(08-20-2014 08:06 PM)monarchoptimist Wrote:  

(08-20-2014 03:35 PM)BruceMcF Wrote:  

(08-20-2014 10:49 AM)monarchoptimist Wrote:  NBC-Sports could be an option as well. That is the point for CUSA's next TV deal--there should be multiple suitors and options.

Though there were multiple suitors and options at the time of the last contract, with a conference alignment that was objectively worth more on a relative comparison.

If NBC goes back into that market, and CBS reverses their present course with CUSA coverage, then there might be as many or more suitors as last time, which would bode well for a contract bump. If NBC and CBS aren't interested, then it would require a substantial bump on the Fox contract just to stay even.

I don't think CUSA last (read: current) TV deal is a failure.

I didn't say anything to suggest that the present TV deals are a failure.

Quote: The situation has changed quite dramatically since the last contract was negotiated but not all the changes have been negative.

However, the aggregate is net negative. The question is whether the boost in value of live sports in general more than offsets the net loss in relative value of the CUSA v3.0 rights. Maybe yes, maybe no.

Quote:

(08-20-2014 04:31 PM)Wedge Wrote:  Good luck with that. The Comcast/NBCSN track record (except for NFL and Olympics) is to bid low and acquire content at the lowest price possible. If there's another bidder involved, NBCSN won't participate in bidding up the price; they'll just walk away.

Sure but it is likely different networks will bring different appealing aspects to the table. NBC Sports will likely be able to offer CUSA more exposure than, for instance, ESPN in terms of games on actual cable TV since their inventory is lower than ESPN's for college football.

Yes, but if its NBCSN, that would be at a reduction in revenue relative to what CBS paid in the current contract. That's why NBCSN doesn't have that inventory, since when someone else raises, NBCSN always folds.

Quote: But even though it is unlikely CUSA would sign with ESPN, ESPN may offer lots of money to either add to ESPN3 or simply raise the price on whoever eventually wins the rights.

ESPN3 would be plausible, given the MAC contract. Raising the price on whomever eventually wins the rights seems most likely to be a sports forum fantasy rather than reality.

Quote: But multiple bids allows CUSA to search out (or negotiate) a deal which ideally offers a combination of the best of both worlds.

The thing is ... they also did that before. The benefit of having multiple bidders is already baked into their current revenues.

Quote: Even a hypothetical increase in money and exposure would still pale in comparison to any P5 team and will keep CUSA behind the AAC and likely the MWC.

Yes, this is in comparison to the existing CUSA contract, not in comparison to any P5 contract.

(08-20-2014 08:06 PM)monarchoptimist Wrote:  

(08-20-2014 03:35 PM)BruceMcF Wrote:  

(08-20-2014 10:49 AM)monarchoptimist Wrote:  NBC-Sports could be an option as well. That is the point for CUSA's next TV deal--there should be multiple suitors and options.

Though there were multiple suitors and options at the time of the last contract, with a conference alignment that was objectively worth more on a relative comparison.

If NBC goes back into that market, and CBS reverses their present course with CUSA coverage, then there might be as many or more suitors as last time, which would bode well for a contract bump. If NBC and CBS aren't interested, then it would require a substantial bump on the Fox contract just to stay even.

I don't think CUSA last (read: current) TV deal is a failure. The situation has changed quite dramatically since the last contract was negotiated but not all the changes have been negative.

(08-20-2014 04:31 PM)Wedge Wrote:  Good luck with that. The Comcast/NBCSN track record (except for NFL and Olympics) is to bid low and acquire content at the lowest price possible. If there's another bidder involved, NBCSN won't participate in bidding up the price; they'll just walk away.

Sure but it is likely different networks will bring different appealing aspects to the table. NBC Sports will likely be able to offer CUSA more exposure than, for instance, ESPN in terms of games on actual cable TV since their inventory is lower than ESPN's for college football. But even though it is unlikely CUSA would sign with ESPN, ESPN may offer lots of money to either add to ESPN3 or simply raise the price on whoever eventually wins the rights.

But multiple bids allows CUSA to search out (or negotiate) a deal which ideally offers a combination of the best of both worlds. Even a hypothetical increase in money and exposure would still pale in comparison to any P5 team and will keep CUSA behind the AAC and likely the MWC.

The CUSA situation is going to be tricky. There are lots of outside factors. For instance, the Big-10 might play a role in how things turn out for C-USA.

If the Big-10 stays with ESPN, then little changes. NBC would likely bid for CUSA and Fox would still want CUSA to fill out their regional Fox RSN's. CBS-Sports likely walks away opting to obtain surplus AAC inventory form ESPN. That leaves NBC bidding against nobody for the current CUSA package controlled by CBS-Sports. CUSA would have to hope ESPN makes a play to tryt to lock up extra ESPN-3 rights since ESPN would have little cable network shelf space for any CUSA games.

If Fox wins the Big-10 rights, then the calculus changes. ESPN would be using more AAC inventory to fill lineup holes and CBS-Sports might not be looking at as much AAC sublicense inventory being available long term. In that case, CBS-Sports and NBC-Sports would be bidding against each other for CUSA. Fox still probably wants CUSA to fill the Fox RSNs. This situation would seem to be pretty good for CUSA.

If NBC wins the Big-10 rights, then NBC-Sports isn't likely going to bid for CUSA. Fox would still want their CUSA package for their RSN's. Again in this situation, ESPN would be using more AAC inventory to fill lineup holes and CBS-Sports might not be looking at as much AAC sublicense inventory being available long term. So CBS-Sports would still be interested in CUSA---but would have nobody to bid against. ESPN would at least set a floor to the value as they would likely be interested in ware housing additional inventory for ESPN-3 if it didn't cost too much.

Lots of angles and different ways for the ball to bounce with the CUSA situation.

(08-19-2014 09:59 PM)Miami (Oh) Yeah ! Wrote:  

(08-19-2014 09:42 PM)HuskieTap22 Wrote:  I am curious to know what happened to the MAC ESPN Regional Game of the Week package. This was the regionally syndicated package that ran on Saturday during September and October when the midweek slate opened. Is it fair to assume these will just be ESPN3 games now? Or will they sell these to another broadcaster or move them to ESPNews? That was a nice little package in my opinion as it got weekend league games on in I think upwards of 20 or 30 markets.

They are gone, ESPN doesn't want any sports on free OTA antenna TV. It threatens their pay-TV model of charging obscene prices. ESPN3's function is to merely soak all that up. They have completely abandoned ESPN Regional and all syndication. Big 12, Big East/AAC, SEC, now MAC all gone of the OTA airwaves. If you want to watch sports, it has to go through them. CBS Sports is the pawn in all this siphoning away whatever content ESPN can't physically put on their channels and getting it basically for free from ESPN who keeps control. I am rooting for Sinclair's ASN.

This is also why I think CUSA is in for rocky times during their negotiation.

The current CUSA contract has $7 million coming from CBS's old contract that they will no longer bid on CUSA. CBS has been phasing out CUSA games steadily and why wouldn't they when they can get leftovers from ESPN dirt cheap. There goes half of CUSA's money unless Fox doubles-down. I wouldn't be surprised if after this season CBs drops the 7 games left they are broadcasting at $7 million now for CUSA and replaces them with 7 MAC games they get for basically free.

Its a 2 horse race in college athletics between Fox and ESPN. CBS is happy with cheap scraps and NBC has went a different route and is loaded down with MLS, Premier League Soccer, and NASCAR during football season and loaded to the gunnels with NHL during basketball season.

CUSA will take whatever Fox offers by no other choice.

There are a lot of good observations in this response and the best is the point you are making that ESPN has pushed the other competitors into the aftermarket where they can pick up a load of G5 content for a 2-3 million per year but make a profit on the advertising cost.

CUSA has always banked on the 90's model of let the big TV markets shine in negotiations. It worked great for CUSA 1.0 which was making about 800k per school exclusively on ESPN. CUSA 2.0 was offered about 350k per school so they went the route of a split network package with less viewers for a combined value of about 80 million over 5 years (16 mil per year).

What is CUSA 3.0 facing on the TV landscape today? First the ceiling of what they can expect is defined by the AAC ($140 million), MAC ($124 million), MWC ($116 million). Therefore 140 million over the length of a TV deal is the high end in the marketplace for a G5. Secondly, ESPN already has most of CUSA's markets covered already with the AAC. Third, its hard to ignore the fact that CUSA 3.0 is mostly populated former SBC members at this point.

I seriously doubt ESPN would be interested in investing more than $50 million for CUSA 3.0. They might be able to squeeze $100 million out of Fox for a 10 year commitment. 10 million a year split 14 ways is 700k. That is what CUSA is realistically looking at. They might be able to get a lot of nice cable TV windows with Fox but cable's market share of content is eroding.

The future is in the digital networks. Getting content over Apple TV or Roku you cut out the monthly fee for the cable box which is $12 bucks when considering taxes and you can get everything you need content wise for $20 dollars in subscriptions. Even people who are slow technology adapters are realizing the advantage of going al la carte.

In the 90's it was CUSA making the bold statement with a futuristic move to mid week games and secondary cable network deals. Its the MAC that its sitting at the forefront of the future with its commitment to digital programming.

(08-20-2014 08:51 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(08-20-2014 08:06 PM)monarchoptimist Wrote:  

(08-20-2014 03:35 PM)BruceMcF Wrote:  

(08-20-2014 10:49 AM)monarchoptimist Wrote:  NBC-Sports could be an option as well. That is the point for CUSA's next TV deal--there should be multiple suitors and options.

Though there were multiple suitors and options at the time of the last contract, with a conference alignment that was objectively worth more on a relative comparison.

If NBC goes back into that market, and CBS reverses their present course with CUSA coverage, then there might be as many or more suitors as last time, which would bode well for a contract bump. If NBC and CBS aren't interested, then it would require a substantial bump on the Fox contract just to stay even.

I don't think CUSA last (read: current) TV deal is a failure. The situation has changed quite dramatically since the last contract was negotiated but not all the changes have been negative.

(08-20-2014 04:31 PM)Wedge Wrote:  Good luck with that. The Comcast/NBCSN track record (except for NFL and Olympics) is to bid low and acquire content at the lowest price possible. If there's another bidder involved, NBCSN won't participate in bidding up the price; they'll just walk away.

Sure but it is likely different networks will bring different appealing aspects to the table. NBC Sports will likely be able to offer CUSA more exposure than, for instance, ESPN in terms of games on actual cable TV since their inventory is lower than ESPN's for college football. But even though it is unlikely CUSA would sign with ESPN, ESPN may offer lots of money to either add to ESPN3 or simply raise the price on whoever eventually wins the rights.

But multiple bids allows CUSA to search out (or negotiate) a deal which ideally offers a combination of the best of both worlds. Even a hypothetical increase in money and exposure would still pale in comparison to any P5 team and will keep CUSA behind the AAC and likely the MWC.

The CUSA situation is going to be tricky. There are lots of outside factors. For instance, the Big-10 might play a role in how things turn out for C-USA.

If the Big-10 stays with ESPN, then little changes. NBC would likely bid for CUSA and Fox would still want CUSA to fill out their regional Fox RSN's. CBS-Sports likely walks away opting to obtain surplus AAC inventory form ESPN. That leaves NBC bidding against nobody for the current CUSA package controlled by CBS-Sports. CUSA would have to hope ESPN makes a play to tryt to lock up extra ESPN-3 rights since ESPN would have little cable network shelf space for any CUSA games.

If Fox wins the Big-10 rights, then the calculus changes. ESPN would be using more AAC inventory to fill lineup holes and CBS-Sports might not be looking at as much AAC sublicense inventory being available long term. In that case, CBS-Sports and NBC-Sports would be bidding against each other for CUSA. Fox still probably wants CUSA to fill the Fox RSNs. This situation would seem to be pretty good for CUSA.

If NBC wins the Big-10 rights, then NBC-Sports isn't likely going to bid for CUSA. Fox would still want their CUSA package for their RSN's. Again in this situation, ESPN would be using more AAC inventory to fill lineup holes and CBS-Sports might not be looking at as much AAC sublicense inventory being available long term. So CBS-Sports would still be interested in CUSA---but would have nobody to bid against. ESPN would at least set a floor to the value as they would likely be interested in ware housing additional inventory for ESPN-3 if it didn't cost too much.

Lots of angles and different ways for the ball to bounce with the CUSA situation.

What the B1G does in TV negotiations has very little bearing on CUSA's next TV deal.

CUSA's basic facts......

1) They are a G5 conference.
2) A second tier G5 behind the AAC in the South.
3) There is bad blood between CUSA and ESPN going back to the contract breech by CUSA a few years ago.
4) ESPN already went in with 9 figure deals for AAC, MWC, MAC.
5) CUSA has nothing to offer nationally in FB or BB right now.
6) Schools in CUSA have only played at the FBS level for like 10 years on average. There is very little tradition in this league.

Negotiations will come down to whether CUSA can get MAC/AAC/MWC type money. ESPN will low ball with a $40-$50 million SBC type number so they'll be forced onto Fox, for 9 figures but a bunch of FS1 games with super low ratings.

Interest in CUSA by the networks has to be at an all time low.

A handful of thoughts.

Guessing the value of the next CUSA deal is a huge crap shoot in my opinion. I can sit here and list a number of reasons why it could decrease but there are also reasons it could increase.

My prediction: If CUSA TV dollars rise, the Sinclair deal is dead. Note ESPN took 100% of the ACC, they took everything left after the CBS deal, ESPN took all of the AAC, ESPN took all of MLS that Fox and the Spanish channel didn't take, and they took all of the MAC.

ESPN has shown they have no qualms about taking all of a package and then sub-licensing what they can't take and moving more and more to ESPN3.

Fox's online offering seriously lags ESPN's. CBS required NCAA to give them online as part of the NCAA Tournament deal. ESPN extracted online from FIFA (presumably Fox did as well).

CUSA might get the winning bidder to sub-license to Sinclair but if they come in with more dollars it will be driven by online programming needs.

Projecting what CBS and Fox will do is a hard guess. The needs of each have changed. CBS is now getting most of what they offered $7 million for from ESPN reportedly for less money and CBS has so far shown little inclination to go big into online except for big events. Fox at the time held no rights to any national distribution and now has Big 12 and Pac-12 rights in addition to Big East and probably will get some piece of Big 10.

Is online a "hobby" for Fox or do they see it as a route to close ground on ESPN.

Good points to bring up but how much do you feel you need to offer CUSA in a deal if the AAC is getting 140 mil, MAC 124 mil and MWC 116 mil?

I feel like 100 mil for CUSA is a generous offer for a conference that outside of Marshall, Rice, UTEP and Southern Miss has very little tradition on the national landscape. To get 100 mil CUSA is going to have to commit 8-10 years in length.

I really question where things are going to be headed in recruiting for CUSA. The south is now over saturated with schools. Most of those schools don't have the facilities that you'll find in the AAC. SBC in some cases have better facilities. The question is where are the recruits going to flock to? There could be a lot of really bad teams in CUSA for a while.

The MAC doesn't have upside but its a known quantity. The MAC will struggle to recruit the South with all the new FBS programs out there but CUSA/SBC have almost zero ability to recruit in the Midwest.

(08-20-2014 04:31 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

(08-20-2014 10:49 AM)monarchoptimist Wrote:  

(08-20-2014 10:35 AM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(08-20-2014 10:08 AM)monarchoptimist Wrote:  

(08-19-2014 09:59 PM)Miami (Oh) Yeah ! Wrote:  CUSA will take whatever Fox offers by no other choice.

I think you are right about the network CUSA will eventually agree with but that doesn't mean the deal will be a disappointment. ESPN will bid if for no other reason than to run up the price on their competition. They can't offer CUSA the exposure (since they have many other properties vying for similar time slots) but they can offer $$$.

Whatever network CUSA gets the best offer from I hope CUSA doesn't sign a deal longer much longer than 5 years.

I would think NBC-Sports would probably step up to buy the CUSA content currently controlled by CBS-Sports. That would be a good fit for NBC and would give NBC-Sports thier first FBS football conference (assuming they fail to get Big-10 football). That said, I doubt they pay much for those rights, NBC is notoriously cheap when not bidding for premier content.

Still, it won't be all bad for CUSA. Even if the value drops to half of the old 7 million dollar CBS-Sports deal, NBC-Sports would be available in 80 million homes, would have tons of open Saturday broadcast slots, and would have access to Comcast RSN broadcast slots as well. A deal with NBC-Sports, even with a low pay day, might mean that most all thier inventory would get televised. It probably would mean a significant increase in televised basketball games as well. Additionally, as NBC's only FBS conference, they would likely be treated very favorably on the network and might even receive a little cross platform advertising on the main broadcast network.

NBC-Sports could be an option as well. That is the point for CUSA's next TV deal--there should be multiple suitors and options. A modest bump, better exposure and multiple ways to view the content should be an attainable goal for CUSA.

Good luck with that. The Comcast/NBCSN track record (except for NFL and Olympics) is to bid low and acquire content at the lowest price possible. If there's another bidder involved, NBCSN won't participate in bidding up the price; they'll just walk away.

AAC should know that. I want to see if NBC can keep ND. It won't be cheap.

(08-21-2014 10:51 PM)sierrajip Wrote:  

(08-20-2014 04:31 PM)Wedge Wrote:  Good luck with that. The Comcast/NBCSN track record (except for NFL and Olympics) is to bid low and acquire content at the lowest price possible. If there's another bidder involved, NBCSN won't participate in bidding up the price; they'll just walk away.

AAC should know that. I want to see if NBC can keep ND. It won't be cheap.

A difference is that they are bidding for ND for NBC Broadcast, not to have ND on NBCSN.

I'm not about to make predictions about what CUSA will go for, just pointing out that an increase is not as much of a lead pipe cinch as some CUSA commentators appear to believe it is. Much of what networks were buying the last time the CUSA rights were for sale has walked out the door, and the media value proposition of CUSA v3.0 is at present largely untested.

(08-21-2014 08:11 PM)Kittonhead Wrote:  Good points to bring up but how much do you feel you need to offer CUSA in a deal if the AAC is getting 140 mil, MAC 124 mil and MWC 116 mil?

I feel like 100 mil for CUSA is a generous offer for a conference that outside of Marshall, Rice, UTEP and Southern Miss has very little tradition on the national landscape. To get 100 mil CUSA is going to have to commit 8-10 years in length.

I really question where things are going to be headed in recruiting for CUSA. The south is now over saturated with schools. Most of those schools don't have the facilities that you'll find in the AAC. SBC in some cases have better facilities. The question is where are the recruits going to flock to? There could be a lot of really bad teams in CUSA for a while.

The MAC doesn't have upside but its a known quantity. The MAC will struggle to recruit the South with all the new FBS programs out there but CUSA/SBC have almost zero ability to recruit in the Midwest.

I don't know that there is zero ability so much as little effort expended.

Off the top of my head I think in the past decade AState has had one assistant (for one year) who had ever coached in the MAC/Big 10 corridor and I can't recall any assistants being sent beyond St. Louis to evaluate players. They go to Kansas jucos and Cali jucos but spend most of their time in Arkansas, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.

I've long argued that we should go up there. I like the prospect of bringing a Cleveland area kid to Jonesboro in January when there is a good chance the high will be around 50 degrees.

(08-22-2014 01:02 AM)arkstfan Wrote:  

(08-21-2014 08:11 PM)Kittonhead Wrote:  Good points to bring up but how much do you feel you need to offer CUSA in a deal if the AAC is getting 140 mil, MAC 124 mil and MWC 116 mil?

I feel like 100 mil for CUSA is a generous offer for a conference that outside of Marshall, Rice, UTEP and Southern Miss has very little tradition on the national landscape. To get 100 mil CUSA is going to have to commit 8-10 years in length.

I really question where things are going to be headed in recruiting for CUSA. The south is now over saturated with schools. Most of those schools don't have the facilities that you'll find in the AAC. SBC in some cases have better facilities. The question is where are the recruits going to flock to? There could be a lot of really bad teams in CUSA for a while.

The MAC doesn't have upside but its a known quantity. The MAC will struggle to recruit the South with all the new FBS programs out there but CUSA/SBC have almost zero ability to recruit in the Midwest.

I don't know that there is zero ability so much as little effort expended.

Off the top of my head I think in the past decade AState has had one assistant (for one year) who had ever coached in the MAC/Big 10 corridor and I can't recall any assistants being sent beyond St. Louis to evaluate players. They go to Kansas jucos and Cali jucos but spend most of their time in Arkansas, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.

I've long argued that we should go up there. I like the prospect of bringing a Cleveland area kid to Jonesboro in January when there is a good chance the high will be around 50 degrees.

My perspective from knowing that recruiting corridor is that you have B1G players and then you have DII players. There isn't very much talent levels in between.

MAC schools fight over the last remaining B1G level guys which end up at any time mainly going to 4-5 MAC programs. That is why the MAC is such a top heavy conference. The remaining MAC programs have to go out of state heavily to have any chance of competing.

This is why it doesn't make sense for a Ark State type program to recruit up in B1G country because without a high saturation of contacts they won't be able to compete in that space with Toledo, NIU, Ohio and BGSU for the B1G 3 star scrap. Pitt, BC and Syracuse will sometimes get a B1G scrap over a MAC school but they're in the ACC and have a lot of tradition. Throw Cincinnati, Kentucky and Louisville in there as well.

AState may be able to pull in an EMU type player but that isn't going to be worth the investment for a guy that belongs in DII. Unless he's an academic all american or something. A program like AState expects 3 star talent and will take a chance on 4 star talent if it can. It may settle for 2 stars or below in a couple of exceptions when the players have upside.

(08-20-2014 09:39 PM)Kittonhead Wrote:  The future is in the digital networks. Getting content over Apple TV or Roku you cut out the monthly fee for the cable box which is $12 bucks when considering taxes and you can get everything you need content wise for $20 dollars in subscriptions. Even people who are slow technology adapters are realizing the advantage of going al la carte.

Not really. For one, when you get EVERYTHING via the net, you have to up your internet speed, something many people miss. Second, as more people do that, the subscritpion fees will just shift, just like it did no Netflix. When it is "extra" money, you can get these streaming services cheap. Once they become "primary" revenue, the rights fees go up substantially. Again, just like the studios did to Netflix when they put video stores out of business.

Don't bank on that as a "cheap" solution for the future. Mass media is always the cheapest option in the end, not segmented.

(08-20-2014 04:31 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

(08-20-2014 10:49 AM)monarchoptimist Wrote:  NBC-Sports could be an option as well. That is the point for CUSA's next TV deal--there should be multiple suitors and options. A modest bump, better exposure and multiple ways to view the content should be an attainable goal for CUSA.

Good luck with that. The Comcast/NBCSN track record (except for NFL and Olympics) is to bid low and acquire content at the lowest price possible. If there's another bidder involved, NBCSN won't participate in bidding up the price; they'll just walk away.

That's not entirely true. Comcast was the one who had the highest bid for the PAC 12. You know that working arrangement that Fox and ESPN have with the PAC 12 and they later extended to the Big 12? Where do you think that deal came from? It was because NBC put out a blockbuster bid for the PAC 12 that was so high, neither ESPN nor Fox could afford to match on their own (or didn't want to commit that much). But because they wanted to shut Comcast out the market, they teamed up to put together a bid to keep Comcast out. They also had a seriously high bid for the ACC deal back in 2008, and forced ESPN to up their bid to keep the ACC, in what then was a monster deal prior to the SEC deal (note for clarification this one was NBC making the offer prior to Comcast being a part of the company).

So NBC will shell out money for the right deal. They just don't do it often.

NBC getting NASCAR for the fall showed to me at least that they are willing to pass on college football for another very targeted audience. NBCSN strategy seems to be going after niche markets and going all out. NASCAR is the big score for them ratings wise, same for FS1. With NASCAR and the Premier League on Saturdays, they are going against college football where as ESPN and FOX are going at it.

(08-22-2014 10:18 AM)adcorbett Wrote:  

(08-20-2014 04:31 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

(08-20-2014 10:49 AM)monarchoptimist Wrote:  NBC-Sports could be an option as well. That is the point for CUSA's next TV deal--there should be multiple suitors and options. A modest bump, better exposure and multiple ways to view the content should be an attainable goal for CUSA.

Good luck with that. The Comcast/NBCSN track record (except for NFL and Olympics) is to bid low and acquire content at the lowest price possible. If there's another bidder involved, NBCSN won't participate in bidding up the price; they'll just walk away.

That's not entirely true. Comcast was the one who had the highest bid for the PAC 12. You know that working arrangement that Fox and ESPN have with the PAC 12 and they later extended to the Big 12? Where do you think that deal came from? It was because NBC put out a blockbuster bid for the PAC 12 that was so high, neither ESPN nor Fox could afford to match on their own (or didn't want to commit that much). But because they wanted to shut Comcast out the market, they teamed up to put together a bid to keep Comcast out. They also had a seriously high bid for the ACC deal back in 2008, and forced ESPN to up their bid to keep the ACC, in what then was a monster deal prior to the SEC deal (note for clarification this one was NBC making the offer prior to Comcast being a part of the company).

So NBC will shell out money for the right deal. They just don't do it often.

The ESPN-Fox deal for the Pac-12 came about because Comcast initially made the highest bid and the Pac wanted something higher, so they approached ESPN and Fox and asked them to consider bidding jointly. Once ESPN and Fox anted up with their joint bid, Comcast quickly folded. They don't get into high-priced bidding wars unless it's for NFL or Olympics.

Quote:Comcast's Brian Roberts told CNBC that his company did not land rights to the Pac-10's TV package because it was "financially disciplined."

http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journ...ac-10.aspx