Someone explain to me...

[MSUDC11]

How half the teams in college football aren't playing yet but somehow we have a conference game on Saturday night that has been relegated to the freaking SEC Alternate channel.

For comparison, at the same time State vs. Arkansas is going on, you have UCF-Tulsa on ESPN2 and Troy-South Alabama on ESPNU.

How does that happen?

 

[dorndawg]

My guess is, they can plug us into SEC-A and have more games on, whereas if we were on the Duece they can't plug either of those other 2 in there. UCF--Tulsa also have 2 solid population centers that could translate into some eyeballs.

 

[Russ Wheeler]

My guess is, they can plug us into SEC-A and have more games on, whereas if we were on the Duece they can't plug either of those other 2 in there. UCF--Tulsa also have 2 solid population centers that could translate into some eyeballs.

This is the answer. All those channels are essentially basic cable now and run by ESPN.

However, I don't think just because these colleges are in urban areas, that it transfers to TV eyes. I know that's a theory that is always talked about in conference realignment circles. Maybe some tie to subscriptions, but the only thing that brings real eyes are big fanbases or quality football (like Leach). Most UCF fans only care if they are undefeated, they are all Florida or FSU fans. They'll go to a game here and there but the TV just doesn't do it for them.

 

[MSUDC11]

My guess is, they can plug us into SEC-A and have more games on, whereas if we were on the Duece they can't plug either of those other 2 in there. UCF--Tulsa also have 2 solid population centers that could translate into some eyeballs.

UCF is fine but Tulsa is a C-USA program who hasn't had a winning season in 4 years and averaged about 20,000 people at all their home games last year.

I realize State-Arkansas did not not look like a super attractive game before Saturday and there are more interesting games than this one in the league this week, but I can't say I understand having a conference game relegated to an "alternate" channel in a climate where we have multiple conferences who haven't even started their seasons yet.

And shoot, we don't have to exclusively look at the games at the same time as us. Look at some of the other games that are on better ESPN networks than ours throughout the day on Saturday:

Arkansas State vs. Coastal Carolina - 11 a.m. ESPN2
East Carolina vs. Georgia State - 11 a.m. ESPNU
Memphis vs. SMU - 2:30 p.m. ESPN2
Charlotte vs. Florida Atlantic - 3 p.m. ESPNU
Tulsa vs. UCF - 6:30 ESPN2
Troy vs. South Alabama - 7 p.m. ESPNU

I realize there are some built-in agreements with conferences baked in there and ESPN was clearly not expecting us to beat LSU and be a ranked team, but I'm struggling to understand how all of those games are in more advantageous viewership situations than a game between two SEC West teams. Shoot, our game last year against Arkansas when we were bad and they were atrocious was even on the normal SEC Network.

ETA: Not only is our game on the alternate channel, kickoff is at the same time as the national game of the week (Georgia/Auburn). So this game is really going to be buried down the list.

 

[johnson86-1]

UCF is fine but Tulsa is a C-USA program who hasn't had a winning season in 4 years and averaged about 20,000 people at all their home games last year.

I realize State-Arkansas did not not look like a super attractive game before Saturday and there are more interesting games than this one in the league this week, but I can't say I understand having a conference game relegated to an "alternate" channel in a climate where we have multiple conferences who haven't even started their seasons yet.

And shoot, we don't have to exclusively look at the games at the same time as us. Look at some of the other games that are on better ESPN networks than ours throughout the day on Saturday:

Arkansas State vs. Coastal Carolina - 11 a.m. ESPN2
East Carolina vs. Georgia State - 11 a.m. ESPNU
Memphis vs. SMU - 2:30 p.m. ESPN2
Charlotte vs. Florida Atlantic - 3 p.m. ESPNU
Tulsa vs. UCF - 6:30 ESPN2
Troy vs. South Alabama - 7 p.m. ESPNU

I realize there are some built-in agreements with conferences baked in there and ESPN was clearly not expecting us to beat LSU and be a ranked team, but I'm struggling to understand how all of those games are in more advantageous viewership situations than a game between two SEC West teams. Shoot, our game last year against Arkansas when we were bad and they were atrocious was even on the normal SEC Network.

ETA: Not only is our game on the alternate channel, kickoff is at the same time as the national game of the week (Georgia/Auburn). So this game is really going to be buried down the list.

You have to remember that ESPN can't make the SEC channel be for nothing except the worst games. There is a balance they have to make between having the best matchups on the channels included in the most cable/satellite packages to maximize eyeballs and ad revenue, but they also have to make the premium channels attractive enough that people feel like they are missing out if they don't get it.

I'm a little surprised that they are playing Tulsa and USA on ESPNU while using the SEC alternate channel, but while that certainly doesn't maximize the value for ESPNU, it does make the SEC channel that much more attractive (and necessary for cable/satellite companies) while also maximizing the number of games shown and ads sold.

 

[Cooterpoot]

The "experts" thought State and AR would suck and not be interesting. Then you have tv contracts with the other conferences to show their games.

 

[Duke Humphrey]

Arkansas would draw more from Tulsa media market than actual school from Tulsa.

 

[Duke Humphrey]

No non-conference games this year to relegate to the alternate channel plus contractual obligations to American, CUSA, SunBelt to show so many games on one of ESPN, Deuce, U.....

 

[GloryDawg]

More money for the SEC network.

 

[The Fatboy]

They also have contracts with these other conferences to show x number of games per year. That may be a part of the equation as well.

 

[Go Budaw]

My guess is, they can plug us into SEC-A and have more games on, whereas if we were on the Duece they can't plug either of those other 2 in there. UCF--Tulsa also have 2 solid population centers that could translate into some eyeballs.

I’d buy that for UCF-Tulsa (mainly because UCF is ranked), but nobody is watching that Troy-USA game. Doesn’t really matter to me though, all it takes is a FireTV / Firestick or just a TV that’s less than 10 years old to be able to watch all of the above. I’m not sure ESPNU is any more “prestigious” than SEC-Alternate / WatchESPN.

 

[Go Budaw]

The "experts" thought State and AR would suck and not be interesting. Then you have tv contracts with the other conferences to show their games.

This is another excellent point. All these game times were set before anybody kicked off last weekend.

 

[SirBarksalot]

Won’t I be able to stream our game on my Roku via the espn app? If so I’m not as upset.

 

[kphall11]

They also have contracts with these other conferences to show x number of games per year. That may be a part of the equation as well.

Ding ding ding, we have a winner.

 

[patdog]

Very good point. SEC gets 50% of advertising revenue if it's on SECN-Alternate. It gets nothing if its on another ESPN network.