Realignment Megathread (All The Moves)

[MeanDean]

What does it mean to "push the limits with streaming"? The big money remains with linear TV. Yormark already said linear TV is the centerpiece of our next media deal. ESPN is diminished, but diminished isn't dead. Meanwhile the streaming industry has issues of its own: it hasn't been especially profitable and is in the midst of something of an upheaval right now. So what does the contours of pushing the limits of streaming look like?

I agree that ESPN's loss will not hurt the Big 10. But having a major presence on ESPN for the Big XII would be great if they pimp us out like they do the SEC. Sports fans have it on all the time and so their promos would help viewership for the conference.

Streaming on Amazon Prime is viable. The rest are not going to work.

Even with Prime, IMHO ISU/Big XII would lose national exposure big time if Big XII goes full blast into streaming as a primary outlet.

 

[AuH2O]

What does it mean to "push the limits with streaming"? The big money remains with linear TV. Yormark already said linear TV is the centerpiece of our next media deal. ESPN is diminished, but diminished isn't dead. Meanwhile the streaming industry has issues of its own: it hasn't been especially profitable and is in the midst of something of an upheaval right now. So what does the contours of pushing the limits of streaming look like?

Unless you have Oregon, Washington and the 4 corners jump to the league, "pushing the limits with streaming" probably means make ALL the major media networks your competitors and guarantee you get explicitly locked out of a playoff.

Sorry, having a media partner that also has a piece of the SEC or Big 10 pie is the boring but probably best move during this deal. Media deals and expansion have to start and end with increasing odds to have access to the playoff. If you get officially locked out of that club, you might as well close up shop in football and try to join the Big East.

 

[RustShack]

I agree that ESPN's loss will not hurt the Big 10. But having a major presence on ESPN for the Big XII would be great if they pimp us out like they do the SEC. Sports fans have it on all the time and so their promos would help viewership for the conference.

Streaming on Amazon Prime is viable. The rest are not going to work.

Even with Prime, IMHO ISU/Big XII would lose national exposure big time if Big XII goes full blast into streaming as a primary outlet.

The best option is our ESPN+ games go to Amazon instead. It is to be determined how the rest shakes out, Fox and ESPN still have a need for content, but I hate when games are on ESPNU. It’s still to be determined if CBS or NBC want more games as well.

Our best hope is the PAC continues to get lowballed, and schools decide to jump to the Big12.

Fox and ESPN both know the ACC is going to be heavily raided in the future.

 

[BCClone]

And that needs government intervention why? Having a football program at a university isn't a right its a perk of the university. At the end of the day its a university first and an athletic dept second.

Many of the ADs have distanced themselves from the universities. They are self funding and therefore don’t require or get the same oversight as smaller schools who are subsidized. It could very well become a for profit business instead of non profit.

 

[RustShack]

Unless you have Oregon, Washington and the 4 corners jump to the league, "pushing the limits with streaming" probably means make ALL the major media networks your competitors and guarantee you get explicitly locked out of a playoff.

Sorry, having a media partner that also has a piece of the SEC or Big 10 pie is the boring but probably best move during this deal. Media deals and expansion have to start and end with increasing odds to have access to the playoff. If you get officially locked out of that club, you might as well close up shop in football and try to join the Big East.

Schools will get in by rankings. Media partner is irrelevant. Wins matter. If wins didn’t matter, the SEC and B1G would have been knocked years ago for playing less conference games and cupcakes non con.

Both conferences have gotten by from beating up on bad teams, and avoiding other good schools. The Big12 has been knocked from playing everyone and having the strongest bottom(other than Kansas).

 

[FriendlySpartan]

Schools will get in by rankings. Media partner is irrelevant. Wins matter. If wins didn’t matter, the SEC and B1G would have been knocked years ago for playing less conference games and cupcakes non con.

Both conferences have gotten by from beating up on bad teams, and avoiding other good schools. The Big12 has been knocked from playing everyone and having the strongest bottom(other than Kansas).

Yeah but how are those teams ranked? It’s almost always by reputation and the prior years results. If the Big12 is only streaming the joke will be that no one watches the games and their rankings will take a hit. The big12 is already facing a massive perception problem and having the games soley be on various streaming sites won’t help.

Also if you have every tried to watch live sports over a streaming derives you would realize that they still have no idea what they are doing. Premier league on peacock and champions on paramount are awful.

 

[BCClone]

Wonder if no ESPN will hurt the B10. ESPN pimps teams harder than anyone. I don’t care for them, but they do drive the bus quite a bit.

 

[BCClone]

Yeah but how are those teams ranked? It’s almost always by reputation and the prior years results. If the Big12 is only streaming the joke will be that no one watches the games and their rankings will take a hit. The big12 is already facing a massive perception problem and having the games soley be on various streaming sites won’t help.

Also if you have every tried to watch live sports over a streaming derives you would realize that they still have no idea what they are doing. Premier league on peacock and champions on paramount are awful.

Are you seriously asking us if we have ever watched college football over streaming devices????

 

[SEIOWA CLONE]

Might be true.

But that assumes the ESPN, Amazon, etc. written offer is enough to make Washington, Oregon, Utah, Arizona State, etc. happy.

As far as Big12 goes, we could have similar contract language that gives ESPN/Fox exclusive negotiating rights. The big question, is that time period specified in the current TV Contract or can the Big12 specify the period?

It appeared the Pac12 was able to move that window up (maybe a week) once they found out USC & UCLA were leaving.

One has to think that ESPN wants to P12 to break up and thereby at least some of those schools move to the B12, it's in their interest for that to happen. If the P12 regroups and hangs around for another 5 to 10 years, the moment the B10 comes calling, Oregon, Washington and other schools are going to jump, which puts them on FOX and to their competitor. If not offering the P12 a contract or a dog crap rights deal, and then turning around and offering the B12 the same deal we are getting now to a little better, one would have to think that the Pac 12 members on the fence will jump, thereby forcing the B10 to either take/offer the schools they want from the P12 if any, or risk losing them forever.

Without a doubt, the B10 would rather now sit, finish up their deal, and then 5/10 years down the line when the ACC media rights are coming to an end to choose then. That is why it's important to force their hand, and ESPN could be thinking the same way.

 

[FriendlySpartan]

Are you seriously asking us if we have ever watched college football over streaming devices????

Ugh forgot about the espn+ thing, kinda makes my point though as espn+ sucks for games.

 

[BCClone]

Ugh forgot about the espn+ thing, kinda makes my point though as espn+ sucks for games.

Or the LHN, or CyTV, or……Each team broadcast their own tier 3 the first few years.

 

[Trice]

Unless you have Oregon, Washington and the 4 corners jump to the league, "pushing the limits with streaming" probably means make ALL the major media networks your competitors and guarantee you get explicitly locked out of a playoff.

Sorry, having a media partner that also has a piece of the SEC or Big 10 pie is the boring but probably best move during this deal. Media deals and expansion have to start and end with increasing odds to have access to the playoff. If you get officially locked out of that club, you might as well close up shop in football and try to join the Big East.

I just want to see a little meat on this bone of "pushing the limits with streaming" because I see little evidence that it's a viable strategy.

You can interpret "pushing the limits with streaming" a couple different ways, maybe more. It can mean you partner exclusively with streaming/tech companies, or it could mean traditional media partners who want to expand streaming capabilities.

But it's pretty telling that ESPN, the biggest broadcasting brand in sports, has put a ton of effort into building out its streaming product and the B1G wanted no part of it. Or that the leagues best positioned to lead everyone into this brave new streaming world - the B1G and the SEC, who have done this before, a decade-plus ago when they created their own TV networks - are pretty content with where things are right now. Or that Apple or Amazon's role in the B1G's new deal, if they have a role at all, seems like an afterthought.

Now, to argue against myself, perhaps even the B1G and SEC think that the future is in streaming but that it's still one media deal away (6-7 years) from really taking hold. Maybe the Big 12 can pioneer the space in that time. But that feels like we'd be out in the wilderness for a few years until the rest of the media landscape catches up, and I don't feel like we can afford that.

As always, I have no idea, and I'm open to having my mind changed.

 

[carvers4math]

Or the LHN, or CyTV, or……Each team broadcast their own tier 3 the first few years.

Big Ten Network is worse. I think the entire commentary on Jake Knott’s interception in 2012 or so was “oh crap.”

 

[BCClone]

Big Ten Network is worse. I think the entire commentary on Jake Knott’s interception in 2012 or so was “oh crap.”

Big ten network is what streaming is currently with added little shows about other things.

 

[jbhtexas]

I don't this makes any sense. You think ESPN would sign a deal with a league to then destroy it? For what purpose?

The sole purpose of trying to get the league to dissolve was to get OU and UT, while simultaneously adding value to a low-rent property it had in the AAC. Now, to think that would actually work the way they wanted was really stupid. So yes, boosting value of two leagues in which they had sole rights to while dissolving a league that they shared rights to with their main competitor motivated them to try to wreck the Big 12.

They have what they want in OU and UT in an exclusive deal. If for some reason they pay enough to get exclusivity to the Big 12, they sure as hell aren't going to destroy it.

It was never personal, it was just business. Not that ABC/ESPN would be the best partner all other things being equal, but this fear that they are going to come in with the highest bid to turn around and destroy the league makes no sense. So what, the SEC can get one more spot in an expanded playoff? To say that would have a horrible ROI is an understatement.

I absolutely think ESPN would try to destroy the Big 12 if another scenario came along that would be a net benefit to ESPN. They had an active media deal with the Big 12 and tried to do it when the OU/UT opprotunity came along, so why wouldn't they do it again if something else came along that would provide similar benefit?

Just because you don't foresee a scenario today that might cause them to try again doesn't mean one won't come along in the future. Did you foresee the OU/UT scenario?

Like you said, it's just business, and ESPN has shown themselves to be a business partner that will completely forsake the well-being of a smaller partner to benefit their flagship partner. It's not "personal", it's just slimy...

 

[timinatoria]

This is why I expect the gov’t to get involved eventually, if things keep going in the same direction. There is no rhyme or reason as to why some teams will be in and others left out other than 50-100 year conference affiliations. None of this is merit-based.

Exactly what is the gov’t going to do?

 

[Trice]

Exactly what is the gov’t going to do?

Tax them, for starters.

 

[Jeremy]

Exposure is a big benefit for a school like ISU. The more casual eyes watch us, the better. It helps us with a smaller fan base (albeit loyal) that will have disadvantages with numbers specifically seeking us out on streaming.

People forget that cable TV is also on streaming like Hulu and there is much bigger value to an ISU than an Oklahoma, tOSU, etc with getting those easy/casual observers.

We can push the boundaries as a conference, but be very careful what you wish for if you want ISU to benefit more than in direct media dollars as a conference mate. Exposure helps with recruiting, growing the fan base, exposure for rankings, etc.

 

[Bikeryde]

Yeah but how are those teams ranked? It’s almost always by reputation and the prior years results. If the Big12 is only streaming the joke will be that no one watches the games and their rankings will take a hit. The big12 is already facing a massive perception problem and having the games soley be on various streaming sites won’t help.

Also if you have every tried to watch live sports over a streaming derives you would realize that they still have no idea what they are doing. Premier league on peacock and champions on paramount are awful.

Can’t pass the eye test if no one watches lol.

 

[jbhtexas]

Exposure is a big benefit for a school like ISU. The more casual eyes watch us, the better. It helps us with a smaller fan base (albeit loyal) that will have disadvantages with numbers specifically seeking us out on streaming.

People forget that cable TV is also on streaming like Hulu and there is much bigger value to an ISU than an Oklahoma, tOSU, etc with getting those easy/casual observers.

We can push the boundaries as a conference, but be very careful what you wish for if you want ISU to benefit more than in direct media dollars as a conference mate. Exposure helps with recruiting, growing the fan base, exposure for rankings, etc.

Every week, FOX, NBC, and CBS can pimp their CFB games to millions of viewers watching their NFL (or other sports) broadcasts...viewers who already have an interest in sports or the game of football.

I suppose Amazon could use their personal data mining capability and pop up an add for a Prime Video CFB game any time a potential football viewer logs into Amazon.