Is ESPN the wizard behind the curtain?

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- 07/25/2021 at 9:44 AM #146062
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  MDUte
  Ute Fan
  
  @mdute
  
  Very interesting article by Wilner. Sounds like ESPN is forming a monopoly on Tier 1 college football.
  Wilner article – ESPN’s masterplan
- 07/25/2021 at 10:05 AM #146064
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  Utesbyfive
  Ute Fan
  
  @utesbyfive
  
  Yep, and it’s quite a malicious plan if you’re not the SEC.
- 07/25/2021 at 10:11 AM #146065
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  CB
  Ute Fan
  
  @solidhobo
  
  Of course they are. F**k ESPN
  - 07/25/2021 at 10:44 AM #146067
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    UTE98
    Ute Fan
    
    @ute98
    
    Blame me. Okay, I’m partially kidding. About five years ago my best friend from HS visited me, he’s a zoobie, and at the time was working for ABC/Disney on a project about the future of broadcast television and cable. When he came to my house I’d already cut the cord. And told him, cable is going the way of the dinosaur, you need to understand streaming media is the wave of the future. He explained how media creators were asking certain amounts for their content. And oftentimes ABC would buy Comcast, NBC, or other media producers content. But before he left, he said, “You’ve given me a whole new look at broadcast TV.” He said the only thing still of value to broadcast TV was live sports. So… perhaps ABC made the decision to use ESPN to gain an iron grip on sports content, namely college football.
    
    Anyway, I’m sure it not my fault. He hasn’t worked for Disney for about four years, however that conversation haunts me. I may have to give him a call today and get his take on how things are shaking out. Not 100% sure he’ll know but he’ll probably have pretty good insight into what has transpired and will likely transpire in the near future.
    
    And of course I’ll blame him for screwing up TDS’ chances to ever get in a Power 5 conference.
- 07/25/2021 at 11:42 AM #146072
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  2008 National Champ
  Ute Fan
  
  @cptmrgn05
  
  The best thing Pete Rozelle and the NFL ever did was to set up their broadcasting packages so that one network could not control the content, and thus, the autonomy of the league. They’ve continued that plan and now have multiple networks who have to compete for the right to show the their content while the NFL determines what is best for their league.
  
  Division 1 college sports have always been the opposite. Oklahoma (and another school I can’t remember off the top of my head, maybe Nebraska?) sued to the Supreme Court because the NCAA mandated a maximum number of times that any one school could be on broadcast television (nationally). The willingness of the university presidents / conferences to not only outsource their regular season content, as well as ceding their postseason to the Bowl/BCS/CFP, is what has led us down the rabbit hole to where we currently stand which is a place where a single third party entity has the ability to determine the success or failure of individual participants. If ever there was a trust that needed busting, it is ESPN.
  
  The best thing the Pac-12 can do at this point is stand pat on the number of teams in the conference and wrest control of their content back from ESPN. The networks willingness to force the conference to accept third tier status in the timing of their games is the biggest contributor to the conference’s current status. Only when the Pac-12 is in a position where they control all of their content will they also be in a position to negotiate the rights to said content from a position of strength. Playing night and weekday football games currently serves ESPN’s need for content in windows of low viewership but does nothing to enhance the conference’s status, let alone maintain the fanbase interest.