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Ohio Football Topic
Topic: How much longer will the ESPN money be there for the MAC?
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C Money
4/26/2017 9:14 AM
ESPN cutting 100 "on-air talent" positions today.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/espn-will-cut-100-air-perso...

If I am reading that article correctly, that label apparently applies to the talking heads and not the broadcast crews, so hopefully mid-week MACtion isn't affected...for now....
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Ted Thompson
4/26/2017 9:20 AM
The ESPN/MAC contract runs through the 2026-27 season.
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Alan Swank
4/26/2017 10:03 AM
Ted Thompson wrote:expand_more
The ESPN/MAC contract runs through the 2026-27 season.
And many of us entered into contracts when we walked down the aisle and said "I do and till death do us part." So much for contracts according to the latest divorce statistics.
Last Edited: 4/26/2017 10:06:02 AM by Alan Swank
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Deciduous Forest Cat
4/26/2017 10:05 AM
Alan Swank wrote:expand_more
The ESPN/MAC contract runs through the 2026-27 season.
And so did those of us who walked down the aisle and said "I do and till death do us part." So much for contracts.
Bitches, man.
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BillyTheCat
4/26/2017 10:09 AM
C Money wrote:expand_more
ESPN cutting 100 "on-air talent" positions today.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/espn-will-cut-100-air-perso...

If I am reading that article correctly, that label apparently applies to the talking heads and not the broadcast crews, so hopefully mid-week MACtion isn't affected...for now....
Lots of the cuts will be in their move to broadcast games from remote locations like ESPN has been trying out the past few years on select games.
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Pataskala
4/26/2017 10:49 AM
Sporting News says some of the ESPN "stars" are making $1.5 million to $3 million. I don't think anybody on that network is worth that. Some apparently are willing to take a pay cut to stay on. I imagine the people doing MAC games are making low five figures. http://www.sportingnews.com/other-sports/news/espn-layoff...

Given the fact that ESPN just shelled out an undisclosed amount of money to buy the Miami Beach Bowl and move it to Texas, I doubt that payments to conferences are going to be an issue until the contract comes up for renewal. By then, we'll all have dumped our cable/satellite in favor of live streaming, and the MAC will be operating its own platform with no connection to ESPN, CBS, Fox, ASN, etc. Same for the 130 bowl games that'll be played each year.
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C Money
4/26/2017 12:10 PM
Pataskala wrote:expand_more
By then, we'll all have dumped our cable/satellite in favor of live streaming, and the MAC will be operating its own platform with no connection to ESPN, CBS, Fox, ASN, etc.

Mmmmmmmmm....$48 a month for a grainy feed, no score bar, and shotty camera work....that's the stuff dreams are made of.....
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cc-cat
4/26/2017 12:11 PM
buying bowls, televising MACAction etc is very cheap production costs for ESPN. Expect them to want more not less. Where they are getting burned is on the talking heads and major contracts eg MLB.
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Deciduous Forest Cat
4/26/2017 12:38 PM
C Money wrote:expand_more
By then, we'll all have dumped our cable/satellite in favor of live streaming, and the MAC will be operating its own platform with no connection to ESPN, CBS, Fox, ASN, etc.

Mmmmmmmmm....$48 a month for a grainy feed, no score bar, and shotty camera work....that's the stuff dreams are made of.....
You've seen the Internet recently, right?
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OUcats82
4/26/2017 2:23 PM
Deciduous Forest Cat wrote:expand_more
By then, we'll all have dumped our cable/satellite in favor of live streaming, and the MAC will be operating its own platform with no connection to ESPN, CBS, Fox, ASN, etc.

Mmmmmmmmm....$48 a month for a grainy feed, no score bar, and shotty camera work....that's the stuff dreams are made of.....
You've seen the Internet recently, right?
Only when I can get my kids or the Mrs. do keep off the dadgum phone so I can get an AOL connection.
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Pataskala
4/26/2017 2:51 PM
C Money wrote:expand_more
By then, we'll all have dumped our cable/satellite in favor of live streaming, and the MAC will be operating its own platform with no connection to ESPN, CBS, Fox, ASN, etc.

Mmmmmmmmm....$48 a month for a grainy feed, no score bar, and shotty camera work....that's the stuff dreams are made of.....
Considering that MAC scores come up about four times a game amongst the NCAAF top 25, NCAAF "P"5, "Score Alert" (which usually shows up right after they show the score in rotation anyway), "Upset Alert" (ditto), NFL news, MLB/NBA/NHL, MLS, FIFA, Golf, NASCAR, Tennis, and ESPN/ABC programming info, a score bar wouldn't be missed. If you blink or it comes up during a commercial break covered by DirecTV's spots, you miss it. And by scrunching the screen to get the score bar on, you usually can't see whether the guy's toe was out of bounds on the replay. CBS does a little better, but there usually aren't any other MAC games on the nights CBS covers the MAC anyway.
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mf279801
4/26/2017 4:06 PM
Deciduous Forest Cat wrote:expand_more
By then, we'll all have dumped our cable/satellite in favor of live streaming, and the MAC will be operating its own platform with no connection to ESPN, CBS, Fox, ASN, etc.

Mmmmmmmmm....$48 a month for a grainy feed, no score bar, and shotty camera work....that's the stuff dreams are made of.....
You've seen the Internet recently, right?
You've seen a non-ESPN MAC stream recently, right? Like the one that used to be broadcast via stretchinternet on Ohiobobcats.com? Or the UB one that was wired through their scoreboard, so you got all of the stadium graphics mixed into the feed?
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UpSan Bobcat
4/26/2017 9:28 PM
Pataskala wrote:expand_more
Sporting News says some of the ESPN "stars" are making $1.5 million to $3 million. I don't think anybody on that network is worth that. Some apparently are willing to take a pay cut to stay on. I imagine the people doing MAC games are making low five figures. http://www.sportingnews.com/other-sports/news/espn-layoff...

Given the fact that ESPN just shelled out an undisclosed amount of money to buy the Miami Beach Bowl and move it to Texas, I doubt that payments to conferences are going to be an issue until the contract comes up for renewal. By then, we'll all have dumped our cable/satellite in favor of live streaming, and the MAC will be operating its own platform with no connection to ESPN, CBS, Fox, ASN, etc. Same for the 130 bowl games that'll be played each year.
I think a lot of the guys who do the MAC games aren't even full-time employees.

What I hate most about this is that so many actual reporters were fired, leaving all of the guys (who probably make the most money in the first place) who just like to yell their opinions.
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Monroe Slavin
4/27/2017 12:04 AM
Apparently ESPN has had this type of firings...er, salary dumpings...several times over the past dozen years, happening every 2-3 years.

The MAC contract with ESPN runs thru 2026-27 or until this staff wins a MAC title. So, it likely runs thru 2026-27.
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TWT
4/27/2017 12:13 AM
The bubble bursting will lead to more desperation. Realignment this decade was a sign of desperation scrambling for TV money. One way they milked the system was the move to the playoff and the MAC benefited from the profit sharing. It does look ominous for ESPN when profits are tailing in an economy where the stock market is charting record highs.
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Flat Tire
4/27/2017 8:41 AM
The payroll cuts are the first step to control expenses and adjust their business model. ESPN can still make money, but their revenues are down so the accountants are making the necessary adjustments. The next expense they will be review will be the contracts for broadcasting. ESPN paid way too much for the broadcasting rights, I believe they paid $2 Billion for Monday night football? They will be looking at every broadcasting fee to control their expense. Sometimes it is easier to cut the smaller fees to conferences like the MAC and keep the rights to say a conference like SEC since a major conference will draw more advertising revenues.
Last Edited: 4/27/2017 8:43:05 AM by Flat Tire
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colobobcat66
4/27/2017 9:53 AM
Flat Tire wrote:expand_more
The payroll cuts are the first step to control expenses and adjust their business model. ESPN can still make money, but their revenues are down so the accountants are making the necessary adjustments. The next expense they will be review will be the contracts for broadcasting. ESPN paid way too much for the broadcasting rights, I believe they paid $2 Billion for Monday night football? They will be looking at every broadcasting fee to control their expense. Sometimes it is easier to cut the smaller fees to conferences like the MAC and keep the rights to say a conference like SEC since a major conference will draw more advertising revenues.
Of course, they have been cutting staff now for several years. This recent cutting is certainly not the first part of that. If they are not already looking at broadcasting fees, they would be idiots. Rest assured that they are doing that.
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rpbobcat
4/27/2017 10:21 AM
They were talking about this on WFAN (Boomer and Carton) this morning.

From what they were saying,people in the industry expect the "landscape", as it comes to sports "broadcasting", to be very different in the next few years,especially as NBA and MLB broadcasting contracts come up.

They said that the NBA and MLB may be split into a number of different "platforms" with more "options" then there are today.

One thing that they seem to feel will happen,is the ability to "customize" sports viewing.
All of this is,of course, to optimize revenues.

They don't seem to feel that the NFL or college football will change much.
They do feel that ESPN will have to do something about the number of bowls they keep the rights too.

One thing that they also pointed out was that ESPN didn't seem to realize just how much sports viewing was going change,before it was too late.
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C Money
4/27/2017 10:44 AM
rpbobcat wrote:expand_more
From what they were saying,people in the industry expect the "landscape", as it comes to sports "broadcasting", to be very different in the next few years,especially as NBA and MLB broadcasting contracts come up.

They said that the NBA and MLB may be split into a number of different "platforms" with more "options" then there are today.

One thing that they seem to feel will happen,is the ability to "customize" sports viewing.
All of this is,of course, to optimize revenues.

Yes. It's all going to go streaming, one way or another.

I think the question is whether the leagues themselves handle the streaming, or ESPN abandons the cable model, or a new player like Netflix or Amazon incorporates live sports.
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OhioCatFan
4/27/2017 10:50 AM
C Money wrote:expand_more
I think the question is whether the leagues themselves handle the streaming, or ESPN abandons the cable model, or a new player like Netflix or Amazon incorporates live sports.
IMHO, if ESPN doesn't abandon the cable model they will not survive. For the next several years they need to be in a transition mode where they are still in cable but are putting increasing emphasis on streaming.
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C Money
4/27/2017 11:01 AM
OhioCatFan wrote:expand_more
I think the question is whether the leagues themselves handle the streaming, or ESPN abandons the cable model, or a new player like Netflix or Amazon incorporates live sports.
IMHO, if ESPN doesn't abandon the cable model they will not survive. For the next several years they need to be in a transition mode where they are still in cable but are putting increasing emphasis on streaming.
I have a friend who works in content development at Netflix. He's told me they are absolutely trying to get into sports, but right now they're looking less at mainstream sports and more into things like MMA. But as these major contracts come up for renegotiation, who knows what might happen?

A Disney/Netflix merger--with a new ESPN streaming sports add-on for Netflix subscribers--would make a lot of sense to me.
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Pataskala
4/27/2017 12:30 PM
ESPN's financial problems may eventually lead to a "Group of Five" playoff. ESPN owns/operates 13 of the 18 bowl games with G5 teams. If they can't find a way to stop hemorrhaging money, most -- or all -- of these games will cease to exist. Some may fold anyway. But the G5 conferences will still want some kind of post-season, and the "P"s won't cooperate because they want to lock us out. A G5 playoff is already being discussed, with a modicum of support. If ESPN's bowl games disappear, the discussion will get more serious.
Last Edited: 4/27/2017 12:31:13 PM by Pataskala
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TWT
4/28/2017 7:04 AM
Flat Tire wrote:expand_more
They will be looking at every broadcasting fee to control their expense. Sometimes it is easier to cut the smaller fees to conferences like the MAC and keep the rights to say a conference like SEC since a major conference will draw more advertising revenues.
After years of telling us how grandiose CUSA's TV deal was and how much the per school payout made a big difference now since you can't do that anymore your suggesting the MAC's TV deal will be cut. It's CUSA's TV deal ESPN decided to give up on not the MAC.
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Monroe Slavin
4/28/2017 10:05 AM
I hear...well, actually I'm 100%, totally making up..that OHIO may change conferences, probably going to, at least, ACC level.

Why not? We always have these thoughts and haven't had it for a while.


Heck, with Zaire transferring in to OHIO, we're hot attractive!
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colobobcat66
4/28/2017 11:40 AM
Monroe Slavin wrote:expand_more
I hear...well, actually I'm 100%, totally making up..that OHIO may change conferences, probably going to, at least, ACC level.

Why not? We always have these thoughts and haven't had it for a while.


Heck, with Zaire transferring in to OHIO, we're hot attractive!
I hear it's a sure thing since an anonymous donor from California who sells doggie bags had donated $100,000,000 to build a new football field-Monroe Stadium.
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