Could the Mountain West leave traditional TV for online-only broadcasts?

[Harry]

The college sports-television industrial complex is at a crossroads. It seems like everyone involved is dealing with one crisis or another. The SEC, Big Ten and (soon) the ACC have or will have their own private fortunes through television networks, but traded a portion of their souls to get there. The Pac-12 has its own network, but no fortune. The Big 12 has a host of issues, stemming from its lack of a network. ESPN and Fox are losing subscribers by the bundle, threatening to bring the entire system down with them.

On the other end of FBS, the MAC has submitted itself fully to the whims of television, releasing a schedule earlier this month that calls for zero Saturday games in November. The Mountain West has also handed carte blanche to the television networks in exchange for a pile of cash, and is now wondering if the trade was worth it.

As detailed by the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Mountain West is fresh off a conference tournament that saw the second of its two semifinals scheduled for a 9:30 p.m. Pacific time tip off (which resulted in a 9:52 actual tip time)… and its championship game tip at 3 p.m. the following day.

“I’ve had several people, at least three people today, text me and say, ‘Is it really 9:30? I just looked at the schedule,’” Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson told the paper “I had to say, ‘Yeah, it’s really 9:30.’ It’s brutal.”

read more: 

http://footballscoop.com/news/mountain-west-leave-tv-online-only/

 

[UNTFan23]

31 minutes ago, Harry said:

The college sports-television industrial complex is at a crossroads. It seems like everyone involved is dealing with one crisis or another. The SEC, Big Ten and (soon) the ACC have or will have their own private fortunes through television networks, but traded a portion of their souls to get there. The Pac-12 has its own network, but no fortune. The Big 12 has a host of issues, stemming from its lack of a network. ESPN and Fox are losing subscribers by the bundle, threatening to bring the entire system down with them.

On the other end of FBS, the MAC has submitted itself fully to the whims of television, releasing a schedule earlier this month that calls for zero Saturday games in November. The Mountain West has also handed carte blanche to the television networks in exchange for a pile of cash, and is now wondering if the trade was worth it.

As detailed by the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Mountain West is fresh off a conference tournament that saw the second of its two semifinals scheduled for a 9:30 p.m. Pacific time tip off (which resulted in a 9:52 actual tip time)… and its championship game tip at 3 p.m. the following day.

“I’ve had several people, at least three people today, text me and say, ‘Is it really 9:30? I just looked at the schedule,’” Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson told the paper “I had to say, ‘Yeah, it’s really 9:30.’ It’s brutal.”

read more: 

http://footballscoop.com/news/mountain-west-leave-tv-online-only/

9:30 tipoff Pacific time? Holy moly Batman, that's 11:30 Central time! I can't imagine being in a conference where the central time zone team gets shafted like that and then to turn around and have a 3:00 PM tipoff for the conference final game. MWC football games also tend to have later start times, which isn't good for Central time zone teams.

[VideoEagle]

19 hours ago, UNTFan23 said:

9:30 tipoff Pacific time? Holy moly Batman, that's 11:30 Central time! I can't imagine being in a conference where the central time zone team gets shafted like that and then to turn around and have a 3:00 PM tipoff for the conference final game. MWC football games also tend to have later start times, which isn't good for Central time zone teams.

That's one of the reasons a lot of us are very hesitant about joining the Mountain West. People forget the MWC gave a special deal to get TCU to join and limited their late night starts. The league said they would not do that again as a number of their members - CSU, Air Force, Boise, Wyoming to name a few - strongly objected. 

I've posted elsewhere on this, but I really think creating our own network, either as a part of CUSA or just a UNT network, that streams is the way to go. Make a subscription a perk of a certain level of MGC membership. Once you have the infrastructure, you could also use it to stream other programming from the School of Music, Theatre, etc. There's really no question this is going to be the way of the future. 

 

[TreeFiddy]

I agree with the conference streaming network.  Consider making it mandatory as a condition of membership to the conference.  I think it would be groundbreaking and would quickly become a model for the future.

[VideoEagle]

42 minutes ago, TreeFiddy said:

I agree with the conference streaming network.  Consider making it mandatory as a condition of membership to the conference.  I think it would be groundbreaking and would quickly become a model for the future.

The problem is in how it's implemented. In CUSA, each school is responsible for broadcasts originating from their campus. Not every school is willing to put in the resources to a quality broadcast, despite the fact the costs have dropped dramatically in the last decade. If you saw the Rice football game stream last year you know what I mean. Meanwhile, MTSU have been turning out high quality broadcasts for quite some time. A better way would be for the conference to suggest an equipment package for each school to use along with some kind of minimum standards for the operators. Students are fine, but probably not a freshman who is on a major college football game sideline for the first time trying to handhold a camera! 

[TreeFiddy]

Just now, VideoEagle said:

The problem is in how it's implemented. In CUSA, each school is responsible for broadcasts originating from their campus. Not every school is willing to put in the resources to a quality broadcast, despite the fact the costs have dropped dramatically in the last decade. If you saw the Rice football game stream last year you know what I mean. Meanwhile, MTSU have been turning out high quality broadcasts for quite some time. A better way would be for the conference to suggest an equipment package for each school to use along with some kind of minimum standards for the operators. Students are fine, but probably not a freshman who is on a major college football game sideline for the first time trying to handhold a camera! 

It would certainly require defining policies and procedures around what is permissible and what is not, but it might also be a good way to revamp your conference if there are members that would not agree.  Seems very forward thinking to me.  

Lucky for us we have such a dynamic and forward thinking conference commissioner...

[Army of Dad]

17 minutes ago, VideoEagle said:

The problem is in how it's implemented. In CUSA, each school is responsible for broadcasts originating from their campus. Not every school is willing to put in the resources to a quality broadcast, despite the fact the costs have dropped dramatically in the last decade. If you saw the Rice football game stream last year you know what I mean. Meanwhile, MTSU have been turning out high quality broadcasts for quite some time. A better way would be for the conference to suggest an equipment package for each school to use along with some kind of minimum standards for the operators. Students are fine, but probably not a freshman who is on a major college football game sideline for the first time trying to handhold a camera! 

What do you think of having a penalty for failing to meet the agreed upon minimum standard? Something along the lines of reducing the payouts to underperforming schools?

[Cerebus]

36 minutes ago, Army of Dad said:

What do you think of having a penalty for failing to meet the agreed upon minimum standard? Something along the lines of reducing the payouts to underperforming schools?

I would think the better way to do this is:

• Define a package they must have to meet bare requirements.
• If they can't come up with that package, then you hold their conference distribution (or a %) back to pay for the equipment.

The two problems is that the package is not only going to be equipment, you have to pay staff to take care of it.  Second, the major distribution was from TV, which is now gone.   Everyone needs to hope and pray MTSU gets to the Sweet 16.  That should be enough to pay out over the next few years to get everyone up to proper streaming levels. 

[VideoEagle]

2 hours ago, Army of Dad said:

What do you think of having a penalty for failing to meet the agreed upon minimum standard? Something along the lines of reducing the payouts to underperforming schools?

That's a great question to which I have no idea. @Cerebus is exactly correct in that it's not just the equipment be people to operate the equipment as well. I don't know enough at how conferences work to know what kind of enforcement mechanisms they typically use. I remember reading several years back about a push to raise the quality of basketball scheduling in hopes in increase the league RPI. Frankly, I don't remember is that was when we were in the Belt or CUSA. But a quick glance at schedules for both leagues shows a lower of lower division schools still on the schedules. I don't know what a conference does to a school that doesn't follow the standards or if that even happens very often. 

 

[Army of Dad]

3 hours ago, VideoEagle said:

That's a great question to which I have no idea. @Cerebus is exactly correct in that it's not just the equipment be people to operate the equipment as well. I don't know enough at how conferences work to know what kind of enforcement mechanisms they typically use. I remember reading several years back about a push to raise the quality of basketball scheduling in hopes in increase the league RPI. Frankly, I don't remember is that was when we were in the Belt or CUSA. But a quick glance at schedules for both leagues shows a lower of lower division schools still on the schedules. I don't know what a conference does to a school that doesn't follow the standards or if that even happens very often. 

 

Maybe @CMJ or @TheTastyGreek can double check me but I think that was the MVC.

[GrandGreen]

The G5's are going to have to find alternate media services to replace traditional tv.   The concept of generating revenue from this source is dead at this level.  The question is it worth the effort and cost to come up with an alternate source of video broadcasts.  

Streaming video sourced from the colleges is an obvious substitute.    Problem is not only the production values between schools vary from awful to sometimes very good, but also the schools vary from event to event as well as in the same broadcast.   There is frankly next to no quality control and that definitely includes NT.   

At NT, schedules are often inaccurate particularly in secondary sports.  There will be a scheduled broadcast, and it won't be aired with no explanation or any indication that it has been cancelled.  Picture will be great, than be out of focus for extended periods.   Replays during game time, with whole segments of game missed.  

Having noticed this at  NT lately, but often on other university streams, the audio either doesn't exist or is not in synch with the video.   Nothing is more maddening. 

Creating conference standards as suggested above, would solve a lot of these problems.  

Another thought is the creation of a G5 or some kind of combined network.  I doubt any G5 conference could afford or be successful with their own network, but a combination guaranteeing a number of televised games per member might work.   I suspect this would have to be subsidized by the schools, but could provide exposure.  This could be a bridge until streaming quality is actually up to a dependable standard.   

[TheTastyGreek]

29 minutes ago, Army of Dad said:

Maybe @CMJ or @TheTastyGreek can double check me but I think that was the MVC.

We actually had the "150 rule" (related to team and/or OOC opponent RPI) rolled out in the Sun Belt towards the end of our time there. I can't remember which conference it was modeled after, but MVC wouldn't surprise me. 

[untjim1995]

48 minutes ago, GrandGreen said:

The G5's are going to have to find alternate media services to replace traditional tv.   The concept of generating revenue from this source is dead at this level.  The question is it worth the effort and cost to come up with an alternate source of video broadcasts.  

Streaming video sourced from the colleges is an obvious substitute.    Problem is not only the production values between schools vary from awful to sometimes very good, but also the schools vary from event to event as well as in the same broadcast.   There is frankly next to no quality control and that definitely includes NT.   

At NT, schedules are often inaccurate particularly in secondary sports.  There will be a scheduled broadcast, and it won't be aired with no explanation or any indication that it has been cancelled.  Picture will be great, than be out of focus for extended periods.   Replays during game time, with whole segments of game missed.  

Having noticed this at  NT lately, but often on other university streams, the audio either doesn't exist or is not in synch with the video.   Nothing is more maddening. 

Creating conference standards as suggested above, would solve a lot of these problems.  

Another thought is the creation of a G5 or some kind of combined network.  I doubt any G5 conference could afford or be successful with their own network, but a combination guaranteeing a number of televised games per member might work.   I suspect this would have to be subsidized by the schools, but could provide exposure.  This could be a bridge until streaming quality is actually up to a dependable standard.   

It's really going to be interesting to see how this all plays out when the Big XII finally dies off and the Power leagues start their next wave of separation. I've always believed that it's very possible that the Power Leagues won't play any of us anymore, or will only let certain leagues still play them, so as to get the revenue from not having a TV deal worth anything major. 

CUSA and SBC have no choice but to realign geographically. The MAC geographical model is the one to follow here. It wouldn't surprise one bit to never see a Texas tech play here in 2027 or 2028, whenever it is set on the schedule, unless tech gets left behind, too.

I tell you what, the real worry for schools like us is that the NCAA Tournament and College Baseball Playoffs get closed to us. At that point, and nobody knows, but it's gonna really be tough to have much of a fan following.

 

[Wag Tag]

If a conference through their college members produced C-USA sports couldn't be a money maker? I would think most of the schools have the talent with in there students for the filming and production side.  Streaming the final product. Creating ads for clients could also generate some revenue. 

[forevereagle]

14 hours ago, untjim1995 said:

It's really going to be interesting to see how this all plays out when the Big XII finally dies off and the Power leagues start their next wave of separation. I've always believed that it's very possible that the Power Leagues won't play any of us anymore, or will only let certain leagues still play them, so as to get the revenue from not having a TV deal worth anything major. 

I don't see them completely shutting us out. Their fan bases like wins and the lower levels of those conferences need us to give them a better chance. They may limit our opportunities to play them, but I just think they like to win to make other games look better on paper.

14 hours ago, untjim1995 said:

CUSA and SBC have no choice but to realign geographically. The MAC geographical model is the one to follow here. It wouldn't surprise one bit to never see a Texas tech play here in 2027 or 2028, whenever it is set on the schedule, unless tech gets left behind, too.

Agree here. AAC may even have to get in on the deal since their TV money is likely to dry up as well.

14 hours ago, untjim1995 said:

I tell you what, the real worry for schools like us is that the NCAA Tournament and College Baseball Playoffs get closed to us. At that point, and nobody knows, but it's gonna really be tough to have much of a fan following.

I think those are likely to stay in simply because the Cinderella story would go away. People love to watch and those stories and they sell the tournament. It could still go away, but for now I think those are safe.

[Cerebus]

46 minutes ago, forevereagle said:

I don't see them completely shutting us out. Their fan bases like wins and the lower levels of those conferences need us to give them a better chance. They may limit our opportunities to play them, but I just think they like to win to make other games look better on paper.

This.  They are also dangling the "you might get  the one access slot" in front of conferences.  That is keeping people from suing.  If all those schools had nothing to lose, then they might as well go after antitrust.  

The P4 (imho) is going to let the G? stay in FBS, and give them minor access to the lower paying games.  They are going to allow them to come in and play at their stadiums, because they make millions out of extra home games.  

[TreeFiddy]

The P4/5 have a lot riding on getting bowl eligible.  There is nothing preventing the NCAA from changing the rules to suit the P4/5, but at they moment they need 6 wins to guarantee bowl eligibility.  Those wins have to come from somewhere.

 

[GMG24]

On 3/15/2017 at 0:26 PM, VideoEagle said:

The problem is in how it's implemented. In CUSA, each school is responsible for broadcasts originating from their campus. Not every school is willing to put in the resources to a quality broadcast, despite the fact the costs have dropped dramatically in the last decade. If you saw the Rice football game stream last year you know what I mean. Meanwhile, MTSU have been turning out high quality broadcasts for quite some time. A better way would be for the conference to suggest an equipment package for each school to use along with some kind of minimum standards for the operators. Students are fine, but probably not a freshman who is on a major college football game sideline for the first time trying to handhold a camera! 

UTEP was the absolute worst.