(12-06-2017 12:06 PM)lance99 Wrote: (12-06-2017 08:24 AM)BadgerMJ Wrote: (12-05-2017 11:31 PM)CarlSmithCenter Wrote: story here
If ESPN takes over the regional Fox Sports stations could it add inventory to both the SEC and ACC Networks and perhaps lead to a merger of several of the Big 12-State channels into some sort of Big 12 network? Seems like it would be easier to work out some sort of co-branding/sister station affiliation with the LHN if the lesser tier Big 12 rights come under the purview of the House of Mouse...
This sounds to me like a recipe for disaster if you're college sports.
If Fox is getting out of the regional sports game (combined with the up to know unknown status of their ownership in BTN) that would leave almost everything in the hands of ESPN. Makes me wonder if Fox will continue to be a player in college sports, ESPECIALLY college football.
How could ESPN having a stranglehold on the conference networks PLUS owning most of the rights to games be a good thing? If you think there's bias in coverage and reporting now, just wait until they're the only show in town.
IMHO, I do not see that happening. It would never make it through Anti-Trust. I know that Fox is willing to unload Channels, but the Mouse would have to give up something also. Now it makes sense why ESPN has been getting rid of people. That might be the Channel on the chopping block just to make this deal.....
I suspect other. What is it that ESPN has cut? Unneeded production staff and expensive talking heads. What is it that they are buying? Rights. Why would both of these things be happening simultaneously? Because they are going to change the nature of who they are.
Sure they'll keep ESPN1 & ESPN2 and maybe one other channel for content broadcasts. But what they've set themselves up to be (if they follow the direction they are headed to its conclusion) is a broker. The can provide product to streaming services, conference networks, their own stations, and perhaps even to some mainline networks too.
I think ESPN has looked at the changes coming in sports broadcasting and has decided to be what is essentially a wholesaler of the inventory. They keep their place in the mix, but they buy the rights and for a wide array of games they sell them based on their projected drawing capacity.
Let's say they did this with NBC, ABC, and CBS. All of the sudden the three mainline networks aren't limited to just one conference from which to select the best games of the week. Let's say that the Irish have a lousy year, NBC might rather show PAC or Big 10 games instead and let the slumping Irish find their way into a streaming slot where their fans pay for the right to watch a lesser game. Or if Alabama slumps and the SEC has a bad year CBS isn't stuck with just SEC content.
It would be cheaper on the mainline networks, and probably more productive to simply purchase content a week or two out and hedge their bets on their investment and let ESPN handle the contracts and rights and then sit back and collect the ad revenue.
ESPN1 and ESPN2 become like an outlet store where ESPN can monetize fully their own product, but since they are making money on what they distribute to the others too then those games are just gravy.
The customers would be satisfied because even more games will be available and in many formats.
Now this will be bad for the conferences if the networks aren't in bidding wars for their product. So consequently larger coalitions (not necessarily conferences) will be formed for collective bargaining and therein lies the balance.
I think FOX and ESPN both realized that they overpaid for the last Big 10 contract and that 6 years was chosen as the duration so that they could figure out what to do about it. Well, it may be happening now. We'll see.