dfwabel

Oh man. Don't do this.

If they elect to move up to Division I, they'll put a massive amount of fees on their student body for decades.  Kentucky State's enrollment is under 1,800 undergrad and not even 2,100 total.  While, that's not Presbyterian small, they have retention level at 68% for Freshmen, but they have issues getting students to enroll period. Partnering with area school districts for Dual Enrollment is the reason they are where they are now.  

In fact, in the last week, they announced that out of state tuition will be reduced to those from eight neighboring states plus Michigan. 

2 hours ago, the admiral said:

Didn't he fail a background check to buy the Atlanta Hawks? Sounds like our kind of guy.

His Hawks bid in 2011 was his third attempt to buy a sports franchise.

He is an owner of a few casinos too, but the Culinary Union had issues with him last year over his purchase of the SLS Casino in Las Vegas.

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Since then, we have found more information that raises further questions about Mr. Meruelo’s financial suitability and integrity to own and operate the SLS Las Vegas:

1.Last March, Commercial Bank of California, where Alex Meruelo is a founder and a member of the board of directors, extended a $13 million loan to a Miami company facing foreclosure due to an unpaid $34 million loan. The Miami company was (and still is) controlled by Richard Meruelo, who is Alex’s brother and has a history of business failures.

2.During the course of a tax court case against Alex Meruelo and his wife, it was revealed that they were using an offshore tax shelter that was related to a criminal investigation.

3.A group of EB-5 investors in the SLS Las Vegas filed a lawsuit alleging fraud against the SLS and other parties and seeking, among other things, an injunction of the sale of the SLS to Alex Meruelo.

http:// https://twitter.com/xfl2020/status/1137470700426551296

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As part of our #XFLShowcase process, we are testing a variety of game ball options and gathering feedback from players and coaches along the way.

https://awfulannouncing.com/fox/deleted-clip-fox-nick-wright-steph-curry-2015-nba-finals-mvp-voting.htmlI guess FS1's "First Things First" needs any attention they can cultivate.

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Whoever’s running the Twitter account for FS1 morning show First Things First probably should research the Streisand effect, where “an attempt to hide, remove, or censor a piece of information has the unintended consequence of publicizing the information more widely, usually facilitated by the Internet.” That came into play Tuesday, where the First Things First account tweeted a clip from that morning’s show featuring co-host Nick Wright’s claim that Steph Curry was “as close as a player has come to winning Finals MVP ever, without winning it” in 2015.

 

Wright’s claim in that clip is that the initial 11 votes were split: four for Andre Iguodala (who actually won), four for LeBron James and three for Curry. He then claims that a revote led to Iguodala’s win. Well, NBA senior vice president (communications) Tim Frank called that out in strong terms, saying “This absolutely never happened.” And the FTF account then deleted their clip.

 

 

1 hour ago, Tracy Jordan said:

 

Do people really watch all these shows on NFL Network? Like, I can understand having primetime shows like NFL Total Access that goes through all the news of the day and maybe a few specialty programs for fantasy news and behind the scenes stuff. But are people really waking up every morning and turning on "Good Morning Football"? I think they'd be better off just airing re-runs of NFL Films programs and classic games all day long.

 

You know who watches "Good Morning Football"? Players, coaches, and those who think they'll be drafted do.

NFL also doesn't own that show. Men In Blazers/Embassy Row's Michael Davies does. 

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The NFL Network is being forced to cut $20 million out of its projected budget and, in the process, already has eliminated at least five shows, including one that featured Deion Sanders, The Post has learned.

 

The less-than-hoped-for budget has made negotiations with on-air personnel tense, and there is a feeling some will either not be retained or be forced to take pay cuts, according to sources.

 

NFL Network is definitively cutting five programs. Sanders’ “21 & Prime,” “Power Rankings,” “Pick ‘em,” “Playbook” and “Mic’d Up” are off the air. The future of the weekend edition of “Good Morning Football” is in question.

 

In response, the NFL Network said it was actually upping its investment, but it was shifting where the spending is taking place with the NFL 100 celebration.

 

https://nypost.com/2019/05/08/nfl-network-shows-slashed-tensions-rise-after-20m-cuts/

Sinclair press release on buying 21 RSNs from Disney

The small, but notable part is that former comic, and "Real People" correspondent turned syndicated entertainment mogul, Byron Allen is part of the new subsidiary as an investor.

I'm part of the older generation which Chet Coppock was a very big deal, even w/o his WWF stint, especially SportsChannel America and NewSport/Talk.

"Hi ho, here we go!"

https://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/chet-coppock-dead-chicago-sports-broadcaster/

RIP, Mr. Chet.

On 4/4/2019 at 8:58 AM, Digby said:

Why are these stadium developments always packaged alongside the most garbage of retail/dining developments?

 

Does anyone need L.A. Live on steroids? It's a couple crappy restaurants and a Lucky Strike that just has an ESPN office attached, who cares?

Foot traffic = potential sales tax dollars.  81 baseball games aren't good enough as the cost of venues continues to grow faster than GDP.  Hell, colleges/universities are getting into the PPP (public/private partnership) real estate business in the last decade.

ESPN gets more Big XII programming for ESPN+ in addition to three years of the Big XII football title game.

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Hundreds of events from all sports will be offered on ESPN+ under a Big 12 brand. Eight of the 10 schools will provide more than 50 exclusive events per year, including at least one football game, any spring football game and any basketball game that is not on an ESPN linear network. Texas, which has Longhorn Network, and Oklahoma, which has its own local rights deal, will not provide content to ESPN+. However, both schools will be featured on the streaming service when they are an away team and during conference championships outside of football and basketball.

 

In the new deal, which includes three championship games and ESPN+ rights, ESPN will pay a total of around $40M. When this agreement is added to the current media-rights deal that still has six years to run, the conference will average $22M per year, sources said. A formal announcement is expected later today.

 

Starting in '19, Baylor, Kansas, Kansas State and Oklahoma State will provide games for ESPN+. The following year, Iowa State, TCU, West Virginia and Texas Tech will participate.

 

The Athletic's first set of podcasts announced.

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Featured shows at launch will include:

• The Daily Ding with Dave Dufour, Big Wos, Travonne Edwards, and Zach Harper  (NBA)
• The Opener with Jonah Keri (MLB)
• The Breakout with Julie Stewart-Binks, Billy Jaffe, Craig Custance (NHL)
• Birds All Day with Andrew Stoeten, Drew Fairservice (MLB)
• Rates and Barrels with Eno Sarris, Derek Van Riper (Fantasy)
• Warriors Plus-Minus with Marcus Thompson, Tim Kawakami (NBA)
• Starkville with Jayson Stark and Doug Glanville (MLB)
• Plus 15 more local podcasts in the Bay Area and Toronto (with more to come in additional markets)

 

Don't search "Auburn gymnast"

DAZN to double their monthly US price to $19.99 for new subscribers, but will also add an annual pass for $99.99.  Gotta pay for those contracts given to Canelo and GGG somehow.

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While current subscribers paying the original $9.99 monthly fee that was set at DAZN’s U.S. debut last year can continue in that model for one year, the service will alter its monthly fee to $19.99 for new subscribers next week while instituting a new $99.99 annual plan.

 

“The annual cost, broken down, is just over $8 a month and it will offer baseball, boxing, MMA – all you can eat – for about the cost of one pay-per-view” on Fox, Showtime or ESPN, said DAZN’s Executive Vice President Joe Markowski.

 

The pricing, Markowski said, emerged as a result of company research of its undisclosed current subscriber base, which he classified into two groups.

 

Those called “value seekers” are primarily motivated by the feeling they are getting a bargain from their purchase, and those labeled “flexibility seekers” aren’t as concerned with cost as they are with accessing DAZN’s programming on an as-needed basis.

 

Pac-12 still holding out.

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As reported by Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand and Michael Smith, the Pac-12 turned down an offer from ESPN to distribute their networks in exchange for an extension of their rights agreement that would have given ESPN the Pac-12’s rights “well into the 2030s”.

 

On the surface, this offer from ESPN looked like a great lifeline to bail out the Pac-12 and their struggling networks, but the Pac-12 is (again) betting on itself when the next round of rights negotiations comes up. With their current TV rights deal with Fox and ESPN ending in 2024, the Pac-12 is hopeful that within the next five years, digital outlets will join traditional TV networks and create a bidding war for their next rights deal. The Pac-12 is getting $3 billion over 12 years from ESPN and Fox, so this rights deal is one of their biggest revenue generators. Extending with ESPN now would remove much of the uncertainty around the Pac-12 Networks and their distribution, but would also deprive the conference of a potentially larger payday in the future.

 

In addition, the Pac-12 didn’t want to cede complete control of the networks to ESPN, and that ESPN felt like their offer to the conference was a long shot. But just like playing the lottery, you can’t win if you don’t play, so they figured it was worth a try. ESPN has shown that they can operate a conference’s network with minimal bumps in the road, and close carriage deals with major providers for those networks (especially the SEC Network), which would have been their major selling point to the Pac-12.

 

Count The Dings (f/k/a ESPN's True Hoop podcast) is going behind The Athletic's paywall.

I don't think I've listened to them since mid-December since it just isn't as good as it was with ESPN's backing.  I guess this is more stability for Jade, but I am shocked that 1300 folks donated on Patreon just to hear Big Woz complain and Trey act like he's an insider. 

14 minutes ago, DG_Now said:

 

So you get $5 off and no 4K option. Is the UFC community okay with this? You're paying $60/year just for access to buy more $60 PPVs (intro price notwithstanding).

 

I think ESPN+ is a great deal and I have no interest in the UFC content at all. Interesting to see ESPN branch out the platform for more uses like this. It's too bad they couldn't get Champions League rights; I don't think I would have paid over the top for access to those games, but it would have been nice for a non-Bleacher Report option.

 

I know that DirecTV had the 4K option, but as for other satellite and cable operators, IDK.

As for the bolded point, that's something I'd visit Sherdog for to find out. 

16 minutes ago, DG_Now said:

Is $60 the going rate for UFC PPVs? If not, doesn't it feel like if you pay $5/month, you should get a break on the full price of the big show?

 

$54.99 for those who still had SD. $64.99 was the going rate for the last PPV on HD cable and $10 more for the 4K feed.  They and DirecTV couldn't come to an agreement in February as UFC wanted a 70/30 split of the PPV price, as opposed to the traditional 50/50.

The ESPN+ cost will be $59.99

8 hours ago, DG_Now said:

How will the ESPN+ deal affect bars and other places like that? Don't they currently have special distribution deals?

From the release...

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UFC will continue to sell its PPV events to commercial establishments.

That pricing is determined by square footage and/or Fire Code occupancy.

Starting with UFC 236 on April 13, UFC PPVs will stream on ESPN+ as opposed to the traditional cable/satellite PPV model in the US.

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UFC^® and ESPN+, the direct-to-consumer sports video service from The Walt Disney Company’s Direct-to-Consumer and International (DTCI) segment and ESPN, today announced an agreement that will deliver value and simplicity to mixed martial arts fans, making ESPN+ the exclusive distributor of UFC Pay-Per-View events in the United States through 2025. The agreement will make ESPN+ the single point of purchase for consumers of the biggest UFC events throughout the year and the definitive destination for fans to get the most comprehensive coverage of UFC.

 

Starting with UFC^® 236: HOLLOWAY vs. POIRIER 2 on April 13, ESPN+ becomes the exclusive distributor in the United States of all UFC PPV events, showcasing 12 blockbuster live events per year from the world’s premier mixed martial arts organization, for each of the next seven years. The agreement adds a new business model to ESPN+ and builds upon the historic multi-platform rights agreement announced in 2018, which is now extended through 2025.

 

UFC PPV events sold through ESPN+ will include all bouts on the Main Event fight cards and will be streamed in high definition in both English and Spanish. Preliminary bouts for all UFC PPV events will continue to air nationally on ESPN (English) and ESPN Deportes (Spanish) under the agreement announced in 2018. Early preliminary bouts will be available to all ESPN+ subscribers, as well as on UFC FIGHT PASS and to those who have purchased the PPV. UFC will continue to sell its PPV events to commercial establishments.

 

In addition to giving MMA fans a one-stop home for all UFC PPV events, ESPN+ pricing and packaging will deliver new value to fans as well:

• New ESPN+ subscribers will get one-year of ESPN+ and a UFC PPV event for $79.99;
• Existing ESPN+ subscribers will be able to purchase UFC PPV events for $59.99 per event.

 

CBS and NBC will swap Super Bowls

From Variety:

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CBS and NBC will switch up the rotation for the broadcast of the 2021 (Tampa) and 2022 (Los Angeles) Super Bowls, a move that lets both networks pair the gridiron classic with other big sports events in their portfolios.

 

CBS, which was supposed to broadcast the event next in 2022, will instead take the 2021 broadcast, while NBC will move back a year, CBS, NBC and the NFL confirmed Wednesday.

 

The arrangement allows NBC to align the Super Bowl with its 2022 broadcast of the Winter Olympics, and gives CBS a Super Bowl that won’t have to compete with the NBC sports extravaganza. The switch will also give CBS a chance to have both a Super Bowl broadcast and top-ranked college basketball in the same year. The network gets to air the NCAA Final Four basketball championship that year; CBS and WarnerMedia, which air that tournament jointly, rotate the broadcast of the final game.

2

2 hours ago, Kevin W. said:

Being a skilled sportscaster for one sport doesn't always translate well to other sports but in Tirico's case, it did. I was very impressed with how well he handled himself and I would hope that he gets a look at doing more games in the future. Maybe not now, but in the future, he could even be on the call for some playoff games since they won't interfere with his NFL work.e

He's got a pretty full May now that Costas is gone.  He's going to host the Triple Crown races plus the Indy 500. 

On 2/19/2019 at 11:13 PM, the admiral said:

local NBA ratings are getting really bad

 

 

I'm a little surprised that Bulls ratings are going down the way they are because usually their ratings and especially their gate have been pretty insulated from poor performance. But there is something that feels breaking-point about this Bulls season: The brazenness of replacing one dumb coach with another, even dumber coach is a big part of it, but I think it's the reality of how the influx of new TV money gives the organization no impetus to do anything but collect those checks and indulge their weird Hoosiers fantasies. I must not be the only one who senses a deeper despair than that of the Hoiberg years.

 

LeBron in the Western Conference impacts the numbers, in addition to the NBA backloads the marquee games after the NFL playoffs.

1 minute ago, the admiral said:

Mike Tirico is calling Hawks-Wings in what I believe is his first NHL game (or at least first since ESPN had games) and in my opinion he's doing a very good job. You can tell he's being sort of cautious, but that mostly means no Emrickian flights of fancy, which isn't the worst thing in the world.

Tirico has never called a hockey game, at any level, in his career. 

7 minutes ago, DG_Now said:

How wasted is Spike Lee on the Bill Simmons podcast?

You just gave me a listen to for tonight.  I doubt Spike has any regard for Simmons at all.