MGB: Report says C-USA TV revenue will fall by about half

Brett Vito · January 12, 2016

MGB:

http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2016/01/report-c-usa-television-revenue-will-decline-dramatically.html/

oldguystudent · January 12, 2016

I'm shocked. SHOCKED I TELLS YA!

UNTFan23 · January 12, 2016

It be interesting to see who CUSA's best markets really are.

Andrew · January 12, 2016

I am just happy we actually get televised games!

97and03 · January 12, 2016

So...anyone still opposed to MWC or AAC?

rws69 · January 12, 2016

The old contract was probably based on participation of some of the teams that left for AAC. If UNT starts playing well enough to generate more interest in DFW area, the TV payouts will increase. Ditto for the UNT - Rice - UTSA dynamic impacting the top three markets in Texas.

Sig381 · January 12, 2016

So I guess we are taking the bus to utep

Christopher Walker · January 12, 2016

Just now, Sig381 said:

So I guess we are taking the bus to utep

How many road-trip games do you know? Should you go with watching the entire Lord of The Rings trilogy extended cuts or Star Wars I-VII?

rws69 · January 12, 2016

UTEP would be closer than any school in MWC.

Edited January 13, 2016 by rws69

Ben Gooding · January 13, 2016

No surprise. This is what happens when schools like Old Dominion, UNC-Charlotte, FIU, FAU, and even nutsack are in your conference. There are more bad teams in our conference than good teams and people on here get on and talk about how "tough" our schedule is going to be.

Oh and full disclosure...We are one of those bad teams. But we are also a bad program right now. There's a difference and unfortunately we currently fall in both categories.

Edited January 13, 2016 by Ben Gooding

foutsrouts · January 13, 2016

1 hour ago, Sig381 said:

So I guess we are taking the bus to utep

Or God forbid replace the Bethunes and Incarnates of the world with SEC road games.

1 hour ago, rws69 said:

UTEP would closer than any school in MWC.

But at least you have 3 of them lumped together around Denver in AF, Colorado State, and Wyoming. Being in the MWC wouldn't totally break my heart.

VideoEagle · January 13, 2016

Before moving the the MWC, I'd want to see what their new TV contract will be. It would have be more than enough to offset the higher travel costs. And later start times mean a lower audience in DFW.

And Laramie to Colorado Springs is roughly the same as Denton to Austin.

outoftown · January 13, 2016

I am wondering who was negotiating this deal. Is this Banowskys swan song or is this MacLeods doing? In any case, I do think that this might not have been great negotiating. While it is true that ESPN is flush with college football, CBS and Fox don't have enough inventory. C-USA is currently their second most important conference. If they lose that they will have to put out serious money to the MWC or the AAC.

I also really hope this is a short deal and not something that ties the conference down for too long.

MCMLXXX · January 13, 2016

Looks like our per school total will be the same as the MAC. I hope that doesn't mean Tuesday night games etc.

foutsrouts · January 13, 2016

32 minutes ago, VideoEagle said:

Before moving the the MWC, I'd want to see what their new TV contract will be. It would have be more than enough to offset the higher travel costs. And later start times mean a lower audience in DFW.

And Laramie to Colorado Springs is roughly the same as Denton to Austin.

190 miles between Air Force and Laramie, and 120 miles between Air Force and Ft. Collins. That proximity might help out a little in sports other than football. I agree that we would need a contract bump up in the MWC, but I'm not overly worried about later start times in football. We're only talking 4 (or 5) MWC road games, and they tend to have a lot of afternoon starts in the cold climes anyway. Basketball is a little different story.

Arkstfan · January 13, 2016

30 minutes ago, outoftown said:

I am wondering who was negotiating this deal. Is this Banowskys swan song or is this MacLeods doing? In any case, I do think that this might not have been great negotiating. While it is true that ESPN is flush with college football, CBS and Fox don't have enough inventory. C-USA is currently their second most important conference. If they lose that they will have to put out serious money to the MWC or the AAC.

I also really hope this is a short deal and not something that ties the conference down for too long.

It's not bad negotiating. Conference patches don't grant value. This is a MAC ballpark deal and probably pretty reasonable. Unless you can impact carriage fees (and no G5 does other than maybe BYU) it comes down to ratings not markets. FS1 cannot charge advertisers more for a college football game than ESPN charges unless more people watch the game. The most watched CUSA vs. CUSA regular season game this year was WKU-La.Tech drawing 232,000 viewers on a Thursday with no competition, AState vs. App on ESPNU on a Thursday drew 200k up against Browns v. Bengals, Baylor v Kansas State and later Mizzou v Miss State. No other regular season CUSA vs CUSA drew more than 168k.

What does surprise me is that the report indicates it will be a Fox/CBS deal. I felt the only chance CUSA had to hold on to the current number was to see Fox follow the ESPN model of buying 100% of the rights then bundling and selling off some and placing leftover content online. Fox not taking that path is surprising because ESPN is trying to get as much content as possible to prepare for when they have to start selling direct like HBO and Netflix. CBSS I never thought would bid high because ESPN is selling them AAC and MAC content cheaply.

Mike Jackson · January 13, 2016

I don't like being in a conference with total upstart schools like FAU, FIU, and UTSA*. I put an asterisk by UTSA because they only have to compete with Spurs for local sports attention. FIU and FAU doesn't bring much to the table. Miami Hurricanes have problems with attendance so what do people expect from FIU, and FAU in their back yard? What kind of ratings can they pull in south Florida? I wish CUSA would jettison FIU and FAU and just go to 12 member schools. With UAB coming back and if Charlotte can build a good program CUSA could be one of the stronger G5 conferences

southsideguy · January 13, 2016

nice start for the new commissioner

rws69 · January 13, 2016

Once the new American Sports Network (ASN) gets a cable channel of its own, there could be a separate TV contract with them. They carry a lot of C-USA games, but currently only broadcast over the air where they can find outlets in smaller markets. Last Saturday's game with Rice was carried by ASN, with Dave Barnett announcing.

wardly · January 13, 2016

How could we possibly ask CUSA to kick out FAU and FIU? They bring as much to the table as our program does, which isn't much.

TheWestie · January 13, 2016

And my crappy cable company doesn't even carry CBS Sports.

I'm seriously thinkin about dumping cable altogether and just goin full Apple TV.

UNT90 · January 13, 2016

14 hours ago, 97and03 said:

So...anyone still opposed to MWC or AAC?

We should have been working this whole time to get into MWC.

But when you have a reactionary AD that trumpets getting into CUSA as the crowning accomplishment of his tenure, you can bet UNT hasn't even considered a move, much less laid the groundwork for one to happen.

Such is the crappy life with Rick Villarreal as your AD.

Travis · January 13, 2016

I was saying before that going with schools in TV markets doesn't help us or the conference. I stand correct!

HarringtonFishSmeller · January 13, 2016

Thanks, Banowsky...oh, wait...he skipped town before the sh*t hit the fan.

Anyone still think it was genius on his part to integrate most of the Sun Belt into C-USA, then invite some start-up programs in?

I've called it C-USun Belt; but, maybe it's just Sun Belt Lite. Can it and sell it next to Nehi - it's just about as popular with the college football-thirsty public.

How long until the bowl contracts evaporate/get renegotiated to the AAC and MWC?

greenit · January 13, 2016

Other than Alabama, who is it exactly that CUSA should have added?

Banowsky really screwed up by not adding Alabama.

Of the choices available, I am not sure what exactly could have been done differently once teams started leaving for yAAC. CUSA teams are going to have to start winning with some regularity and the brand will build. the AAC has plenty of stinker teams in various sports but they have a few teams in football and a few teams in basketball that bring a little something to the table. CUSA needs to do the same, and it needs to involve some of our teams in larger markets that can develop larger followings.