(03-18-2017 07:57 PM)Bigdog731 Wrote:  So ESPN is going to pay 45 million each year and more (going forward) at the same time Disney has ordered another round of cost cutting..make no mistake about it...this isn't the last round of cost cutting either. I still predict ESPN News abd Classic will both be shuttered at some point.

Neither of these programs add enough value to even break even for what the cost would be.

Keep in mind and think about it....It's the Alabama/Florida/LSU/Ohio State/Michigan/Penn State/USC/UCLA/Flawda St and a handful of other FB programs and very few BB (like NC/Duke/Kansas) that more or less justify these Teevee deals.....The Big Brands are the value not the middle of the pack and cellar dwellers. Without these historically Flagship FB programs to carry the conference there would be no Teevee deals the likes we see. Yes, I know abut Rutgers and whatever but those days seem to have passed... ESPN has lost 12% of its subscriber base in recent years s the days of charging more because whatever state is added isn't gonna work anymore..that ship has sailed....Now i'm sure some will say otherwise but the numbers and cost cutting are FACT no matter how anyone spins it. I do know for FACT as recent and 4 or 5 years ago many many many many many people said what's going on now in regards to ESPN would never happen.

In closing...UCONN and Cincy are not top tier programs in the big revenue sport of FB...keep in mind these Teevee deals are crafted in terms of value 80% FB 20% BB. The most fortunate schools in college sports are some of the charter members of the Power Conferences that historically have done nothing and have very little tradition in the revenue sports..some basically have no tradition at all..they live off the Big Dogs..it is what it is.

Considering how ESPN considers themselves leaders in sports journalism, I can see ESPN talking to Disney about doing an experiment with ESPN News-putting all of its sports talk shows on ESPN News, and getting back to sports coverage on the other ESPN channels. I can definitely see ESPN Classic getting shuttered on tv, but being revived as a streaming online subscription option.