pretty interesting. as these live rights continue to skyrocket, more and more deep-pocketed companies are throwing their hat in the ring.
Pac-12 TV Deal
- Thread starter John_J_Rambo_rivals315142
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Meh.....it was kinda nice to tune into a game late Saturday if they were the only game on TV but I can live without 'em. Don't think this will help them for recruiting though. In fact if I'm understanding you correctly...it will be very bad for that.
assuming rights go to highest bidder, regardless of it being a streaming company or traditional broadcasting company, more money is usually not a bad thing.
It means the rush to streaming is creating more competition for the rights to broadcast sports (among other things). That's a good thing money wise for P5 conferences. Might mean though that fans will eventually be unable to get all the sports coverage unless they subscribe to multiple services.
Pac 12 games end past the time I want/need to go to sleep so I am good regardless of the rights holder. Winking
More money is good but not being on the traditional broadcast networks would be bad for recruiting exposure and their brand in general. Has a second-rate feel and forces fans to subscribe to a particular service.
The NHL leaving ESPN for the Versus Network serves as a model. The contract was more lucrative but suddenly hockey was on channel 80-something (formerly the Outdoor Life Network) instead of ABC/ESPN/ESPN2.
At that point, the NHL basically waived the white flag on trying to attract casual fans in America. The Pac-12 would risk putting themselves even further behind among the Power 5.
I don't know for sure, but I'm guessing there are legions more subscribers to Apple+ than to Versus.
traditional broadcast networks don't necessarily have the clout they used to.
I wouldn't be surprised if this is posturing, but also wouldn't be surprised to see streaming services driving these rights prices up higher and higher every time contracts are due.
frankly, amazon/apple/facebook would be stupid not to bid for every P5 contract moving forward.
people will come, Ray. people will most definitely come.
Great move for streaming services to start bidding on this. They all need premium/exclusive content to drive their subscription bases. You can't do much better than football in America.
Traditional broadcast isn't what it was, but sports still seems to be something of an exception. Of course that will continue to diminish over time as more and more players enter the bidding and things get more muddled.
Right now, a move like that runs the risk of capping exposure for the Pac-12 at a time when they're already lagging behind the other Power 5s. Probably posturing on their part as you say but we'll see. Money has a way of getting things done.