Arkstfan

Be interesting what the spread looks like at Arkansas next year with a bunch of guys recruited to play Big 10 smashmouth football.

Losing their frickin minds. They don't know crap about football outside of the SEC West and all they see is a mediocre record in AAC. They think their admin has lost their mind.

Disney is doubling down on sports trying to buy all the Fox Regionals. With ESPN's inventory I think you will see less Baylor-Kansas on 7 different Fox Regionals and a lot more of the local interest content that is on ESPN3 shifting to very local distribution. https://www.cnbc.com/2017/12/05/disney-fox-deal-to-include-rsns-cement-local-sports-tv-control.html

Do me a favor. TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF. I got goosebumps when your wrote that. I know you know all the bit but anyone else reading. Follow the diabetes guidelines like you saw them brought down from the mountain from God himself. One of my fraternity brothers never took it seriously. One weekend his girlfriend went to visit her parents and couldn't get in touch with him and dashed back and he was in their house in a diabetic coma and died a few days later. A young man who once worked for me didn't take it seriously blacked out more than once. It was just tremendous fortune that the last time he blacked out he didn't kill the two people in the car he crossed the center line and hit and didn't kill his three year old daughter but she will likely have no real memories of her father. Please if you have diabetes or know someone with diabetes, take it seriously. Best of luck in your recovery and you have my prayers.

I posted relevant data to the conversation because local data ain't relevant to the big picture. I am friends with some people here. I drop in and visit and the only reason I came over in the first place was to make the post about looking at the box score of A-State and Troy and what may be inferred with UNT having an offense derived from the same coaching tree. When I logged in I saw I had been tagged in threads I had not participated in and responded.

ESPN doesn't sell local TV ads. Having a good local audience is a good thing if you are syndicating or talking about regional sports net like Fox SW. Last year had 1.6 million viewers in a crap time slot. That's good but obviously, Army played a role in that. UNLV - UNT drew 332k which is bad but there were a bunch of huge games starting within the half hour and it was a crap channel so again not terribly helpful. Nothing there that leaps out and makes me think UNT numbers were a factor. I think it comes down UNT's preference, the NOLA folks not wanting USM again after having them last year, and contract selection order.

Could be but if that is his perception it may well be the perception of the other selection committee members. The link doesn't disprove there is a pecking order but even if one does no exist de jure that doesn't mean it doesn't exist de facto in that given a choice between La. Tech and Tulane they probably take Tulane or UNT vs. SMU would take SMU or Houston vs. Rice would take Houston. Now if the choice was UConn or Temple vs UNT or Rice, I think we'd find out whether there is a pecking order by contract in a hurry :)

That's what a member of the I-Bowl selection committee told me. If you have something to the contrary let me know.

Have to say I'm surprised.

What Shreveport wants is irrelevant to CUSA until I-Bowl pays to be higher up the pecking order of CUSA teams.

No correction. I-Bowl has TWO back-ups. AAC has to be unable to fill the back-up position before CUSA can send a team.

Florida State is an also ran this year. They are not a top program on the field this year. Hell they don't even have a coach because Jimbo felt Aggieland was a better place to be. Yeah they are a great brand but let's not act like beating 2017 FSU in any away compares Florida State 2012-16. And people who are into football aren't going to be throwing big props the way of USM if they win.

Thing is I'm not sure that there were great options. HOD went Pac-12 vs. Big XII so a CUSA wasn't going to be on the table. Armed Forces MWC finally produced a team and Army was available so not on the table. Frisco was open on one side but its in a tiny stadium so no pressing need on their part to take UNT and it would have been a rematch. That pretty much left NOLA as the best available bowl and the only way around that to get to Shreveport would have been to shaft the NOLA who has stuck with CUSA and helped CUSA more than once in a sticky situation. I am sure Florida State is pleased because USM is a name familiar to the old line fans (Florida State had a losing record against USM until 1976).

Hell people on this board bitched about going to NOLA when it was as conference champ. I don't expect any difference now. By my count there are six former Sun Belt schools in bowls this year and four are facing Sun Belt teams.

Completely missed my point. Independence ain't your bowl partner until at least two other conferences come up short. They are at the tail end. NOLA is your partner

Yes they are an also ran. They went 3-5 in the ACC got rolled by a mediocre BC.

NOLA wanted Happy Appy. We knew going in we were headed to Montgomery no matter what. We had two picks in the end zone (one was a pick six), we missed two short FGs (hey coach maybe now you will offer a scholie instead of relying on walkons) and got stopped on a fourth and short when we didn't want to try a FG. Zero points on five trips inside the 30 plus gave up a kickoff return for a TD.

Sure thing pal. You are making SBC money with a cobbled up TV deal. That's why the Sun Belt has gotten more performance money than CUSA the past two years though I expect that changes unless Sun Belt has a great bowl run.

No they get Akron because Temple said we aren't playing FAU on FAU's home field. We will play them in St Pete but not in Boca. If FAU had been willing to travel to St. Pete, they could have played Temple, now they get a MAC divisional champ who got smoked in their title game.

You do understand that what you WANT is irrelevant. Independence Bowl values you like gum on their shoe. Their selection is SEC vs. ACC and if they can't get that, their next choice BY CONTRACT is an AAC. If they can't get that they then can turn to CUSA again BY CONTRACT. When you don't give a damn about CUSA it would be awful foolish to run up to the I-Bowl wagging your tail like a little rat dog and give them plum pickings to choose ahead of all the bowls that who put their money where their mouth is. Your last commissioner nearly lost NOLA to AAC because CUSA came to NOLA and said please release UTEP so they can play in New Mexico. NOLA agreed and bit the bullet and took a MAC. A year later CUSA had one more bowl berth than they had bowl eligible teams and NOLA said "Hey we took care of you last year, you should give us a team this year" He laughed and shorted New Orleans. The only reason CUSA isn't out of NOLA today is because AAC opted to join Sun Belt in committing to the Cure Bowl in Orlando. But for that decision, CUSA is out. Their is no joking around over the idea that these guys are your "bowl partners". Sticking it to NOLA would have been a stupid decision for CUSA.

The bowl match-ups reflect the marketplace. The bowls are pure capitalism at work and the pairing reflect market forces. UNT ought to be happy they get to play a conference champ instead of some also-ran and get an opponent that holds arguably the best win of a G5 over a P5 this year. I think a UNT fan might look at the box score of AState - Troy and see what a Fedora inspired offense can do against Troy. A-State crapped out five times inside the Troy 30 with 2 picks (including a 100 yard pick six), two missed FG's and a turnover on downs all relating back to the fact the Red Wolves are in lousy shape at RB.

For those unhappy about the opponent. Sorry you think a Sun Belt champion who beat LSU is beneath you. Check Big Lots they usually have a good deal on mirrors, buy one and put it to use. For those who don't want to travel to New Orleans. Yeah it's got it's faults but it is loaded with history, great food and if debauchery is your thing, they can assist with that as well. The measure of the value of a program is not its capacity to drive across town. It is the capacity to get fans on the road. This is an opportunity to bolster UNT's reputation. It is not an insult nor a put-down. It's a compliment but such is the state of America in 2017 that a compliment causes people to feel insulted.

I think it is unlikely you see the P5 rights fees cut. ESPN is profitable as is. A lot of the subscriber loss isn't real. If you switch from Comcast to Sling, you are still paying a subscription fee to ESPN. Bear that in mind when you see X number of people cord cut. ESPN has a phenomenal online infrastructure and can easily pivot to selling direct to consumer. Want 100% of all ESPN content for a week or a month or a year? There will be a package for that. Want 100% of all ESPN college football? There will be a package. Just want Big XII content? There will be a package. ESPN is going to slice dice and repackage and sell direct to consumer in the future and remember, live sports is about the only thing left that the bulk of the audience does not record and then skip commercials.

A lot First in regards to ESPN and layoffs. Remember ESPN before the layoffs was profitable. ESPN does not have a revenue/expense problem, they have a Wall Street problem. When a company is in growth mode, investors want to ride the growth. When a company reaches the inevitable plateau the price generally will decline a big because it has reached a stable income/expense place. Right now ESPN is shedding expense to boost the ROI because they already hit the growth ceiling in the prevailing economic model. ESPN is now more like a boring utility than a hot growth property. The economic model of intercollegiate athletics is becoming a two-tier model. Any G5 not investing in production capacity is foolish. A-State has gone all in and has been hired to by ESPN to handle the Sun Belt volleyball and soccer tournament productions for ESPN3, which are a must carry for ESPN even if it is on ESPN3. A-State also provides some of the production for the Liberty Bowl. You cannot get a huge ROI carrying G5 games in general. You know all that talk about how Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, Apple are going to be the new sports outlets. Guess what boys and girls. Each of them already has a model in place for content like ours. A huge amount of what you buy on Amazon is not sold by Amazon. Someone else owns the inventory and puts the listing on Amazon and many have their inventory shipped direct to Amazon warehouses from the manufacturer. Amazon just lists it and takes a piece of the sale. Apples uses the same model for apps, movies, and TV as well as subscriptions for each. Apple has zip in the inventory cost, they just provide a place to sell and take a piece of the action. Netflix and Hulu do the same thing with a lot of their content. Random documentary or movie you've never heard of? Odds are Netflix and Hulu have invested $0 in that program. Instead they pay the owner a small amount per view. The Duplass brothers have done so well on that model that Netflix now gives them an advance for exclusive rights. This is where the bulk of the G5 programming is going to go. We will pay production costs. We will insert our own commercials (maybe all, maybe a percentage) and we will get paid per view by someone whether it is Disney/ESPN, Fox, Amazon, Apple, Roku, Netflix, whomever. If you want to make money on TV in the future, you are going to need to host teams that fans. Nobody is going to give a damn if eleventy billion people live in Miami or Houston or San Diego. The number of fans willing to pull up the WatchESPN app or the Amazon app is going to determine your media value. Troy in a tiny little town in Alabama can have greater TV value than a team in an NFL market because actual viewers will determine the TV value. Actual viewers is going to be simple to determine, just look at the number of connected subscribers. Self-distributed is probably a loser. You can make more per view but it is going to be harder to convince a viewer to shell out another $5-$15 a month. You want to reach audience you have to be where the subscribers already are and that's WatchESPN and Amazon and Netflix right now. So you self-produce and let someone else distribute. Attendance wise, I think you see schools starting to move to the MLS model. A small section of very affordable seating. A large area of moderate priced seating. Increasing the number of "premium" seats that include other amenities such as included food and you pay nothing out of pocket at the stadium for anything but alcohol and includes premium parking in the price. If you cannot fill your seats, then maybe you are more interested in cheaper travel that might sell some seats on the return trip. Go to any fan space of an MLS team. The supporters group generally has an organized road trip to every opponent. Some clubs go so far as to provide a certain number of seats out of their own pocket (Kansas City provides 200 or 300 tickets per regular season road game to the supporters group) because they know people who will blow up their weekend to travel several hundred miles to watch the team are going to buy tickets at home and they are going to spend plenty on licensed merchandise. The traveling fan is your community evangelist making sure family and friends hear the gospel of being a fan. As to CTE. Sure it's an issue but that's not what's wrong. It makes a nice neat explanation that fits an agenda, the agenda being football is a brutal exploitive sport. Here's what's really wrong. #1. More schools aren't permitting the use of the school day to practice. Kid rides the bus and the only adult at home either lacks a car or work schedule interferes, how does the kid get home from practice? #2 Money. More and more schools are charging more and more fees for kids to play high school football yet the public schools are serving a more and more impoverished population as the middle classes have followed the wealthy into private schools. Poor kids are getting priced out of football. #3. Social status. What sport has liberal arts colleges scrambling to add? Lacrosse. Is it a safe sport for little Trey Moneybags to play? Hell no. Get hit in the noggin with that ball at full speed or whacked in the old thinker with a stick? It'll mess you up. Plenty of knee injuries as well.. The other growth? Soccer. Another high injury sport. CTE studies put it similar to football and again another high injury sport for knees. But right now it in many social circles its just seen as better to tell people that junior plays lacrosse or soccer than football or basketball. So recruiting football is going to become more challenging because the pool is shrinking and presidents and AD's are going to have to rethink what is an appropriate group of schools to align with.

Interesting. Really no excuse to not use ESPN3 broadcast standards. It does cost more but if you are asking people to pay they should get some value for their money. I remember trying to watch a game from ULM on the crapfest feed the Sun Belt used to do. One press box camera and every change of possession and timeout they swung the camera toward to scoreboard to give you the scoreboard view if you weren't bent over puking from motion sickness or writhing on the floor in a seizure. Really should be a 5 camera operation with graphics and announcers coached to not say "We" or "us". AState does some in-house men's and women's hoops, volleyball and baseball for ESPN3. We pay the production costs and just send the stream to ESPN3. For the men's hoops use a local radio guy (who is annoying because he's a ref whiner) and a former AState hoops coach who has real broadcast experience. Opponent fans hate the play by play guy and generally like the former coach doing color because he can turn off the fandom for 2 hours. I don't think online self-produced is ever going to be a revenue center but just a cost of doing business like paying for scholarships, full cost of attendance stipends, and hiring academic counselors.