The Sports Media Thread

[JayMac]

I wouldn't pay a quarter of that to watch a Super Bowl, no matter who is in it. 

[Digby]

On 2023-05-15 at 7:49 PM, BBTV said:

 

I'm glad that works for you.  Really.  Maybe it's not the big deal I'm making it out to be.

 

Back in the day, PPV and other pay services would have certain rules requiring commercial establishments to pay a different fee for the ability to legally show things like boxing and wrestling.  It's 2023 and a lot of things have changed, so I have no idea if there's any rules about it.  But either way,, getting Peacock is an additional expense (though not really much) for a place to pay.  Also in my limited experience at places that streamed the Amazon games, it wouldn't fail that one or more of the devices would be on a few seconds lag, and you'd hear cheering from one end of the place before you saw what happened.  Also, depending on the place, the bar staff isn't always even aware that it's a streaming game and they need to pull out a Roku, and then they fumble around to figure out how to use it (which blows my mind, because it's not like they don't use Netflix or Prime at home... but it's like as soon as they're out of their house, they completely forget how things work... and why not just keep the damned device connected??) 

 

Granted, I'm not going to "sports bars", but it's still silly how they go braindead when they have to turn on the same service they use at home, but outside their home (though I don't know any non-wrestling fan that actually watches Peacock, whether they have it or not.

 

 

 

In the days of DirecTV Sunday Ticket and a sports bar having six different possible circuits for all its TVs, the setup behind-the-bar was considerably more complicated than a home TV. Everything times six plus different "commercial hardware" to boot. I think it was easier back then; you had your TV provider plus a couple add-ons for Sunday Ticket or whatever and that was that. Just a shedload of channels to remember. I'm not behind bars much anymore but I do think the app-ification and all the subscriptions gets thornier when you're working at that level vs. at your house... MLS has never been a big bar draw around here but I used to at least see it randomly here and there when it was on ESPN or a local broadcast station. This year the only bar I'm aware of that's bothered with it is the hardcore supporters' group bar.

[The_Admiral]

7 hours ago, Germanshepherd said:

Former ESPN CEO John Skipper can totally see it happening, with the price being as high as $250

 

Business genius John Skipper, whose vision for ESPN was a rainbow coalition of Ivy leaguers agreeing with Dan Le Batard, thwarted only by his addiction to cocaine

[The_Admiral]

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/37693310/big-ten-new-commissioner-television-deal-coaches-uncertainty

 

Quote

Kevin Warren took over as Big Ten commissioner in January 2020, and in just three years at the helm, he dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic, helped bring USC and UCLA into the conference in a landscape-altering deal, and secured the massive TV payday before heading back to the NFL as team president and CEO of the Chicago Bears.

 

When he accepted that job, he said he was leaving the Big Ten in a "demonstratively better position," which was true financially as its schools project more revenue than any league over the course of the deal. His work adding USC and UCLA, who join the conference after the 2023-24 season, was widely praised by members and provided a financial jolt to the television deal.

 

On campus, it's a bit more muddled. Big Ten schools have seen potential revenue disappear the past few months from a contract that was announced back in August as being worth an average of nearly $1 billion per year through the 2029 football season. More than $70 million in total is suddenly in flux -- nearly $5 million per school -- and it has left administrators around the league seeking answers and calling for financial accountability.

 

Recently, schools have found out:

They are going to have to pay back nearly $40 million to Fox because, according to sources, Warren delivered NBC the Big Ten football title game in 2026 without the full authority to do so. This all has unfolded under the complicated backdrop of the Big Ten conference not actually controlling the rights to the inventory of this latest deal -- the Big Ten Network does, which is majority owned by Fox. (More on that below.)

 

They are going to have to pay $25 million total for a deal to pay Fox back for lost 2020 football game inventory. This came after an arrangement between Fox and the conference that was unable to muster the lost revenue from the COVID-19 season.

 

There's tens of millions of dollars of value of the NBC primetime deal in flux, as Petitti has been racing to ensure it keeps as much of its original value as possible. Historically in the Big Ten, after the first weekend in November, schools were not required to play night games for myriad reasons -- health, recovery and campus logistics among them. These were known in league circles as "tolerances," and prior television contracts accounted for them.

 

Multiple sources told ESPN there's been pushback from a number of schools, including Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State, to play those late-November night games under the new contract. That leaves Petitti to figure out how to uphold a deal for hundreds of millions of dollars for primetime games without cooperation from some of the league's marquee teams for part of the regular season's most important month.

 

Athletic departments and coaches around the Big Ten say they were surprised November night games would be part of the deal. They weren't asked for permission to play them prior to the deal or informed of the change ahead of the deal, according to sources. At the same time, NBC wasn't aware until well after the initial contract was signed this summer that these big-brand schools had historic tolerances that were part of the prior television arrangements and would resist being available.

"NBC was surprised, and I was surprised," said Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel. "We had not discussed, and I had not discussed with anyone in the league to change the tolerances we had agreed upon years ago."

 

Within the industry, though, there was an expectation that, considering the scope of the deal, all schools would play in prime time.

 

"The fault here is with the administrators on campus," said another industry source. "How did the presidents, chancellors and athletic directors not know this? The universities all signed off on the deal."

 

While this is being worked through, Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan State recently agreed to concessions to make short-term sacrifices to help the league make up for some lost revenue from the NBC deal.

 

Penn State will play on the road in a short week on Black Friday against Michigan State, a game that was scheduled before Penn State agreed to it. Ohio State will host Michigan State on Nov. 11, the latest-ever home night game in Ohio State history, which is viewed as another concession to help the league through this moment.

 

"This is what he's walking into right now," another industry source said of Petitti. "Tony is trying to save it, and what Penn State and Ohio State are doing is actually trying to minimize the losses."

 

Warren did not return requests for comment.

 

"We're excited to start our Big Ten deal this fall," an NBC Sports spokesman told ESPN. "We had a great relationship with Kevin Warren, and same with Tony Petitti. We're confident that any and all outstanding issues are well on their way to being resolved."

 

A full understanding of the deal Warren helped negotiate with NBC, CBS and Fox begins with a bizarre twist -- the Big Ten didn't technically own the rights. (Hence the tension over Warren using the Big Ten title game without Fox's permission.)

 

In 2016, when the Big Ten announced its long-term television deal with Fox and ESPN, the announcement didn't include all the details. One of the things that didn't get disclosed at the time, nor as the new deal was being discussed in recent months, was that the Big Ten Network had acquired all of the league's programming rights back in 2016 through an undisclosed date. The length of that deal with the Big Ten Network from 2016 is carried at least through the current deal, which has been announced through the 2029-30 season.

 

This relationship was known by athletic directors, television executives at rival networks and officials in other leagues, even if it wasn't announced publicly. It flashed out into the public at various times, including Sports Business Journal reporting in April 2022 that two Fox senior executives were in the room when various media companies -- ESPN, Amazon, NBC and others -- met with the league about their television packages.

 

What this also essentially meant was the latest round of Big Ten television deals were effectively sub-license arrangements, in which both the Big Ten Network and Fox essentially controlled the rights and worked with the Big Ten to sub-license them off. That meant a majority of the value of the deal had already been sold.

 

"It was a joint negotiation with the conference and FOX working together and doing deals with these other networks," said an industry source. "They both needed each other to do the deals."

 

That factor is key to understanding the issues Petitti faces. There are two new partners -- NBC and CBS -- attempting to work out their longform deals. There's a familiar partner, Fox, that's riding shotgun on this bumpy ride, including being upset Warren promised a title game Fox controlled without permission.

 

The league and Fox had also been in talks with Amazon about the deal that ultimately went to NBC, but according to sources, there was late pushback by key campus stakeholders that some of the biggest brands weren't ready for part of a marquee package to only be available on streaming. That set up the push to get as much money as possible from NBC.

 

And it leaves the league facing a decision on a potential bonus for Warren, who didn't have a bonus clause tied to a television deal in his contract. Warren's predecessor, Jim Delany, got a bonus of more than $20 million that was announced in 2017, and he's still getting paid for it because he led the negotiation that sold all of the rights through this decade. (The bonus had been in Delany's contract prior to the deal.)

 

The league has brought in an outside search firm, Korn Ferry, to determine whether Warren's work with this television deal should bring him a bonus.

 

Feeling a lot better about the Bears staying in Chicago if the move is being handled by the guy who, where it said "do not write under this line," put "okay."

[The_Admiral]

I believe this has sports media implications: apparently no cord-cutter is paying for Peacock, because Comcast is taking it away from cable subscribers who had gotten it bundled and making us pay for it. I'm annoyed but not surprised: "Hey, you know the broadcast network that for the better part of the last 25 years has done everything wrong? Let's build a streaming service around them" was never really a winning play. 

[Luigi74]

2 hours ago, the admiral said:

I believe this has sports media implications: apparently no cord-cutter is paying for Peacock, because Comcast is taking it away from cable subscribers who had gotten it bundled and making us pay for it. I'm annoyed but not surprised: "Hey, you know the broadcast network that for the better part of the last 25 years has done everything wrong? Let's build a streaming service around them" was never really a winning play. 

Peacock has a $19.99 for a year sale going on right now and has them throughout the year.

[throwuascenario]

On 5/17/2023 at 10:58 AM, CS85 said:

 

It's all inevitable.  The entire product, every single aspect of it, will enter a closed system.  Annual subscriptions, local market premium fees, PPV super bowl, draft, and playoffs.

 

 

 

This would literally kill the sport within 30 years. No sports league will exist when their only market is existing, die-hard fans. They will never  gain any new fans when you have to pay to watch. Ask the NHL, MLB, and NBA how that's worked over the last 30 years with their cable deals. And if they're charging to watch all games, football will turn into a niche sport and lose any casual fans they have too.

 

Other sports should be copying the NFL, not the other way around.

 

If your billion dollar business's only real asset is a brand, hiding that brand is beyond dumb.

 

When you're focused on nickels and dimes, you lose the whole dollar.

[TrueYankee26]

The first domino

 

 

 

Edited May 31, 2023 by TrueYankee26

[TBGKon]

Expect something like this to happen in other places too.

 

 

[Sec19Row53]

Shannon Sharpe is reportedly leaving Undisputed and FS1.

[Cujo]

1 hour ago, Sec19Row53 said:

Shannon Sharpe is reportedly leaving Undisputed and FS1.

 

Does anybody watch even that?

[Sec19Row53]

3 minutes ago, Cujo said:

 

Does anybody watch even that?

I never have. My youngest son does. Other than him, few people admit it, but a bunch of people must.

[Marcos Flamengo]

On 5/31/2023 at 2:23 PM, TBGKon said:

Expect something like this to happen in other places too.

 

 

 

My hypothetical scenario to this one:

 

DAZN would take over Cleveland Guardians regional broadcasting rights, with all games being aired there in the Guardians region
Fox Corporation would take over Minnesota Twins regional broadcasting rights, with games being aired primarily on Fox 9 Plus under the Fox Sports banner
Paramount would take over Texas Rangers regional broadcasting rights with games being aired on TXA 21 (in the DFW) and Paramount+ (exclusively in the Rangers region)
Scripps would take over Diamondbacks regional broadcasting rights, with games being primarily aired on CW 61 Arizona and select games being broadcast on ABC 15 Arizona under the Scripps Sports banner

[LMU]

Another Bally/Diamond casualty:

 

[The_Admiral]

Damn, and he's really good at his job, too. Hawks should snatch him up right now; this dork who replaced Pat Foley is utterly forgettable.

 

I guess that means Jim Fox or Daryl Evans is out as well?

[Cujo]

1 hour ago, the admiral said:

Damn, and he's really good at his job, too. Hawks should snatch him up right now; this dork who replaced Pat Foley is utterly forgettable.

 

I guess that means Jim Fox or Daryl Evans is out as well?

 

Fox and Evans still appear to be onboard. But maybe they move Fox into a pregame/intermission type role ?

 

Also, there would've been outrage in LA had this happened while Bob Miller was still in the booth

[LMU]

1 minute ago, Cujo said:

 

Fox and Evans still appear to be onboard. But maybe they move Fox into a pregame/intermission type role ?

Fox remains the color guy and will join Nick Nickson, who's been doing the radio call since 1981 for both TV and radio.  Evans is transitioning to a yet-to-be-defined on-air personality role, hopefully playing the role of Mean Gene with his eclectic tuxedo collection.

 

[Cujo]

We knew the layoffs were coming.. 

 

 

[Gary]

On 6/4/2023 at 12:30 PM, Marcos Flamengo said:

 

My hypothetical scenario to this one:

 

DAZN would take over Cleveland Guardians regional broadcasting rights, with all games being aired there in the Guardians region
Fox Corporation would take over Minnesota Twins regional broadcasting rights, with games being aired primarily on Fox 9 Plus under the Fox Sports banner
Paramount would take over Texas Rangers regional broadcasting rights with games being aired on TXA 21 (in the DFW) and Paramount+ (exclusively in the Rangers region)
Scripps would take over Diamondbacks regional broadcasting rights, with games being primarily aired on CW 61 Arizona and select games being broadcast on ABC 15 Arizona under the Scripps Sports banner

Actually, the Diamondbacks are negotiating with Gray Television to broadcast the games for the Diamondbacks in 2024. With the games being played on 3 TV(KTVK)Sundays and the Arizona Family Sports Network(channel 44, cable 13)

[BBTV]

12 hours ago, Cujo said:

We knew the layoffs were coming.. 

 

 

 

Word on the street is Suzi Kolber is next.  That would break my heart.