FOX & B1G near a deal on HALF of B1G Tier 1 TV rights

[Innermind]

This is leaking info... nothing is official yet.
Sources: Fox, Big Ten Closing In On Media Rights Agreement

FOX (which already owns 51% of BTN), is supposedly very close to a SIX year deal for HALF of the B1G Tier 1 TV rights. This translates to 25 football games and 50 basketball games each year to be broadcast on FOX & FS1 beginning Fall of 2017 @ $250 Million per year. The current 10 year B1G Tier 1 TV rights contract with ESPN and CBS expires Spring/Summer 2017.

$250 Million annually divided by 14 schools comes to $17.86 Million per school each year.... again for HALF of the B1G Tier 1 TV rights.

I wonder what the B1G will try to get for the second half of their Tier 1 rights?

The remaining half of the B1G Tier 1 TV rights will be up for bid to one OR MORE entities (ESPN/ABC/Disney.... CBS.... NBC/Comcast.... Turner, etc.).

Again, nothing is official yet.

Six years is relatively short..... does B1G commish Jim Delany see more conference re-alignment coming after 6 years? Hmmm?

 

[HuskerOC]

Of note...

The entire package of Pac 12 1st tier rights is $250 Million.

 

[ericd7633]

Not surprised. B1G was going to get huge money and dwarf the other conferences.

 

[MarkOU]

I must ask why cause if you take a look at the entire B1G its garbage product.

Indiana - crap
Maryland - crap
Rutgers - crap
Illinois - crap
Iowa - crap
Minnesota - crap
Northwestern - crap
Purdue - crap
Penn State - child r*pe ruined them for me so crap

Wisconsin - wanna be

Nebraska - fading fast
Michigan - trying to stay relevant

Michigan State - has some potential. green is a cool color
Ohio State - only reason they are popular is because their fans breed like rabbits and brainwash their offspring

 

[4down20]

I must ask why cause if you take a look at the entire B1G its garbage product.

Indiana - crap
Maryland - crap
Rutgers - crap
Illinois - crap
Iowa - crap
Minnesota - crap
Northwestern - crap
Purdue - crap
Penn State - child r*pe ruined them for me so crap

Wisconsin - wanna be

Nebraska - fading fast
Michigan - trying to stay relevant

Michigan State - has some potential. green is a cool color
Ohio State - only reason they are popular is because their fans breed like rabbits and brainwash their offspring

It's the market areas.

 

[HuskerOC]

I must ask why cause if you take a look at the entire B1G its garbage product.

Indiana - crap
Maryland - crap
Rutgers - crap
Illinois - crap
Iowa - crap
Minnesota - crap
Northwestern - crap
Purdue - crap
Penn State - child r*pe ruined them for me so crap

Wisconsin - wanna be

Nebraska - fading fast
Michigan - trying to stay relevant

Michigan State - has some potential. green is a cool color
Ohio State - only reason they are popular is because their fans breed like rabbits and brainwash their offspring

Speaking of crap, the Big 12 Champion is 2-8 in the postseason the past 10 years.

 

[HuskerinBig10]

Six years is relatively short..... does B1G commish Jim Delany see more conference re-alignment coming after 6 years? Hmmm?

The new B1G Media contract ends 2023. Could be pretty big. Looks to be larger than the SEC or the PAC 12 contracts, but a shorter duration.
Big 12 GOR ends June 2025.
ACC GOR through 2027.

Form your own conclusions.

All the above conferences can raid the SEC anytime they want. If anyone really thinks an SEC school will listen... I suppose Missouri might listen to overtures from the B1G.

There are two more negotiations going on.
The other half of the content including the CCG. ESPN, CBS, NBC to all have part of this.
Digital rights.

Big Ten Network Rights are NOT up for negotiation those are locked through 2032.

I don't think Delany leaked this, but he might have to tell ESPN to blow it out their ass because of their low ball offer. I think Fox leaked it to laud it over ESPN. If you know sales guys, they call their upper management to brag about the big win. The secretaries of upper management know and find out. Water cooler talk. BAM. Word is out.

Looks like the Rollerball Future is here. Clearly, two corporations are controlling, Fox and ESPN.

 

[HuskerinBig10]

Speaking of crap, the Big 12 Champion is 2-8 in the postseason the past 10 years.

I think Oklahoma(beat UCONN) and Oklahoma State(beat Stanford) won, that is two wins.

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

I must ask why cause if you take a look at the entire B1G its garbage product.

Indiana - crap
Maryland - crap
Rutgers - crap
Illinois - crap
Iowa - crap
Minnesota - crap
Northwestern - crap
Purdue - crap
Penn State - child r*pe ruined them for me so crap

Wisconsin - wanna be

Nebraska - fading fast
Michigan - trying to stay relevant

Michigan State - has some potential. green is a cool color
Ohio State - only reason they are popular is because their fans breed like rabbits and brainwash their offspring

Except you're forgetting this spans beyond just football. Indiana, Maryland, Purdue, Wisconsin and Iowa all finished in the top 25 in college basketball. The B10 had 6 total ranked teams in the final top 25. Compare that to other conferences:

B10: 6
ACC: 6 (but only because they have ND in basketball)
SEC: 1
B12: 5
PAC: 3

And then lets look at the final AP for football:

B10: 6
ACC: 3
SEC: 5
B12: 4
PAC: 3

The B10 is one of the most well rounded conferences in all sports, and that's what gets them big money. There was no conference that had more teams ranked in either major sport than the B10.

They're also in some of the largest sports markets in the country. You have to think, some of the SEC's biggest teams, teams like LSU and Alabama, come from states with populations less than 5 million. There just simply aren't enough viewers. The B10 has the Chicago market and now the NY market. That's huge.

Now, I will say -- I think this is the last of these kinds of deals the B10 sees because TV contracts are changing. I don't think it will be like this when this contract ends.

 

[Lance Armstrong]

ESPN won't even attempt to match, they're starting to cut costs due to people cord cutting. Maybe CBS or NBC overpays, since they're trying to build their sports channels like Fox is with FS1.

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

Six years is relatively short..... does B1G commish Jim Delany see more conference re-alignment coming after 6 years? Hmmm?

I'm guessing no network is willing to try and go beyond that because of what we're seeing with cord cutters. These kind of TV contracts are dinosaurs of the past and are quickly going away as more and more people go to services like Netflix or SlingTV. When they stop getting money from people simply for having cable, they just won't have this kind of cash to throw around. We're reaching the end of that bubble and it's about to burst. They don't want to lock themselves into some outrageous contract that they have no way of paying in 10 years.

 

[Lance Armstrong]

I'm guessing no network is willing to try and go beyond that because of what we're seeing with cord cutters. These kind of TV contracts are dinosaurs of the past and are quickly going away as more and more people go to services like Netflix or SlingTV. When they stop getting money from people simply for having cable, they just won't have this kind of cash to throw around. We're reaching the end of that bubble and it's about to burst. They don't want to lock themselves into some outrageous contract that they have no way of paying in 10 years.

Yup, if it wasn't for sports we'd all probably cut the cord.

 

[HuskerinBig10]

Yup, if it wasn't for sports we'd all probably cut the cord.

How are you spinning this Lance? You had predicted the B1G wouldn't get anything in this contract negotiation. You went on and on and on, in multiple threads, about how cord cutting is going to make the bids lower. It did make ESPN bid lower, only because they have bid so high for other properties(SEC, LHN, ACC, PAC 12), but it looks like a few other players decided to bid higher.

 

[ericd7633]

Except you're forgetting this spans beyond just football. Indiana, Maryland, Purdue, Wisconsin and Iowa all finished in the top 25 in college basketball. The B10 had 6 total ranked teams in the final top 25. Compare that to other conferences:

B10: 6
ACC: 6 (but only because they have ND in basketball)
SEC: 1
B12: 5
PAC: 3

And then lets look at the final AP for football:

B10: 6
ACC: 3
SEC: 5
B12: 4
PAC: 3

The B10 is one of the most well rounded conferences in all sports, and that's what gets them big money. There was no conference that had more teams ranked in either major sport than the B10.

They're also in some of the largest sports markets in the country. You have to think, some of the SEC's biggest teams, teams like LSU and Alabama, come from states with populations less than 5 million. There just simply aren't enough viewers. The B10 has the Chicago market and now the NY market. That's huge.

Now, I will say -- I think this is the last of these kinds of deals the B10 sees because TV contracts are changing. I don't think it will be like this when this contract ends.

Basketball is inconsequential to these negotiations, lets be honest FS1 is pretty awful in terms of basketball coverage. B1G is a great investment because of the large alumni bases and tv markets. Last year happened to be the best year for football this century, the B1G could have been awful like they were prior and still have gotten this deal.

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

Basketball is inconsequential to these negotiations, lets be honest FS1 is pretty awful in terms of basketball coverage. B1G is a great investment because of the large alumni bases and tv markets. Last year happened to be the best year for football this century, the B1G could have been awful like they were prior and still have gotten this deal.

I don't know, while attendance is certainly lower at any given game -- TV ratings are equal in a lot of cases and there are more basketball games per year to sell advertising to.

But yes, the major thing is markets and number of fans.

 

[Lance Armstrong]

How are you spinning this Lance? You had predicted the B1G wouldn't get anything in this contract negotiation. You went on and on and on, in multiple threads, about how cord cutting is going to make the bids lower. It did make ESPN bid lower, only because they have bid so high for other properties(SEC, LHN, ACC, PAC 12), but it looks like a few other players decided to bid higher.

Link to where I said the Big wouldn't get anything? I've said all over these boards that ESPN is cutting costs, and BAM they didn't match Fox. Fox is trying to build FS1, hence why I said maybe NBC or CBS will also bid high for their sports channels. Also, as stated in this thread the deal isn't very long so Fox might see the writing on the wall with cord cutting. They probably want to build an audience for FS1 so when the cord cutting happens, all you Big ten fans will buy their app.

 

[ericd7633]

I don't know, while attendance is certainly lower at any given game -- TV ratings are equal in a lot of cases and there are more basketball games per year to sell advertising to.

But yes, the major thing is markets and number of fans.

My guess is that about 5% of that 250 million was put towards basketball negotiations. It simply doesn't matter in the grand scheme. My guess is that the B1G probably didn't want to have to include basketball because being on FS1 and Fox isn't a college basketball destination. I'll certainly watch it, but I'm a college basketball junkie and will watch a Sun Belt game if it's the only thing on. Plus FS1's other programming is awful, so the promotion of the games will largely go unnoticed.

 

[Lance Armstrong]

My guess is that about 5% of that 250 million was put towards basketball negotiations. It simply doesn't matter in the grand scheme. My guess is that the B1G probably didn't want to have to include basketball because being on FS1 and Fox isn't a college basketball destination. I'll certainly watch it, but I'm a college basketball junkie and will watch a Sun Belt game if it's the only thing on. Plus FS1's other programming is awful, so the promotion of the games will largely go unnoticed.

That's why fox is investing in the Big ten, to build the FS1 audience. They fancy themselves as ESPN's equal, now they gotta pay up for content to go head to head with ESPN.

 

[ericd7633]

That's why fox is investing in the Big ten, to build the FS1 audience. They fancy themselves as ESPN's equal, now they gotta pay up for content to go head to head with ESPN.

This will certainly help, but they will still continue to be a distant 2nd option IMO. FS1 has awful original programming, and does a shitty job promoting the teams they currently have. Fox has Pac 12 and Big East for basketball, yet when one of the teams they have wins it all(Villanova), there was simply no coverage, nothing pregame or post game. Until FS1's version of Sportscenter takes off, it will be a second rate product.

 

[Lance Armstrong]

This will certainly help, but they will still continue to be a distant 2nd option IMO. FS1 has awful original programming, and does a shitty job promoting the teams they currently have. Fox has Pac 12 and Big East for basketball, yet when one of the teams they have wins it all(Villanova), there was simply no coverage, nothing pregame or post game. Until FS1's version of Sportscenter takes off, it will be a second rate product.

oh I agree, I just get why they're spending the big bucks even in the cord cutting era. Well it doesn't help that they're now home to the Big 12, Pac 12, and Big ten but their #1 college football guy (clay travis) is a bootleg Paul Finebaum. At least ESPN owns the SEC network, so it makes sense to hire Finebaum.