No it isn't. An NCAA conference needs money to operate, period, end of story. So how does it make money? It makes money through ticket sales, it makes money from donations, it makes money through it's own television network and other media entities it sells, the ad revenue generated thru such and, of course, its TV rights.D-train wrote: ↑Wed Apr 29, 2020 1:56 amThe success of a conference is dependent on EXPOSURE. Even if you had 5k subscribers paying a million a year it isn't sustainable. You still can't pay players to come play for you. No four or five star recruit would want to play for a conferences that nobody is watching and that their friends and family will have to pay to watch. That will lead to a massive decline in the quality of play and because of that subscriber numbers will fall and it will become a vicious cycle right down the toilet.
As I already explained in a prior post, the Pac-12 is going to solicit offers for their exclusive TV rights as will every conference. It will go with the network or service that pays the most. A new 12 year deal starting with the 2024 season will expire after the 2035 season. Who knows what the landscape of TV will look like then and how the viewers for its sports will have played out in the final two years. Because that's what will be looked at. And who knows, perhaps another service pops up willing to throw out big $$ for exclusive pac-12 rights. Because, hey, sure seems like that's what Apple is prepared to do now in 2021.
DT and Mike, as you both talk about exposure and ratings, are you aware of how weak the ratings are for Pac-12 football on both ESPN and Fox's platforms now? Through the last couple of seasons? These aren't big numbers. 2s-4s I think on average for their bigger games. That's not a lot. ESPN and Fox aren't ONLY paying big $ for college football rights because they make money off them (which obviously is the goal thru advertising and having their networks on entities like Comcast, Directv, Dish, Hulu and Youtube TV etc), they pay the money FOR LIVE CONTENT and because of MARKET PRICE.
Even if, say, Pac-12s viewership on Apple went down drastically in the 2030-33 window compared to SEC on whatever service they are on, B10, 12 etc. the market price for college sports will still be the market price. There's going to be a floor for those rights. And it's going to be higher than whatever the price is they get for this new deal. As we sit here in 2020, NCAA sports are an appreciating entity. Barring unforeseen drastic changes, the value of owning Pac-12 exclusive sports rights, is only going to continue to appreciate.
So while the $$ are tied to viewers to a certain extent, the $$ offered also aren't. There's a floor right now that will always exist because that's the cost of doing business. If ESPN doesn't want the rights, if CBS doesn't, NBC may or Youtube may or Hulu may, Apple may, Fox may. There is plenty of demand in the market place for live content and live sports at that. And college football has a built in price tag no matter what your conference is. Do some get more than others? Sure. But there's a floor. And it's pretty damn high.