THE AMERICAN!!!!! Given $1 Billion Over 12 Years by ESPN
- Thread starter wvkeeper(HN)
- Start date
The American! Basically the old CUSA that we could not compete in. Oh and we don't really dominate the watered down version either.
Eh, the AAC is inferior than C-USA besides being better in football, besides being better in basketball, besides paying coaches much more, besides having better facilities, besides recruiting better, besides having more national success, besides having better attendance, besides having a better brand, besides having a vastly better television contract, besides having better academic institutions, besides having more successfully historical programs, and besides having a raving lunatic named Samantha campaigning against them.
That hurts. We just got left in the dust. That is insane for a G5 conference. All the talking heads I have read said the big tv deals were over. That streaming was the future with all the cord cutting which was a big reason for the ESPN sub service.
Yes, but we have settled for mediocrity as well. You can't blame it all on being left in the dust. We had a lot of fun winning big in the Southern Conference and the MAC. Frankly, we are just plain old boring as a watching paint dry and we are mediocre. Unfortunately, that is perfectly acceptable by our AD and school President(what does that guy do anyway?). We used to have school President that cared and they would have got run out of town on a rail car for being this mediocre in football.
You can call it settling. Honest truth is no one wants CUSA or Marshall.
As far as we are concerned we offer nothing to a conference other than being a quality team.
Our location kills us. Small, poor, drug infested town that isn't in a good or even decent recruiting area.
Well then we should be the best where we are at and frankly we are not. that's my point.
That is a self defeating attitude. We should then strive to dominate this conference. That's my point. We don't.
Schools like Temple and bottom rung AAC schools it’s great. To the upper half of the conference it’s a gut punch. $6.9 mil. a year is a fraction of what P5 schools are getting. If it was that great the schools would have signed a GOR. They didn’t.
Sam may be having a coronary.
CUSA was idtiotic for going with CSTV when the contracts were negotiated years ago.
Dan Shoemaker and another ESPN employee told me the league would regret that and we sure as hell are.
CUSA the league no one knows about.
CUSA was idtiotic for going with CSTV when the contracts were negotiated years ago.
Dan Shoemaker and another ESPN employee told me the league would regret that and we sure as hell are.
CUSA the league no one knows about.
ADs need to get rid of the current head of CUSA and find someone who is media savvy and connected and renegotiate the CUSA television contract if that’s even possible.
Yep.
This deal only validates what every sane college football fan already knew. The AAC is much better than CUSA (and the MAC and Sun Belt) but is miles away from being the 6th power conference. The current TV deals prove it:
There's a reason schools like Houston and UCF made sure a Grant of Rights wasn't part of the package.
Serious question. How do you feel about the sunbelt? I honestly think it would be a better fit for Marshall. Having Appalachian and Coastal Carolina(who is growing and will be a good team shortly way before Charlotte), etc would be a much more natural fit for Marshall fans.
I like the Sun Belt East. Always thought a combination of schools like App State, Coastal and Troy would fit well with CUSA East and UAB, La Tech and Southern Miss.
Winner. Correct. And, BTW, much of THE AMERICAN!!!!!!!!!!!!! 's material will be moving to the ESPN+ internet pay site.
So, we can confirm that THE AMERICAN!!!!!!!!!!!! is a significant, but not unbreachable, ways ahead to the other G5 schools, and a gap 1000 times wider than the Grand Canyon from the P5 to which it has self-proclaimed itself a member. When you have to keep saying it, it is because you ain't it.
And?
- Every time the phone rings in an AAC AD's office, the AD asks the secretary "is that the Big 12 calling?" That will not change.
- Until the P5 contracts expire in a few years, and the Big 12, or perhaps a Little 8 without Texas and Oklahoma , really does come calling.
- Western Michigan, from the lowly MAC, made the access bowl. If the system continues as is, in the next few years, teams from CUSA and the SBC will as well. 13-0 = access bowl. Anything else, in CUSA or the AAC = pre-Christmas.
When the P5 contracts expire, IMHO, there will be a new "great realignment". Will that be an end to the Big 12, and some schools (cough, WVU, cough) having to find refuge in the AAC? Or will it finally see some AACers finding the Promised Land of the Big 12? Or something else. And that will ripple down to us. The job of MH and DH, (and to a lesser degree DD) from now to then, is to have us in a better position than KO, Tan Man, and whatever supergenius was basketball coach, had us the last time. I'm on their side. Which is the MU side. If some of you cannot handle that, then, as said, MU sports is not for you and you need to move on. Plently of WVU gear at the local Wally World.
- That said, MU is a small and grossly underfunded school in a challenged town in a dying state. That ain't changing, no matter who is president, governor or pope. We are always going to be trying to do more with less. To me, that is part of being a Marshall fan. If that isn't you, well see above.
What is self defeating. I was just explaining why we never got picked to leave and schools like Tulane did.
You have a higher opinion of Marshall than is reality. Should we be winning more often? Sure. However to discount the conference as a whole as garbage when comparing to ourselves is myopic.
Like it or not schools like S. Miss, LaTech, MTSU, and WKU are on our level. They are peer programs.
Most Marshall fans has always considered S.Miss to be a rival and a circled game every year.
LaTech and MTSU are both solid programs that most fans respected before they entered CUSA.
I remember a lot of people on here wanting WKU in CUSA the first time realignment hit.
FAU and FIU are in fertile recruiting grounds and throwing money into their program. I think FAU to be the better of the two. I do believe these two to be a notch below us. I would almost put FAU in the top tier, but I wonder what happens to them when Kiffen leaves.
North Texas is in Texas and has good seasons every once in a while, but we should beat them more often than not.
The rest of the conference is hot garbage. I know UAB has looked good since coming back and has a good coach, but this team is going to come back to reality. Their team is built of the NCAA allowing them a lot of liberties in rebuilding that roster.
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Excellent analysis. Just excellent. The premise of the football haters is to disparage the rest of the conference as some collection of whoevers, making winning at the same time easy and meaningless. That just isn't so.
Damn...I just complimented Sam in another thread for not mentioning wvu or THE AMERICAN!!!!!!
Now there's a whole thread dedicated to the latter...
Now there's a whole thread dedicated to the latter...
Sam the overwhelming amount of football teams in CUSA are ranked in the bottom 100 of the rankings, play in front of 10 people and are nobody’s favorite team in their own geography. It is hot garbage as a football conference. If Marshall is at their level now then that means we have completely regressed as a program and I don’t think we have, which is why it frustrates me that we are not the dominant team in this conference. Myself and many others feel we should dominate this conference like we did back when we were in the MAC. We have tons of advantages over our conference mates with the exception of WV is not a prime state for recruiting. But even with that we consistently have the top or 2nd best recruiting class every year in CUSA.
FYI there is no difference in the MAC when we were in it and CUSA of today. With one exception CUSA has a few good teams sprinkled in with a bunch of horrible teams like the MAC had, but CUSA since the teams left for the American has had zero great teams.
Also for the last I don’t know how many years you have said the American is no different than any of the other G5’s. You have disparaged them at every turn. You said their TV rites would suck once their current contract was up. Well guess what as is par for the course not only were you wrong you were completely wrong. That’s a fantastic contract for a G5 conference. OK it’s not P5 money but I would love to see MU get 6 million bucks from our TV contract. It completely blows away our pitiful contract. FYI even if every American Conference game is played on ESPN Plus (which they aren’t they will have plenty of games on the ESPN TV networks), the ESPN Plus app is on every smart tv that you can buy today. I watch every ESPN Plus game on one of my big screens at home in HD without any struggle at all, just click on the app and pick the game and go right to it. No searching, no hassle.
Lastly I don’t hate football, not even close, I’m actually a bigger football fan than I am basketball. I don’t dislike Doc at all, I just feel we could be much better in football than what we are and that he’s been very mediocre as a coach during his tenure. I wish that there was more pressure on him to perform at a higher level especially while we are in this conference.
I think our AD is doing a fantastic job, the best AD we have had at MU in my lifetime and I’m 50. I don’t think he has a great personality but I don’t care if he keeps doing the things he’s doing. I didn’t think coach Donnan had a very good personality but I think he is one of if not the best football coach in the history of our program.
FYI there is no difference in the MAC when we were in it and CUSA of today. With one exception CUSA has a few good teams sprinkled in with a bunch of horrible teams like the MAC had, but CUSA since the teams left for the American has had zero great teams.
Also for the last I don’t know how many years you have said the American is no different than any of the other G5’s. You have disparaged them at every turn. You said their TV rites would suck once their current contract was up. Well guess what as is par for the course not only were you wrong you were completely wrong. That’s a fantastic contract for a G5 conference. OK it’s not P5 money but I would love to see MU get 6 million bucks from our TV contract. It completely blows away our pitiful contract. FYI even if every American Conference game is played on ESPN Plus (which they aren’t they will have plenty of games on the ESPN TV networks), the ESPN Plus app is on every smart tv that you can buy today. I watch every ESPN Plus game on one of my big screens at home in HD without any struggle at all, just click on the app and pick the game and go right to it. No searching, no hassle.
Lastly I don’t hate football, not even close, I’m actually a bigger football fan than I am basketball. I don’t dislike Doc at all, I just feel we could be much better in football than what we are and that he’s been very mediocre as a coach during his tenure. I wish that there was more pressure on him to perform at a higher level especially while we are in this conference.
I think our AD is doing a fantastic job, the best AD we have had at MU in my lifetime and I’m 50. I don’t think he has a great personality but I don’t care if he keeps doing the things he’s doing. I didn’t think coach Donnan had a very good personality but I think he is one of if not the best football coach in the history of our program.
Personally, I think smaller conferences like C-USA should just use chyrons and go commercial free on their broadcasts.
If you look at our actual revenue (not including institutional support), the vast majority of it comes from ticket sales, with a small sliver for our media rights. Insomuch, we're making 20,000 people sitting in the stadium sit through a four game full of commercial breaks, just so they can run the same Cabell Huntington ad over and over for the 2,000 or so people watching remotely.
When your revenue comes from the live experience, you should make the live experience the priority. College football has gone full "Caddyshack 2" over the last 20 years, maybe its time to focus on making going to games more enjoyable.
If you look at our actual revenue (not including institutional support), the vast majority of it comes from ticket sales, with a small sliver for our media rights. Insomuch, we're making 20,000 people sitting in the stadium sit through a four game full of commercial breaks, just so they can run the same Cabell Huntington ad over and over for the 2,000 or so people watching remotely.
When your revenue comes from the live experience, you should make the live experience the priority. College football has gone full "Caddyshack 2" over the last 20 years, maybe its time to focus on making going to games more enjoyable.
Bluntly, then MU football is not your thing. That is fine. Some people like NASCAR, some people like art museums. No judgement. I hope you find something you can enjoy.
BTW, I can think of another league where the teams are all "nobody's favorite team in their own geography".
The AAC.
First, the MAC, before we got there was future phys ed teachers of Ohio vs. future phys ed teachers of Michigan. Not even playing in a real bowl in that era (the California Raisin Bowl was a ginned up fake deal). Teams were selling tickets to boosters to shread to reach the then attendance rules. Facilities were nasty. And, really, after Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State and Notre Dame suck up 99.9% of the available air up there, nobody really cared, or cares today. We were just plain better than they were, and fate sent two, or perhaps three, players here that belonged elsewhere in terms of talent.
But second, and most importantly, the Huntington insider perception that Marshall has all these advantages over everyone else in this league, is just arrogance. There are the directional Floridas living on student fees without fans, but so are the AAC's directional Floridas, and with the 50K each student bodies, this new way of funding sports might just work. . UNCC was a mistake, and probably ODU as well, and UAB needs to build a stadium, but there is a core remaining that we are not somehow naturally at some higher level that. Explain why, exactly, we should feal superior to WKU, MTSU, USM, LTU, or the Texas schools. Exactly.
That just isn't so, but if you believe that, I'm not going to change your mind. MU sports is just not for you. I hope you find something to fill the void.
I, and about 10000 other people all over the internet and beyond all the way to legitimate sports media people, make fun of the idiotic P6 stuff. Because it is idiotic and easy to make fun of. Every fan of every other G5 team should laugh at the P6 idiocy every chance we get.
I was not wrong. This "P6" league was told by ESPN, "umm, no, you are not P6, because there is no P6. You are in the G5, here is some G5 money". And the AAC asked "where do I sign, sir?"
Was it a good deal? Yeah. If you are Temple or Tulane. If you are one of the delusional teams at the top, you are very upset at getting about 1/6th of what real P5 teams get. Which is why the fact that there is no "grant of rights" (UCF, USF, Houston, or whoever can leave if asked to join the Big 12) is the most significant part of the story.
And you would love to see MU get $$. Ain't that grand. MU is in Huntington WV. It is not named for a state nor a city. Its fan base is pretty much limited to students, alumni, parents and people born within 15 miles or so of Huntington. The region is dying (H-C TV market has gone from the 43rd largest in the late 60s to 71st today) and WV, and Michigan, are the only states to lose population in gross numbers since 1990. The AAC's act is "look at all these big cities" (and they are not the most popular college team in a one of them, but that is an argument for another day). Some might say that the main job of Marshall University is to give the smart kids a way to GTFO of here. Half of our alumni (as evidenced by the posters here) did so. We bring nothing to the table
About that you will get not argument.
But the important thing to understand is that MU is way more similar to I-AA programs and non-football programs than we are to the core of CUSA. The arrogant attitude that we should just "dominate" a league of larger schools with more resources in places with better economies and better living standards, is what is making MU sports not your thing.
I hope you find what is.
Alright...but don't complain when prices for everything goes up, the AD has another fundraising campaign for things those advertising dollars pay for and you're sitting there complaining, "Why can't someone else pay for it?!"
I could not imagine the outrage this board would have if MU asked the fans to raise money for the video board in the Cam.
Well, you just admitted that there are a bunch of C-USA teams that Marshall has big advantages over. You also named a bunch you feel (not "feal," christ). are on Marshall's level. Those schools are WKU, MTSU, USM, LT, NT, and UTEP.
Let's look: Out of those six other schools, which one has had a more successful football program over the last 25 years? None. You may want to argue Southern Miss, but that's wrong. They've been consistently consistent for the first half of those 25 years. And that consistency has been 6 and 7 win seasons, so nothing great. Over the last 25 years, Marshall has had the best football program of those schools.
Advantage: Marshall
In terms of attendance/fan support, Marshall wins. Over the last five years - which is the time the current C-USA began - Marshall has the highest attendance in the conference.
Marshall: 24,869
USM: 24,597
UTSA: 24,230
UAB: 23,891
Advantage: Marshall
Facilities:
In overall football facilities, Marshall wins. UNT has a chance to jump ahead of them when their indoor is completed, but since the start of the new C-USA, Marshall has the best football facilities . . . and it isn't even close. Hell, UTEP's individual meeting rooms are held in classrooms. I'm not bullshitting. They have three tables that are put in a U-shape in a classroom where the position players sit for their meetings.
Advantage: Marshall
Revenue/Budget/Subsidy
When taking those things into account, Marshall is in the middle of the pack. Their revenue from strictly athletics is near the top. Their subsidy is towards the bottom. Their overall athletic budget is in the middle. The same holds true for coaching salaries. Marshall is in the middle of the conference.
Advantage: Some other team
Recruiting:
Marshall is dwarfed in recruiting regions by most other teams in the conference. However, Marshall has an enormous advantage in the ability to take what it appears to be unlimited non-qualifiers. This has allowed Marshall to get a ton of kids on campus over the last decade that other peer schools (Conference USA) wouldn't be able to touch. And many of those kids have turned out to be big contributors to Marshall's football success.
Advantage: Draw
So, Marshall has the best football support from fans, the best history (within the last 25 years), the best facilities, is middle of the pack in budget, and is near the top in recruiting advantages.
Tell us, Samantha, what are all of those advantages that the schools you listed (LT, USM, UAB, UTEP, UTSA, UNT) have over Marshall in football?
That's bullshit. The MAC from 1998-2003 is every bit as strong (or weak) as Conference USA is today.
You were incredibly wrong, and now you are trying to change your argument. Nobody on here debated if the AAC was a P5. What was debated was your asinine insistence that the AAC was no better than C-USA. That's bullshit, and the huge disparity in media payments just reinforced that.
You're simply a liar by trying to change what your argument was. You have insisted that the AAC is no better than C-USA. You're wrong. It isn't even close.
You're simply a moron. Marshall leads the conference in attendance over the last five years! They have the best FBS history over the last 25 years. They have the best overall football facilities. How, in any way, are they closer to an FCS than the core of C-USA? Hell, even with what they have the worst (overall athletic budget), they are still just in the middle of the pack of C-USA (the "core") instead of closer to an FCS.
Somebody should copy-and-paste this and force Samantha to respond since he has me blocked.
Few things...
Yes, fire Judy. She is useless. Never has done anything to help grow this conference or encourage better use of resources (which many schools in CUSA have to an extent). But as long as she keeps her mouth shut and complies with what the clueless bigwigs in Texas want, she's a lifer.
To be fair, CUSA's TV deal expired in-between everyone else's and nobody (admittedly, many on this board) knew what would happen.
With that said, there are still unsecure elements to this deal which keeps Mike Aresco up at night. Anyone can leave at any time and bigger conferences will toss pocket change at him, tell him to go back to the club house where he has a "P6" written in magic marker, while they take his girlfriend to the movies.
It also evaluates the AAC about what they are worth. The big cities but often ignored schools catch fire for a season and suddenly you own them for a mere 7 million?! Thats actually cheap!
Also a majority of the football games are on ESPN+ still and I am unsure if the AAC gets priority over the MAC for Saturdays (oh wait, ESPN doesn't allow the MAC to play hardly on Saturdays unless its against a P5 team) but weekday games kill gates. Even the P5 takes a hit on that.
Finally, yes the money is good overall, but does it increase perception in terms of 'value'? Does this mean the AAC will be considered more for the CFP? Or will they still be treated like the Pac 12, seen as good, but not great, and passed over for a MWC team despite their money being so good?
The former is the goal but the latter seems more reality.
Yes, fire Judy. She is useless. Never has done anything to help grow this conference or encourage better use of resources (which many schools in CUSA have to an extent). But as long as she keeps her mouth shut and complies with what the clueless bigwigs in Texas want, she's a lifer.
To be fair, CUSA's TV deal expired in-between everyone else's and nobody (admittedly, many on this board) knew what would happen.
With that said, there are still unsecure elements to this deal which keeps Mike Aresco up at night. Anyone can leave at any time and bigger conferences will toss pocket change at him, tell him to go back to the club house where he has a "P6" written in magic marker, while they take his girlfriend to the movies.
It also evaluates the AAC about what they are worth. The big cities but often ignored schools catch fire for a season and suddenly you own them for a mere 7 million?! Thats actually cheap!
Also a majority of the football games are on ESPN+ still and I am unsure if the AAC gets priority over the MAC for Saturdays (oh wait, ESPN doesn't allow the MAC to play hardly on Saturdays unless its against a P5 team) but weekday games kill gates. Even the P5 takes a hit on that.
Finally, yes the money is good overall, but does it increase perception in terms of 'value'? Does this mean the AAC will be considered more for the CFP? Or will they still be treated like the Pac 12, seen as good, but not great, and passed over for a MWC team despite their money being so good?
The former is the goal but the latter seems more reality.
That is, sad to say, the official motto of Huntington. Not just in relation to MU sports, but MU as an institution and every other aspect of civic life.
Well Sam, you’ve finally convinced me. There is no reason to cheer on and support Marshall. It’s a lost cause, Htgn is a lost cause, WV is a lost cause, CUSA is a lost cause.
I’ll take your advise and find something else, thanks for all your help.
I’ll take your advise and find something else, thanks for all your help.
Not long from now, there will be a new conference realignment. Don't be surprised when you see a new ten (10) team CUSA conference of Marshall, North Texas, Western Kentucky, S. Miss, North Texas, Middle Tennessee, FAU, FIU, UAB, and Louisiana Tech. The winner of this conference will be a favorite of the access bowl every year.
Rifle your rebuttal to Sam is better than I could have typed. So Sam here you go read it. He is 100% correct.
ADD me to that list...Sad SAM has put me into a state of depression.....I think I will cut my wrists...
HerdZilla22 in Charlotte
Oh no, I surely wouldn't. Matter of fact, if you told me I could pay an extra $5 a game and not have a two-minute stoppage in play for every five to six minutes of action, here take $10. I miss the days when college football games could be played in two and a half hours.
I'd also disagree about the scoreboards. I would much rather preferred to have Marshall mount a fundraising campaign to purchase one, high-quality scoreboard to place in our South End Zone. What we wound up with aren't exactly top of the line, and its ridiculous having two of them in a stadium barely big enough to require one. There's a reason the free TV Big Sandy gives you with a couch purchase is an Emerson and not a Sony.
But my actual point was that I have been going to college football games since the early 80's, and in that time I've seen it go from an event that was focused on the live experience, to one that was focused on the television audience. In Morgantown, it makes sense because tens of thousands of people are watching at home and the school is getting paid $35 million a year in their league TV contract. In Huntington, we go through all the same delays and inconveniences, but the school is getting about $350k a year for it, while an audience smaller than what "Andy Griffith" reruns on MyTV gets watches at home.
Its a short sighted money-maker - it generates a little bit of revenue, but it comes at the cost of me being like, "F it I'll just stay home and watch it on TV where I can at least do something during the 10,000 commercial breaks."
The whole conference is not garbage, but there are are some real cupcakes. Some serious cupcakes. There is no reason for Marshall to not put more championship hardware in the trophy case. The problem stems from the top, no vision and no standards. Just go win 7 or 8 games and get to some bowl. Good enough. That is BS
So, your new conference is a smaller version of the exsisting crappy conference (by reducing down to 10 teams), and suddenly, they'll be the powerhouse of the G5? Hell, go all out and reduce it down to an eight team conference and get the champ into the CFP.
It gets better than that. North Texas has both a varsity and JV team in this new 10 team league.
Folks better enjoy being east division co runner ups while you can.
Key word "money-maker" because this is literally EVERYWHERE in college football.
It doesn't matter if it is short or long term.
So, you're saying it makes sense for wvu to do this because of being in the Big 12 and MU shouldn't because of our limited market?
I guess MU shouldn't try to make money...MU should just pack it all up and fold their program.
Funny that you mention Big Sandy giving away TV's when Marshall isn't even on TV.
There also are no more commercial breaks on a TV game with MU than there are anywhere else. Same with MU games in person versus others. All have spent thousands of dollars, per game, for airtime.
I also have never heard (same with the goal posts being painted) people complain about the advertising. Why? Its literally everywhere. The only reason you're sick of it is because its the same dozen or so local businesses and state companies.
But those state companies pay for everything and keep the costs of tickets down for the fickle financially sensitive fans.
MU's gameday atmosphere would not improve by removing the advertising either, since complaints have been pointed directly at Doc and the team, not the advertising.
What you're doing is expressing a frustration over something NCAA football doesn't care that you care about, advertising. Its money and MU is simply trying to do what Alabama, Texas, ohio state, etc, are doing. Heaven forbid they actually have a little success.
My question is what would happen if the conference was made of teams on the basis of fan support? I personally like to go to a game where there are fans. I don't care if it is Troy or East Carolina. I would rather have App. State in because of the Fans they bring to our games and the atmosphere when we would go to their games. Going to Middle Tenn, or Charlotte are like going into empty buildings. The NCAA made standards of at least 16,000 per game, long ago, before the MAC found a way to break every rule to have "FANS" counted that were not there. The MAC would have been a 1-AA conference long ago if the standards would have been upheld.
Marshall is a great university to be a part of IMO. It is a slow progression but things are being put into place to make us a solid member of the G5 division. But still part of Division 1. We have a great fan base, a little fickle, but that seems to be part of being Marshall. We need to be in a conference were people care about coming to the games and following their school. It takes years to build a base and schools that don't have fans now will need years to build them, YEARS, especially in areas which are already dominated by other colleges or pro teams. I get tired of supporting games with Miami Ohio and Ohio U because we bring as many or more fans to the games then they do. I guess i am saying FAN support should be a major component in selecting schools. The players always say they love our fan support and the way Huntington bleeds green. We may not have 50,000 fans in the seats but the players feel supported that is important.
Marshall is a great university to be a part of IMO. It is a slow progression but things are being put into place to make us a solid member of the G5 division. But still part of Division 1. We have a great fan base, a little fickle, but that seems to be part of being Marshall. We need to be in a conference were people care about coming to the games and following their school. It takes years to build a base and schools that don't have fans now will need years to build them, YEARS, especially in areas which are already dominated by other colleges or pro teams. I get tired of supporting games with Miami Ohio and Ohio U because we bring as many or more fans to the games then they do. I guess i am saying FAN support should be a major component in selecting schools. The players always say they love our fan support and the way Huntington bleeds green. We may not have 50,000 fans in the seats but the players feel supported that is important.
Yes, that is exactly what I am saying.
Marshall athletics do not make money. We require about $14 million a year in institutional subsidy to execute our athletic programs, otherwise there'd be nothing to advertise in.
Again, this is exactly my point: 20,000 people are sitting in the stadium looking at their shoes for two minutes every six minutes for the sake of the 2,000 or so people watching a Facebook live stream.
I think you are grossly over-estimating the amount of money generated by advertising in Marshall and C-USA events.
Again, you're hitting my thesis pretty hard on the nose. Mid majors like Marshall can't do what Alabama, Texas and Ohio State are doing, because the audience interest (and thus the revenue to justify the endeavor) isn't there. I'm not suggesting removing advertising from the venue completely, just saying that for in-game advertising, mid-major conferences broadcasting their own content should switch to chyrons and live reads so the game can flow and the live audience can have a better experience.
I don't know why some folks like to compare themselves to the biggest names in sports. This is like paying $400.00 to go see the Rolling Stones, and Dwight Yoakum shows up to perform instead.
Anybody that is still complaining about too many commercials and the dead time that comes with that for live gate people is complaining about a ship that sailed about 30 years ago. It ain't changing, here, or anywhere in any sport at any level.
Anyway, did some research on this mega deal with the G5 AAC where is gets 1/5th or so of what the P5 leagues are getting.
- It is correct there is no "grant of rights". Any team the Big 12 wants can leave at any time.
- ESPN can void the deal if ANY member leaves.
- The AAC, not ESPN, will produce all of the content that goes to ESPN+, so it is not $7 ish M net, it is $7 M gross.
Now, is that more than CUSA? Yep. Is it close to what a P5 gets? Nope.
This is a deal for ESPN+, ESPN's pay walled internet site. ESPN is in a big push to fill ESPN+ with niche sports content. Smaller college leagues like the AAC, CUSA and the MAC, as well as other things to make it worth people paying an extra seven bucks for. Will it work? Well right now ESPN+ has 2 ish M subscribers. The real ESPN channels on real TV have 92M.
The next up is the MWC. What the MWC, currently in a joint deal with CBSSN and ESPN, gets, particularly if it wants to do a deal like the AAC just did with ESPN and ESPN+ will be a strong indication of CUSA's future value, IMHO. We should get about 75 to 80% of what the MWC gets when our deals expire.
The loser in all of this is probably CBSSN. ESPN is currently sharing MAC and AAC content with CBSSN, and will probably move that to ESPN+. CBSSN may end up being your home for motorcross reruns and CUSA.
Anyway, did some research on this mega deal with the G5 AAC where is gets 1/5th or so of what the P5 leagues are getting.
- It is correct there is no "grant of rights". Any team the Big 12 wants can leave at any time.
- ESPN can void the deal if ANY member leaves.
- The AAC, not ESPN, will produce all of the content that goes to ESPN+, so it is not $7 ish M net, it is $7 M gross.
Now, is that more than CUSA? Yep. Is it close to what a P5 gets? Nope.
This is a deal for ESPN+, ESPN's pay walled internet site. ESPN is in a big push to fill ESPN+ with niche sports content. Smaller college leagues like the AAC, CUSA and the MAC, as well as other things to make it worth people paying an extra seven bucks for. Will it work? Well right now ESPN+ has 2 ish M subscribers. The real ESPN channels on real TV have 92M.
The next up is the MWC. What the MWC, currently in a joint deal with CBSSN and ESPN, gets, particularly if it wants to do a deal like the AAC just did with ESPN and ESPN+ will be a strong indication of CUSA's future value, IMHO. We should get about 75 to 80% of what the MWC gets when our deals expire.
The loser in all of this is probably CBSSN. ESPN is currently sharing MAC and AAC content with CBSSN, and will probably move that to ESPN+. CBSSN may end up being your home for motorcross reruns and CUSA.
I'm tight with Dwight. Saw him in K-Zoo last year. Tried to get on his bus before the show to burn one, but they refused to let me on.
