that property, too.

Makes sense - the Hockey tournament is much more regional and only has 16 teams. The women's tournament, while a lot more "chalky" than the men's, still has a national audience and 4x the number of games.

Plus there are more "stars" in Women's basketball that bring in viewers than in college hockey.