(03-04-2018 01:00 PM)thefaU Wrote:  

(03-04-2018 11:33 AM)itsmeagain Wrote:  The reason I would hate CUSAs deal isn't whether they're on regular TV or not, but that some of the games are carried on CUSAtv, which costs $6 for one viewing (or $10 for a month), a couple were carried on FloSports ($30 a month), some were carried on BeIN (which, if you don't have access to it already costs $15 a month to steam), and some of them weren't carried at all. As it is now in the SBC, it doesn't matter whether it's over the air or streamed, I'm still watching via WatchESPN app that's built into my tv, I know every single conference and home game will be carried on it, and it costs me nothing extra to what I'm already paying. If we end up paying $5 a month extra for ESPN+, I'm getting access to all my schools basketball, baseball, and football games, all the conferences games, and whatever other conferences end up having contracts on there (plus any other sports are carried on there). That, plus we know we're going to have more game broadcast nationality on TV with this new contract. A lot better than having to pay for a hodgepodge of different providers to watch a single game, or having to plug a laptop into the TV (or use a phone) for social media apps.

The reason I would hate Sun Belt's deal is you're not on linear television (a few games during the week) and you're stuck behind a paywall until 2028. This severely hurts any exposure as a conference. How many subscribers who get ESPN+ for MLB, NHL, or MLS content do you actually think will tune into any Sun Belt content? My guess is that it'd be a low number. The casual viewers most likely won't subscribe to ESPN+. And how many people will subscribe to ESPN+ at all? If you look at other OTT platforms, it takes years before you build any sort of audience. In the meantime, C-USA has many games on ESPN/2/U and CBS Sports on Fridays and Saturdays. Also, my parents who have one of the most basic cable packages gets both Stadium & beIN SPORTS, which are in the same range of sports channels as ESPN, CBS Sports Network, etc. If you're flipping through to see what games are on, you'll come across a C-USA game. As for myself, I have Sling that carries all the channels and a smart TV so I can watch every game on my television. And I only pay $20 for Sling, by the way. Facebook has the potential to pick up the casual viewer that ESPN+ does not. There's a reason the Mountain West is also in talks with Stadium and not ESPN+. And you seem to forget that we're still negotiating a TV deal. No one is advocating for CUSA.tv; we would be the first to say it's ****. But we'd much rather put our content on Stadium/Facebook that can be watched on linear television and streamed online for free, which is more likely to be watched by the casual viewer and gives us more exposure, than to put everything behind an ESPN+ paywall.

The only things that are changing about the Sun Belt's tv deal is this:

1. More games on cable per school, mostly still on weeknights which isn't actually a big deal. Our Thursday night games with App will still outsell most of our later-season Saturday games and probably a lot of Saturday games in CUSA.

2. 300% more games on an ESPN platform for all sports meaning either TV or ESPN+

3. ESPN+. ESPN is taking everything that was on ESPN3 along with other content that it acquired from FOX and putting it on ESPN+ and charging a subscription for it. It's $5. Some people might not want to pay for it and that's fine, but for those that are fans of the the Sun Belt,(or MLB or MLS or NHL, etc) will pay to watch their team and get a bunch of other content they aren't necessarily interested in for $5 measly dollars. If you can't forego a McDonold's meal once per month to afford ESPN+ then you have way bigger problems than ESPN monetizing its online platform.

4. ESPN is upgrading every Sun Belt school's broadcasting capabilities in order to do in-house ESPN quality broadcasts. For those of us that have already been investing in high quality broadcasts like GAST and GS, we get to just pocket that money.

5. A bigger payout. Right now Sun Belt schools make pocket change on the old tv deal. As such, we never planned our budgets around huge payouts so any extra money is welcomed but not something we've been relying on. No word yet on how much more we are making, but the only thing we know so far is that it puts us on the same level as the other G5 schools. Whatever that means.


As far as casual viewers, I don't know who lied to you or if you're really sold on having games on facebook, but no one is going to facebook to casually watch CUSA games. There will be more subscribers to ESPN+ who get SBC sports as part of their subscription than people who tune into Stadium via Facebook Live. Also, who even gives a rats ass about casual viewers on the internet? We weren't getting casual viewers on ESPN3 and y'all don't get casual viewers on Facebook. If either of us do, it's once in a blue moon. Casual viewers tune into cable tv where they scroll through channels and happen to see a game on. If you have to go into an app or search for a game on the internet, you're not a casual viewer. It's super nice that your parents get Bein-whatever-the-f on their cable, but for the rest of America they go to ESPN to find something to watch.

For Sun Belt fans, we know all our content for any sport will be watchable and replayable on the WatchESPN app. For CUSA fans, there are 5 different places one of your games could be. Let's pretend that CUSA did get more casual viewers, how will y'all keep those viewers coming back and becoming fans if they can't find your next game?