+- CSNbbs (https://csnbbs.com)
+-- Forum: Active Boards (/forum-769.html)
+--- Forum: Lounge (/forum-564.html)
+---- Forum: College Sports and Conference Realignment (/forum-637.html)
+---- Thread: NY Times article on ESPN's power in college football (/thread-645773.html)
Pages: 1 2
NY Times article on ESPN's power in college football - Wedge - 08-25-2013 04:28 PM
College Football’s Most Dominant Player? It’s ESPN
Excerpts:
Quote:ESPN is not the only network that exerts control over the scheduling, programming and financing of college football. But it is the undisputed leader, given its size, reach and single focus on sports. This season, ESPN channels will televise about 450 college games. ESPN’s closest competitor, Fox, will show 50 on various networks.
Quote:Underscoring ESPN’s special relationship with college football is the fact that it created and owns the software used for scheduling games. The online portal, known as the Pigskin Access Scheduling System, or PASS, is now used by virtually all conferences and colleges, as well as competing networks. Generally, the colleges work together to set up nonconference matchups, but sometimes they reach out to ESPN for a suggestion, or even to play matchmaker.
In January, Bob Arkeilpane, the deputy athletic director at Cincinnati, sent an e-mail to an ESPN executive, Dave Brown. Mr. Arkeilpane explained in the message, which was obtained by The Times, that Cincinnati would be opening a new premium seating area and press box in 2015 and needed a top-tier opponent.
Mr. Brown, who is well known for his thick Rolodex, wrote back that morning, “Will do — let me look and see what’s out there for ’15.”
Quote:Mr. Skipper, ESPN’s president, acknowledged that conference officials frequently consulted him.
“I had, on occasion, two conference commissioners ask me about adding the same school,” Mr. Skipper said, “and I said to both of them: ‘Yes, you should add that school. If you can add that very prominent school, it would be good for your conference. But I’m not telling you to do it.’ I don’t provide leading advice, and I don’t say, ‘Wink, wink, I’ll pay you more money if you do that.’ ”
RE: NY Times article on ESPN's power in college football - He1nousOne - 08-25-2013 04:42 PM
I love that last quote. That is absolutely how business gets done. They don't operate idealistically by operating "by the rules". They simply circumnavigate the rules in a way that best assures them of the end result that is desirable.
Quite often, average everyday people either don't understand this manner of thinking or they just cant comprehend how these folks operate.
You wonder how all these conferences and these networks somehow all seem to be on the same page? You have a nice little example of how that works.
RE: NY Times article on ESPN's power in college football - BewareThePhog - 08-26-2013 03:43 PM
"Is your AD a goer? Nudge, nudge...know what I mean, know what I mean, he said knowingly? SAY NO MORE!"
RE: NY Times article on ESPN's power in college football - Wedge - 08-26-2013 04:03 PM
(08-26-2013 03:43 PM)BewareThePhog Wrote: "Is your AD a goer? Nudge, nudge...know what I mean, know what I mean, he said knowingly? SAY NO MORE!"
Exactly....
For our younger readers, this is a reference to this Monty Python sketch:
RE: NY Times article on ESPN's power in college football - He1nousOne - 08-26-2013 05:52 PM
Found another little nugget in that article that perhaps was overlooked by many as it is farther down.
Quote:ESPN’s promotion machine was in full force last Sept. 1, when two of the most hallowed names in college football, Alabama and Michigan, kicked off the season in a prime-time Saturday game, brokered by ESPN, at Cowboys Stadium in Texas. According to the contract, which was reviewed by The Times, each university earned $4.7 million.
Whoa! Wait a minute...these schools earned an additional 4.7 million dollars due to being anointed by ESPN to play in that game and that game only?
Uh...holy ****, that is crazy if that is actually as it appears due to this article.
It gets worse.
Quote:On Sept. 2, 2012, Texas A&M — still unranked but newly arrived in one of ESPN’s prime conferences, the SEC — learned that it would also finally get a visit from “GameDay,” the show, the following Saturday. Texas A&M lost to Florida, but the athletic department later boasted that the “GameDay” exposure was worth an estimated $6.5 million.
These are some huge numbers and these are not numbers part of the base contract between the conferences and the network. These are earnings based off of these schools scoring big with ESPN directly.
RE: NY Times article on ESPN's power in college football - 4x4hokies - 08-26-2013 06:15 PM
(08-26-2013 05:52 PM)He1nousOne Wrote: Found another little nugget in that article that perhaps was overlooked by many as it is farther down.
Quote:ESPN’s promotion machine was in full force last Sept. 1, when two of the most hallowed names in college football, Alabama and Michigan, kicked off the season in a prime-time Saturday game, brokered by ESPN, at Cowboys Stadium in Texas. According to the contract, which was reviewed by The Times, each university earned $4.7 million.
Whoa! Wait a minute...these schools earned an additional 4.7 million dollars due to being anointed by ESPN to play in that game and that game only?
Uh...holy ****, that is crazy if that is actually as it appears due to this article.
It gets worse.
Quote:On Sept. 2, 2012, Texas A&M — still unranked but newly arrived in one of ESPN’s prime conferences, the SEC — learned that it would also finally get a visit from “GameDay,” the show, the following Saturday. Texas A&M lost to Florida, but the athletic department later boasted that the “GameDay” exposure was worth an estimated $6.5 million.
These are some huge numbers and these are not numbers part of the base contract between the conferences and the network. These are earnings based off of these schools scoring big with ESPN directly.
I thought everyone knew that these kickoff games were worth a lot. They have to make up for two big name teams giving up a sellout at home.
RE: NY Times article on ESPN's power in college football - He1nousOne - 08-26-2013 06:22 PM
(08-26-2013 06:15 PM)4x4hokies Wrote:(08-26-2013 05:52 PM)He1nousOne Wrote: Found another little nugget in that article that perhaps was overlooked by many as it is farther down.
Quote:ESPN’s promotion machine was in full force last Sept. 1, when two of the most hallowed names in college football, Alabama and Michigan, kicked off the season in a prime-time Saturday game, brokered by ESPN, at Cowboys Stadium in Texas. According to the contract, which was reviewed by The Times, each university earned $4.7 million.
Whoa! Wait a minute...these schools earned an additional 4.7 million dollars due to being anointed by ESPN to play in that game and that game only?
Uh...holy ****, that is crazy if that is actually as it appears due to this article.
It gets worse.
Quote:On Sept. 2, 2012, Texas A&M — still unranked but newly arrived in one of ESPN’s prime conferences, the SEC — learned that it would also finally get a visit from “GameDay,” the show, the following Saturday. Texas A&M lost to Florida, but the athletic department later boasted that the “GameDay” exposure was worth an estimated $6.5 million.
These are some huge numbers and these are not numbers part of the base contract between the conferences and the network. These are earnings based off of these schools scoring big with ESPN directly.
I thought everyone knew that these kickoff games were worth a lot. They have to make up for two big name teams giving up a sellout at home.
I knew they were a big deal, but not THAT big of a deal. That is huge.
RE: NY Times article on ESPN's power in college football - Kaplony - 08-26-2013 06:22 PM
(08-26-2013 05:52 PM)He1nousOne Wrote: Found another little nugget in that article that perhaps was overlooked by many as it is farther down.
Quote:ESPN’s promotion machine was in full force last Sept. 1, when two of the most hallowed names in college football, Alabama and Michigan, kicked off the season in a prime-time Saturday game, brokered by ESPN, at Cowboys Stadium in Texas. According to the contract, which was reviewed by The Times, each university earned $4.7 million.
Whoa! Wait a minute...these schools earned an additional 4.7 million dollars due to being anointed by ESPN to play in that game and that game only?
Uh...holy ****, that is crazy if that is actually as it appears due to this article.
It's true
http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2012/08/27/Colleges/College-kickoff.aspx
RE: NY Times article on ESPN's power in college football - Wedge - 08-26-2013 06:32 PM
(08-26-2013 06:22 PM)Kaplony Wrote:(08-26-2013 05:52 PM)He1nousOne Wrote: Found another little nugget in that article that perhaps was overlooked by many as it is farther down.
Quote:ESPN’s promotion machine was in full force last Sept. 1, when two of the most hallowed names in college football, Alabama and Michigan, kicked off the season in a prime-time Saturday game, brokered by ESPN, at Cowboys Stadium in Texas. According to the contract, which was reviewed by The Times, each university earned $4.7 million.
Whoa! Wait a minute...these schools earned an additional 4.7 million dollars due to being anointed by ESPN to play in that game and that game only?
Uh...holy ****, that is crazy if that is actually as it appears due to this article.
It's true
http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2012/08/27/Colleges/College-kickoff.aspx
The ticket prices charged are the reason they could pay guarantees that high.
Quote:Tickets for the two Chick-fil-A Kickoff games aren’t nearly as costly as the Cowboys Classic. They range from $60 to $150 in Atlanta, compared with $125 to $285 in Arlington. That, and the additional number of seats in Cowboys Stadium, puts the Cowboys Classic in position to pay higher guarantees.
NY Times article on ESPN's power in college football - chargeradio - 08-26-2013 07:11 PM
If a team is giving up a home game, it might be a revenue-neutral proposition at $4.7 MM for a school like Alabama or Michigan. When you have over 100,000 tickets to sell, it only takes an average of $47 per ticket to gross that playing at home.
If a team is giving up a road game, this is an extraordinary windfall.
RE: NY Times article on ESPN's power in college football - He1nousOne - 08-26-2013 08:02 PM
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/ncaaf---the-system--a-great-read-on-college-football-s-inner-workings-202143287.html
This book sounds like it is going to add a whole lot of fuel to this kind of fire.
RE: NY Times article on ESPN's power in college football - Wedge - 08-26-2013 08:14 PM
(08-26-2013 08:02 PM)He1nousOne Wrote: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/ncaaf---the-system--a-great-read-on-college-football-s-inner-workings-202143287.html
This book sounds like it is going to add a whole lot of fuel to this kind of fire.
That should be a fun read. I'll check back at Amazon in a few weeks after it's released.
RE: NY Times article on ESPN's power in college football - BewareThePhog - 08-26-2013 11:06 PM
(08-26-2013 08:14 PM)Wedge Wrote:I wish I could say I was surprised to read the summary of that book - but even the "clean" programs no doubt have a lot of skeletons in their closets.(08-26-2013 08:02 PM)He1nousOne Wrote: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/ncaaf---the-system--a-great-read-on-college-football-s-inner-workings-202143287.html
This book sounds like it is going to add a whole lot of fuel to this kind of fire.
That should be a fun read. I'll check back at Amazon in a few weeks after it's released.
RE: NY Times article on ESPN's power in college football - JRsec - 08-27-2013 10:43 AM
(08-26-2013 11:06 PM)BewareThePhog Wrote:The book will not cause any fire under the subject. XLance sent me the OP link in a PM. It was a really good read. It probably contained more concrete information on ESPN's, and the other networks involvement in all of this than any one article I've read. Both their involvement in strategy and implementation were discussed.(08-26-2013 08:14 PM)Wedge Wrote:I wish I could say I was surprised to read the summary of that book - but even the "clean" programs no doubt have a lot of skeletons in their closets.(08-26-2013 08:02 PM)He1nousOne Wrote: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/ncaaf---the-system--a-great-read-on-college-football-s-inner-workings-202143287.html
This book sounds like it is going to add a whole lot of fuel to this kind of fire.
That should be a fun read. I'll check back at Amazon in a few weeks after it's released.
Now look at the number of comments it generated on a realignment board. It just proves to me that many who post on the topic read nothing, think about nothing, and only enjoy running their mouths about topics created in their own ignorance. It's the same stuff with our politics. They blindly follow one banner or another without engaging critical thinking (see Dante's first level of Hell). But hey, they quit teaching logic in public education almost three decades ago because it was too Euro-centric and therefore culturally biased. If there is a U-tube 30 second byte with a hot chick in the video talking about the book He1nous has presented then we will get a thread featuring the babe and alluding to the information w/o sufficient depth and explanation to stop inane remarks and focus conversation.
I'm not being negative when I observe just how stupid the nations progeny has become. Welcome gentlemen to the opening round of the new dark age.
RE: NY Times article on ESPN's power in college football - blunderbuss - 08-27-2013 10:55 AM
I'm finding it harder and harder to give a damn about this fraud of a sport.
RE: NY Times article on ESPN's power in college football - JRsec - 08-27-2013 11:18 AM
(08-27-2013 10:55 AM)blunderbuss Wrote: I'm finding it harder and harder to give a damn about this fraud of a sport.
Throughout the history of humanity and their various forms of governance, sports have been used to control the emotions of the masses and to give them an outlet for their frustrations. As long as they can eat, and marginally sustain themselves, the only other thing you need to control the masses is entertainment. Sports is just that and nothing more. If you are working 8 to 12 hours a day to eat and maintain shelter and you spend a disproportionate percentage of your short free time watching sports, nobody in authority needs to worry about you or what your are doing. Just look at the national crime rates during the super bowl. They always go way down.
RE: NY Times article on ESPN's power in college football - USAFMEDIC - 08-27-2013 11:34 AM
(08-26-2013 06:32 PM)Wedge Wrote:Someday soon folks are going to tire of paying this kind of money for tickets. I do not need binoculars to watch my 60" HDTV.(08-26-2013 06:22 PM)Kaplony Wrote:(08-26-2013 05:52 PM)He1nousOne Wrote: Found another little nugget in that article that perhaps was overlooked by many as it is farther down.
Quote:ESPN’s promotion machine was in full force last Sept. 1, when two of the most hallowed names in college football, Alabama and Michigan, kicked off the season in a prime-time Saturday game, brokered by ESPN, at Cowboys Stadium in Texas. According to the contract, which was reviewed by The Times, each university earned $4.7 million.
Whoa! Wait a minute...these schools earned an additional 4.7 million dollars due to being anointed by ESPN to play in that game and that game only?
Uh...holy ****, that is crazy if that is actually as it appears due to this article.
It's true
http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2012/08/27/Colleges/College-kickoff.aspx
The ticket prices charged are the reason they could pay guarantees that high.
Quote:Tickets for the two Chick-fil-A Kickoff games aren’t nearly as costly as the Cowboys Classic. They range from $60 to $150 in Atlanta, compared with $125 to $285 in Arlington. That, and the additional number of seats in Cowboys Stadium, puts the Cowboys Classic in position to pay higher guarantees.
RE: NY Times article on ESPN's power in college football - Hokie4Skins - 08-27-2013 11:42 AM
Keteyian wrote one of the most irresponsible and unfounded books in the history of college football, accusing, among other things, that Irving Fryar threw the Orange Bowl against Miami.
I can't take him seriously as a resource on college football ,especially when it's a "take down" angle.
RE: NY Times article on ESPN's power in college football - JRsec - 08-27-2013 11:43 AM
(08-27-2013 11:34 AM)USAFMEDIC Wrote:(08-26-2013 06:32 PM)Wedge Wrote:Someday soon folks are going to tire of paying this kind of money for tickets. I do not need binoculars to watch my 60" HDTV.(08-26-2013 06:22 PM)Kaplony Wrote:(08-26-2013 05:52 PM)He1nousOne Wrote: Found another little nugget in that article that perhaps was overlooked by many as it is farther down.
Quote:ESPN’s promotion machine was in full force last Sept. 1, when two of the most hallowed names in college football, Alabama and Michigan, kicked off the season in a prime-time Saturday game, brokered by ESPN, at Cowboys Stadium in Texas. According to the contract, which was reviewed by The Times, each university earned $4.7 million.
Whoa! Wait a minute...these schools earned an additional 4.7 million dollars due to being anointed by ESPN to play in that game and that game only?
Uh...holy ****, that is crazy if that is actually as it appears due to this article.
It's true
http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2012/08/27/Colleges/College-kickoff.aspx
The ticket prices charged are the reason they could pay guarantees that high.
Quote:Tickets for the two Chick-fil-A Kickoff games aren’t nearly as costly as the Cowboys Classic. They range from $60 to $150 in Atlanta, compared with $125 to $285 in Arlington. That, and the additional number of seats in Cowboys Stadium, puts the Cowboys Classic in position to pay higher guarantees.
It's already happening. There is a whopper of a sports bubble, professional and collegiate.
RE: NY Times article on ESPN's power in college football - Wedge - 08-27-2013 12:06 PM
(08-27-2013 11:43 AM)JRsec Wrote:(08-27-2013 11:34 AM)USAFMEDIC Wrote:(08-26-2013 06:32 PM)Wedge Wrote:Someday soon folks are going to tire of paying this kind of money for tickets. I do not need binoculars to watch my 60" HDTV.(08-26-2013 06:22 PM)Kaplony Wrote:(08-26-2013 05:52 PM)He1nousOne Wrote: Found another little nugget in that article that perhaps was overlooked by many as it is farther down.
Whoa! Wait a minute...these schools earned an additional 4.7 million dollars due to being anointed by ESPN to play in that game and that game only?
Uh...holy ****, that is crazy if that is actually as it appears due to this article.
It's true
http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2012/08/27/Colleges/College-kickoff.aspx
The ticket prices charged are the reason they could pay guarantees that high.
Quote:Tickets for the two Chick-fil-A Kickoff games aren’t nearly as costly as the Cowboys Classic. They range from $60 to $150 in Atlanta, compared with $125 to $285 in Arlington. That, and the additional number of seats in Cowboys Stadium, puts the Cowboys Classic in position to pay higher guarantees.
It's already happening. There is a whopper of a sports bubble, professional and collegiate.
Agreed, and it's not just ticket prices, it's all the other costs associated with attending the games in person. Cal's athletic department says that about 30% of the FB season-ticket holders live more than 100 miles from Berkeley. I bet that's not unusual in CFB. For the people traveling to games, they have airfare or gas, hotel, and other travel expenses, all of which cost a lot more than they did 20 years ago (when we didn't have HDTVs and 20 games in our living room every Saturday). Those are the people most peeved when ESPN changes the game time on Monday before a Saturday game, and/or when TV sets the game time at 7 pm. And, hello, those are paying customers who also donate to the athletic department. They are being asked to pay more every year for an experience that has become less convenient over time.
As you note it affects the pros too. I have friends who gave up their 49ers season tickets because the cost of everything just kept going up and is going to go through the roof next year when they open their new stadium. They're asking $85/seat/game just for the nosebleed tickets and season ticket holders have to pay a PSL fee on top of that.