Surviving and Thriving in a Group of Five World

Coach Bill Lewis · April 14, 2017

"For Conference USA, the AAC, and the Sun Belt they've chased the traditional modalities: market size, TV eyes, populous areas etc. They've worked under the illusion that a broadcast company is going to reimburse them for the reach of their media markets. That's gotten them to where they are now, millions of dollars behind the Power 5. The illusion is that Old Dominion brings ESPN or Fox the Norfolk area. It doesn't. The same way that SMU or North Texas or even TCU don't bring ESPN the Metroplex on a silver platter. TV execs know where the value is and what drives ratings and for eastern Virginia it's the University of Virginia, Virginia Tech or North Carolina. Texas, Texas A&M and OU bring eyes from the Metroplex. Florida and Florida deliver the greater Miami area if at all, not FAU or FIU..."

http://swcroundup.com/news/2017/4/11/a-p...ign=buffer

VideoEagle · April 14, 2017

Interesting find. I think the "get over yourself" and the "you are going to have to pair up with teams that aren't your first choice" is a reality G5 schools are going to have to acknowledge at somepoint. And obviously I agree on using digital to start to balance out the chances for viewership is not equal rights dollars.

Wag Tag · April 14, 2017

An empty seat is a lost opportunity for UNT. Have events after the game like a concert. Have a playoff system with a championship!

Harry · April 14, 2017

Very inciteful article!

untjim1995 · April 15, 2017

10 hours ago, Wag Tag said:

An empty seat is a lost opportunity for UNT. Have events after the game like a concert. Have a playoff system with a championship!

This is what will happen--no matter what. I don't know that the AAC and MWC will be forced to be on this level, but I expect the SBC, MAC, and CUSA to form their own level of play that includes a playoff system and national championship.

Arkstfan · April 15, 2017

I did a two-parter for my site.

http://www.scout.com/college/arkansas-state/story/1770179-the-realignment-craze

http://www.scout.com/college/arkansas-state/story/1770314-making-realignment-work

I think AState could be a big loser in this because geographic realignment almost certainly takes us out of Alabama. That's one of our top recruiting areas and even though not always our top signing area, it produces many of our top players.

Unless AAC gets involved, we are 300 miles from our closest conference opponent no matter which direction things go.

The critical difference between G5 and P5 comes from carriage fees. Houston delivers good ratings but there aren't enough people who will call their cable company and cancel service and switch to Dish Network if their cable company doesn't offer the channels carrying most AAC games while Dish does. When Direct and SEC were fighting over contract terms and the season was approaching Dish and Comcast began putting up billboards and sending out direct mail touting they had SEC Network and Direct didn't, Direct soon agreed to terms to carry it.

That's what the P5 is getting paid for, their ability to retain and attract paying customers, not the number of viewers. I've been arguing for years the G5 trying to mimic the P5 was foolish, that we should be focusing on regional sports networks and over-the-air syndicated networks with a limited number of weeknight national telecasts.

emmitt01 · April 15, 2017

7 hours ago, Arkstfan said:

I did a two-parter for my site.

http://www.scout.com/college/arkansas-state/story/1770179-the-realignment-craze

http://www.scout.com/college/arkansas-state/story/1770314-making-realignment-work

I think AState could be a big loser in this because geographic realignment almost certainly takes us out of Alabama. That's one of our top recruiting areas and even though not always our top signing area, it produces many of our top players.

Unless AAC gets involved, we are 300 miles from our closest conference opponent no matter which direction things go.

The critical difference between G5 and P5 comes from carriage fees. Houston delivers good ratings but there aren't enough people who will call their cable company and cancel service and switch to Dish Network if their cable company doesn't offer the channels carrying most AAC games while Dish does. When Direct and SEC were fighting over contract terms and the season was approaching Dish and Comcast began putting up billboards and sending out direct mail touting they had SEC Network and Direct didn't, Direct soon agreed to terms to carry it.

That's what the P5 is getting paid for, their ability to retain and attract paying customers, not the number of viewers. I've been arguing for years the G5 trying to mimic the P5 was foolish, that we should be focusing on regional sports networks and over-the-air syndicated networks with a limited number of weeknight national telecasts.

I have said, for a decade, that we should regionalize our conference and try to form an exclusive partnership with Fox Sports SW (or some network of the like). Begging to be on ESPN12, or being happy when ESPN2 shows a single conference game, has gotten us nowhere. We can survive, and be happier, by building regional interest, and abandoning the "if we can just build or do_X_we can get invited to _X_conference" idea. I don't care if we ever play Texas or Iowa again...I do care that I can't go to watch us play FAU or FIU.

Edited April 15, 2017 by emmitt01

wardly · April 15, 2017

Great articles. It would appear that the best, [and perhaps only] chance for CUSA and SBC to realign is when their existing T.V. contracts expire in 2020. I don't see the AAC as a player in any conference changes, and at age 74 hope I live long enough to see common sense dictate action instead of egos. Good luck with that, but in my opinion Wren Baker is a mover and a shaker and could get it done in my lifetime.