Big 12 TV partners push back on expansion

[Brad]

Big 12 TV partners push back on expansion

 

By John Ourand & Michael Smith, Staff Writers

Published August 1, 2016

 

Big 12’s TV partners are pushing back on the conference’s plans to expand.

ESPN and Fox Sports believe that expansion with schools from outside the power five conferences will water down the Big 12 and make it less valuable, not more, sources said. But the Big 12 is financially motivated to add more teams. A clause in the conference’s media deals stipulate that if the Big 12 expands, it would receive pro rata increases in its rights fees.

The original deals pay $2.6 billion over 13 years, or about $20 million per school annually. Expansion by two schools, theoretically, would force ESPN and Fox combined to pay an additional $40 million per year in rights fees. Expansion by four teams could mean another $80 million per year.

Both networks, according to sources, are digging their heels in against paying those kinds of increases based on expansion with schools outside the power five.

Among the schools reportedly being considered for expansion are Brigham Young, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Houston, Memphis and others. The Big 12, which has 10 teams, has not said if it will expand by two or four schools, but both options are in play.

The drive to expand is fueled by the opportunity to almost immediately generate more money for its schools. The conference’s TV deals run through 2024-25 and the Big 12 already trails the rest of the power five conferences in revenue, so expansion stands out as the only way for the Big 12 to increase revenue.

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Rest of Story

[DELdaBull]

Money gives say gtfoh on this expansion bs.

[raptorcj]

Yeah, ESPN & Fox wouldn't make up their money in additional audiences and broadcasts for B12. 

...but maybe, just maybe, this helps push the argument in favor of the larger TV market shares.

[slick1ru2]

ESPN is losing large numbers of subscribers, over 20 million cord cutters now and growing.

[FazaUSF]

12 minutes ago, slick1ru2 said:

ESPN is losing large numbers of subscribers, over 20 million cord cutters now and growing.

They deserve to. They are just pandering hacks that shovel bull then recycle it over and over. Zero actual journalism.

[TallyBull]

^ Would be a nice compromise if ESPN and Fox say, in essence, "OK, you can expand, but only if take the Florida schools because they'd be new customers..."

[Who'sYourData?]

1 hour ago, slick1ru2 said:

ESPN is losing large numbers of subscribers, over 20 million cord cutters now and growing.

They are losing subscribers, but many of those cord cutters are finding ESPN through other means such as Sling TV.

ESPN's real problem is that they handed out yuge fee increases to a bunch of different sports keep them all on ESPN or add them to the ESPN lineup.  All those channels need content.  They spent too much, sometimes increasing fees when they were not even facing a competitor for the contract.   They were so afraid to lose one or two of the battles they are now losing the war.  Because they've spent so much on content they can no longer afford the on air and behind the scenes talent to make the company great again.
 

[Who'sYourData?]

1 hour ago, TallyBull said:

^ Would be a nice compromise if ESPN and Fox say, in essence, "OK, you can expand, but only if take the Florida schools because they'd be new customers..."

Ultimately, this will happen.  Well, not specifically the Florida schools.  But they will at least influence which schools get chosen.

If indeed they are griping and complaining and threatening to leave the Big 12 high and dry after this contract is up, the reason is that they want to control who comes in.  They were dumb enough to give the Big 12 extra money for new schools without giving themselves right of refusal as to which schools were added.  So they will threaten to dump them after this contract to regain the leverage to pick the schools and markets they want.

In the end, this probably is a good thing more than a bad thing for us.
 

[slick1ru2]

5 hours ago, Who'sYourData? said:

They are losing subscribers, but many of those cord cutters are finding ESPN through other means such as Sling TV.

ESPN's real problem is that they handed out yuge fee increases to a bunch of different sports keep them all on ESPN or add them to the ESPN lineup.  All those channels need content.  They spent too much, sometimes increasing fees when they were not even facing a competitor for the contract.   They were so afraid to lose one or two of the battles they are now losing the war.  Because they've spent so much on content they can no longer afford the on air and behind the scenes talent to make the company great again.
 

I don't think they get as much per sub on streaming services, Sling basic is $19.99 for the basic lineup. Even for Vue, $29.99 is the price for their base package with 55+ channels. And while there's 20 million plus cord cutters, Sling, for example per parent Dish, is capping it's number of subs at 2 million.

 

http://www.tubefilter.com/2015/04/02/dish-sling-tv-two-million-subscriber-cap/

Edited August 2, 2016 by slick1ru2

[DELdaBull]

Thou shalt not waste my money.