(06-25-2020 10:56 PM)usffan Wrote: (06-25-2020 09:06 PM)JRsec Wrote: It would be much more profitable in the long run. You cut out the large % of profit that cable companies grab off the top before ESPN splits the AACN and SECN profits with the conferences. And by requiring a subscription to ESPN+ to be able to see all games not carried on the streaming provider billed as ESPN, ESPNU, ESPN2, etc, would also enable every game a conference has to actually draw individual revenue.
This is one reason I expect ESPN to go hard after the Big 12 rights in full, and possibly even the PAC 12 rights and the other half of the Big 10 rights. The money to be made off all all college sports packages would be phenomenal. You could purchase the stream to your own conference for a set amount and bundle for 40% more that would include all P5 conferences. That gives each conference direct proceeds based on purchased programming and % of the bundled amount.
Make it season specific and it works even better for the consumer. Those wanting football purchase it separate from basketball and baseball/softball which could be packaged together. This rewards top basketball schools more directly and rewards schools strong in baseball, or hockey in the case of the Big 10. The consumer gets more say, and the advertising would be an exclusive split between Disney and the conferences.
That said, it would also help ESPN to go to just broadcasting the events and possibly using local color people and getting rid of their obnoxious talking heads. That political wing of ESPN is costing them business.
One can only hope so...
USFFan
I think the G5 would very much be a part of this. Imagine if you could buy a total college football stream in which you could watch any games live you wished to watch and watch games during the week you missed. Let's say you pay $350 for that privilege and it covered September, October, November, December and January and you paid 75 a month from September through December and 50 for January. For that you get every regular season game all conference championships, all bowls and the Playoffs. If you have a basic TV package to stream and Hulu and the ESPN/Disney+ you would be paying about $130 for four months and about 110 for January and the total cost is still cheaper than an average P5 season ticket book. You don't like hoops and baseball so the rest of the year you pay $55 a month for TV. Or even if you like hoops you get basketball season for $20 bucks a month. Maybe 10 bucks for baseball season per month and they toss in softball as well. That's still a great deal.
Only now there is no middle man (cable network) so ad revenue is split between ESPN and the conference and the revenue from the games themselves are as well.
Let's say the average P5 prime time game can draw 5 million viewers. If those are single time viewers they pay 10 bucks for the game. If they are package buyers they are buying their conference for 30 bucks a month or buying the P5 bundle for 50 which pays 15 bucks a month to their conference (half of the 30) and pays the other 4 conferences an additional $2.50 per subscription. So each P5 gets $15 bucks a month for their own subscribers and $2.50 from every other conference fan who subscribes to the bundle.. Now figure the G5 at the total bundle level of $75 per month where they are getting $15 per month for their subscribers and $2.50 from all of the other G5 and P5 subscribers who buy the total college football package.
Now add 50% of the advertising value for all games watched live or recorded.
It would kill the current deals. The SECN had 70 million subscribers when it opened. 70 million x 15 x 4 = 4.2 billion for the regular season and December bowls and that's just their half and doesn't include the numbers x 2.50 for other conference's bundle buyers. That's 280 million per SEC school including the Conference share for the 14 current schools. Adding schools adds audience. And remember that doesn't include New Year's day bowls or the CFP.
The difference here is that you aren't permitting the Cable Channel to take its cut too.
This has, if shared as a partnership with say ESPN, the potential to more than cover all costs of stipends and image rights and insurance for the players and still leave the schools a tidy sum to be reinvested in the non revenue sports. And all by cutting out the middle man and charging a rate less than 1 season ticket book for the whole shebang.
Now think about it that way and we should not only let cable die, but should put it out of it's misery.
And what's more is the money sports stand on their own and the schools can offer streams of all sports as part of the Conference, P5, or Total College Sports Bundle. All they need do is to provide the stream which most are set up to do, and use their own local announcers for the feed.
And that total revenue I covered above was just for football. Remember you buy basketball separately and baseball as well. I do think however to go this route Basketball needs to start after January 15th if it seeks to make the most it can make. Baseball/Softball wouldn't cost you that much but they would be great Summertime filler.