harsh reality from this guy...
http://www.sunherald.com/sports/col...-of-southern-mississippi/article83199052.html
http://www.sunherald.com/sports/col...-of-southern-mississippi/article83199052.html
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In assume you mean AAC not ACC. However, where would the money to compete come from? We are about $13 million budget per year less than anyone in the AAC.Any move that would keep Marshall in any semblance of C-USA would be a bad one. Back to the MAC, to the ACC, or bust.
I've always played devil's advocate when it came to lobbying for a membership to the AAC but I think we may be at a point where we have to do everything we can to switch conferences. I just hope our fans are ready to pony up when/if Mike asks for help.
If a move to the AAC doesn't happen trimming the TX and FL fat (maybe keeping FAU) is appealing.
Marshall
Southern Miss
La Tech
WKU
UAB
FAU
ULL
Appy State
ODU
Charlotte
That's a nice 10-team G5 league with reasonable travel. Also makes keeping a terrible football program like Charlotte more palatable.
Would still be a decent basketball and very good baseball league - even without Rice.
Hey Chris, Did you purposeless leave out Middle Tennessee?
Agree. I do NOT want to make trips to Mt. Pleasant and Ypsilanti anymore.The mac isn't a conference. It's a place where you play mid week for espn and kill your gate and recruiting and you get fired up to play Marshall as your superbowl
I never thought I would say going back to the MAC was a good idea, but I am saying it now!Any move that would keep Marshall in any semblance of C-USA would be a bad one. Back to the MAC, to the AAC, or bust.
No to the MAC because of Tues/Weds games alone. If it could be worked out that we only played those types of games on the road, then I would be ok with it.
The AAC's TV contract won't drop much if any imo. It's just time to face reality guys.
AAC is much better and a lot more respected than any other G5 conference.
I realize this current deal is bad but it seems to me now is not the time to cut and run. There is a shakeup going on at ESPN with its revenue drying up. In a few years everything will look different.
Dear DSHOE, I am no expert on this however, many things are in transition and nobody including you completely know the future. For example, how many years ago was it that Blockbuster was a big deal? Today people use providers like Hulu and Netflix and we all know that Blockbuster went bankrupt in 2010. Look at XM radio. Today it looks pretty good with it's revenue stream but with new technology now available I will be shocked if people continue to pay a monthly fee when they can now play their own music in their car using their smartphone and a Bluetooth IMO. That brings me to cable. How long will people be forced to carry an array of channels that they have no use for? If the day comes and I believe it will, when subscribers can cut out channels they don't want- ESPN could be in a bad spot.Believe me I don't take the movie channels for this reason and would love to cut away about half of my channels I have with Direct tv. For the record I like ESPN and was not trying to bash them although they haven't been a friend to Marshall in recent years IMO.So all I was trying to imply was hold steady cause sometimes what looks like a bad deal today turns out not to be such a bad deal later. Of course I could be wrong but I am saying this based on many trends I have noticed across the board in our nation.Anybody notice how much this sounds like the posts about CSTV when CUSA made the decision to move away from ESPN and embrace CSTV a number of years ago? So many on these message boards posted with confidence about CSTV's enormous future and the competition that would bring down ESPN.
ESPN is in transition, no question, but for the record, they had a record year financially last year, they simply did NOT meet Disney's growth projections. The entire industry is changing, but that doesn't mean it is going away. If I were going to bet on who survives and who adjusts to the new business models, I'd still put my money on ESPN. The great "shakeup" to which you refer was a layoff of 300 out of 8,000 employees.........31/2 years ago, they laid off 400 out of 6,000. in the 3 years between ESPN added a net of almost 2000 employees....... your reports of their demise, are greatly exaggerated.
That said, the industry is indeed in transition. Fox is now positioned to strongly challenge in the space, but at the same time has committed tremendous resources to rights acquisition, which by the way, is the primary cause of ESPN's headaches (along with cord cutting--- a much misunderstood phenomenon).
Don't look for massive changes in the way either does business in the short term....... in the long term, it will be dictated by how well either or both figure out ways to adjust and particularly new delivery systems direct to the consumer. ESPN has always led the way in technology (WatchESPN being a great example)...... It will be interesting to be sure, but the conclusions on this board are often way over the top and seldom based in reality.
I posted about a year ago, that the TV contract would be dramatically disappointing, even before the slip of the lip at Disney that brought on the stock slide and "panic" about ESPN on wall street.
What will happen to AAC in their next rights negotiation? Sam C believes he knows, but like everyone else, its just an uneducated guess based on oversimplified data.
If the AAC continues to prosper and programs grow, they will see an uptick in rights dollars, if they experience mass defections (won't happen) then they will suffer too. But in the current environment, if I were them, I wouldn't be too concerned, they look to be in demand a couple of years down the road and should be fine.
Please LIST the ACTUAL circumstances that make AAC rights worth MORE in the next go-around.
There are not any. Fact is, CUSA rights went down because the rights for all non top shelf rights are going down, because the revenue stream is getting smaller every day. And, when AAC rights, or Indy Car racing rights, or NHRA rights, or MWC rights, or pro tennis rights, or WHATEVER non top shelf rights come up, the league/conference/sanctioning body will get less. Because there is less to give.
The ESPN model was simple. More or less force "everybody" to pay for ESPN, even the majority that, given 100% a la carte status, would not buy any sports channels whatsoever. Simple. And it made people plenty of money. Copied by the other 3 major broadcasters, and, in various modified forms, by RSNs, and by networks offering other genres of programming.
That time is coming to an end. A discussion of ESPN's merit relative to CBSSN releative to Fox relative to BeIN, is a discussion of the Acme buggy whip company relative to all the other buggy whip companies. Acme (ESPN) may very well have been the premeire buggy whip maker the market leader.
Until nobody bought ANY BRAND of buggy whip whatsoever. The fact that Acme was the best kept it alive for a few months more than the rest.
Remember Blockbuster?
While ESPN's Longhorn Network is a failue, it is going to be the future. Single team (internet delivered) channels. In that world, MU ain't Notre Dame. It ain't even WVU. But it certainly ain't Cincinnati either. If you cannot GIVE AWAY home game tickets, how many subscribers to your channel you think you are going to get.
And meanwhile Disney will be saying "but, but, but, you just have to take SNY and pay an in-market rate for UConn football statewide even thought you could care less about it, in order to get the Mets...."
And the new a la carte customer will say "no, just the Mets games, please".
End of paradigm.
I believe we are getting away from the story which is that Cusa should consider desolving. Always thought even though we are not ND why can't we be independent a couple years. We have the marketability and somewhat name brand. At least we couple maybe get our own schedule and not be penalized for the Rookies to the league.
Find a league or wait it out , hope hammick can make some nice pitches and fly some guys to the greenbrier . sell the team not the league !
I never thought I would say going back to the MAC was a good idea, but I am saying it now!
Sam,
If you could ever get out of your own way on these posts, you have lots to say...... drop the hyperbole and condescending remarks and you might be taken seriously. There are just so many assumptions you make and conclusions that you draw that don't appear to be based on anything more than your passions.......hate for AAC and love for MU. Both blind you to logical discourse and until you can get beyond that, it is difficult to engage in meaningful debate.
Dear DSHOE, I am no expert on this however, many things are in transition and nobody including you completely know the future. For example, how many years ago was it that Blockbuster was a big deal? Today people use providers like Hulu and Netflix and we all know that Blockbuster went bankrupt in 2010. Look at XM radio. Today it looks pretty good with it's revenue stream but with new technology now available I will be shocked if people continue to pay a monthly fee when they can now play their own music in their car using their smartphone and a Bluetooth IMO. That brings me to cable. How long will people be forced to carry an array of channels that they have no use for? If the day comes and I believe it will, when subscribers can cut out channels they don't want- ESPN could be in a bad spot.Believe me I don't take the movie channels for this reason and would love to cut away about half of my channels I have with Direct tv. For the record I like ESPN and was not trying to bash them although they haven't been a friend to Marshall in recent years IMO.So all I was trying to imply was hold steady cause sometimes what looks like a bad deal today turns out not to be such a bad deal later. Of course I could be wrong but I am saying this based on many trends I have noticed across the board in our nation.
The same guys we recruit out of North Carolina and South CarolinaFirst, Marshall does not have 14,000 students. My wife is an on campus academic advisor, keeps me updated on enrollment numbers, and the number is more around 11,000. That's still great for MU, though.
Secondly, Charlotte is not in some great position to suddenly matter in football. Who are they going to recruit in the Carolinas? All of the guys already committed to UNC, USC, NC State, Duke, Wake Forest, or even Appalachian State?
First, Marshall does not have 14,000 students. My wife is an on campus academic advisor, keeps me updated on enrollment numbers, and the number is more around 11,000. That's still great for MU, though.
Secondly, Charlotte is not in some great position to suddenly matter in football. Who are they going to recruit in the Carolinas? All of the guys already committed to UNC, USC, NC State, Duke, Wake Forest, or even Appalachian State?