Further info on ESPN media deal to cover the MVC

[tornado]

https://twitter.com/hoijim/status/623973554971918336

https://twitter.com/TribStarTodd/status/623977624105263104

https://twitter.com/jeremiahdavis10/status/623971117032538112

news conference tomorrow via conference call..

this has been in the works since last fall.... wonder why it took 'til now to hear something new - and why it's moving forward now?

http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=24468

[Old Coach]

Yep. It's just the ESPN 3 deal.

[LongTimeFan]

It will still the fans out of the central Illinois area. I can currently get ESPN3 and the video there is much better than Bradley TV. Bradley TV keeps stoping during the play for a couple of three seconds and is very frustrating. You would think they could provide better video than that.

[tornado]

it is at 10:30am
it is described as "new rights agreement" - so what's new if it's the same thing from last fall?

https://twitter.com/MVCsports/status/623974372521308160/photo/1

[Old Coach]

It will still the fans out of the central Illinois area. I can currently get ESPN3 and the video there is much better than Bradley TV. Bradley TV keeps stoping during the play for a couple of three seconds and is very frustrating. You would think they could provide better video than that.

I think it's a very good thing. My point was just that you aren't going to start seeing Bradley on ESPN or ESPN 2 8 times per year. I like the ESPN 3 product. With an Apple TV (or similar device), I can watch anything on ESPN 3 on my television.

[amckillip]

I think it's a very good thing. My point was just that you aren't going to start seeing Bradley on ESPN or ESPN 2 8 times per year. I like the ESPN 3 product. With an Apple TV (or similar device), I can watch anything on ESPN 3 on my television.

Agreed, this is a great step forward. The 'blue hairs' may not understand its significance but ESPN3 has an incredibly wide reach, it is a platform that spans everything from Android Phones, to iPads, to Xbox's as well as computers. I would be surprised if it doesn't give ESPN the option of picking up the good games, which is good for the MVC. This is a step in the right direction. The next step is a more competitive league.

[Bobby Parker]

The Missouri Valley Conference and ESPN have just now jointly announced the launch of "The Valley on ESPN3" as a major component of an extension of the league's media rights agreement with the World Wide Leader. As part of the agreement, Bradley Athletics is partnering with local production company ScheffTech Productions and the Braves Vision student broadcast team for our broadcasts, which will begin this Fall with soccer and volleyball.

As part of today's announcement, ESPN3 will carry a Valley show at 1 p.m. (CT) today: http://espn.go.com/watchespn/index/_...DB_OEM_ID=3400

News Release: http://www.bradleybraves.com/ViewArt...DB_OEM_ID=3400

[Da Coach]

Sounds like a great deal for Valley schools!



PJ Star article

http://www.pjstar.com/article/20150723/SPORTS/150729650/12701/SPORTS?rssfeed=true&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

[Old Coach]

It might really help some of the non-revenue sports with exposure that they otherwise wouldn't get.

[tornado]

I hope it works out but I also hope that this deal is not at the expense of trying to get Bradley basketball games on more accessible TV coverage....

According to their own data...ESPN3's record number of viewers at one time for any event is about 1/2 million (and that's for major NATIONAL events)..
I know it is "growing" but slowly and a large number of midwesterners still do not ever watch ESPN3 - I think they have fallen short on the marketing end of it.

...that compares to about 40 million or more that might watch ESPN, which is readily available on everyone's cable TV packages or upwards of 115 million who have watched Superbowls & other sports on broadcast TV
So - clearly ESPN3 is drawing 1-2% of what the other ESPN channels can get.

You'd kinda have to admit that largely the only people who'd view on ESPN3 would be those who sought out the broadcast because they were already MVC fans...

but keep in mind that 80-90% of all fans have never watched a single thing on ESPN3 and 50-70% seem to not even know what it is.
We still need MVC teams to get local TV deals and develop & grow their own fan base and make the games accessible.

Anyone read this? It's a commentary on the effectiveness the MAC had broadcasting their games on ESPN3.
I don't know if our deal is exactly the same but it is an interesting read....

http://www.hustlebelt.com/maction/2015/4/3/8340463/mac-announces-espn3-watchespn-viewership-numbers-analysis

http://www.hustlebelt.com/2015/7/22/8967163/vacant-saddles

The answer is given to one question...
"What if I don't have ESPN3, will I still be able to watch free live streams from the MAC's site or my school's site?"
ANSWER: - "The short answer is eventually, no..." "In order for this to work..."..they're gonna have to eliminate any way for people to see the games for free!!!

Keep in mind attendance in the MVC is down over the past few years - especially way down since the last ESPN TV deal was signed - and way down over the peak we saw at the Tourney a few years back - LINK - LINK

[amckillip]

I hope it works out but I also hope that this deal is not at the expense of trying to get Bradley basketball games on more accessible TV coverage....

According to their own data...ESPN3's record number of viewers at one time for any event is about 1/2 million (and that's for major NATIONAL events)..
I know it is "growing" but slowly and a large number of midwesterners still do not ever watch ESPN3 - I think they have fallen short on the marketing end of it.

...that compares to about 40 million or more that might watch ESPN, which is readily available on everyone's cable TV packages or upwards of 115 million who have watched Superbowls & other sports on broadcast TV
So - clearly ESPN3 is drawing 1-2% of what the other ESPN channels can get.

You'd kinda have to admit that largely the only people who'd view on ESPN3 would be those who sought out the broadcast because they were already MVC fans...

but keep in mind that 80-90% of all fans have never watched a single thing on ESPN3 and 50-70% seem to not even know what it is.
We still need MVC teams to get local TV deals and develop & grow their own fan base and make the games accessible.

Anyone read this? It's a commentary on the effectiveness the MAC had broadcasting their games on ESPN3.
I don't know if our deal is exactly the same but it is an interesting read....

http://www.hustlebelt.com/maction/2015/4/3/8340463/mac-announces-espn3-watchespn-viewership-numbers-analysis

http://www.hustlebelt.com/2015/7/22/8967163/vacant-saddles

The answer is given to one question...
"What if I don't have ESPN3, will I still be able to watch free live streams from the MAC's site or my school's site?"
ANSWER: - "The short answer is eventually, no..." "In order for this to work..."..they're gonna have to eliminate any way for people to see the games for free!!!

Keep in mind attendance in the MVC is down over the past few years - especially way down since the last ESPN TV deal was signed - and way down over the peak we saw at the Tourney a few years back - LINK - LINK

Holding on to the old way of thinking doesn't do much good, the local TV broadcasts are terribly produced SD nightmares. ESPN3 is generally HD and better produced. To think that if Bu Sporting events were on local TV they would provide a big viewing audience isn't realistic. If people were eager to tune in, the local channels would want to carry those events... that's clearly not the case. ESPN3 provides an avenue to get the broadcasts to anyone who has ESPN, a very large #.

As far as any correlation between TV deals and attendance, I would suggest that is a correlation and is definitely not causation. I would attribute the attendance decline to a very clear decline in the quality of the valley - both naturally and due to the loss of Creighton - which you have cited many times when highlighting the poor performance under Geno, and the fact that families are more judicious with their money due to the economy - something that is routinely brought up when discussing the previous administrations ticket price increase. Suggesting the TV deal and attendance declines, etc. are related seems pretty far fetched in my eyes.

[tornado]

.. the local TV broadcasts are terribly produced SD nightmares...

well, I do agree but they have only been so recently... someone totally dropped the ball a few years ago and has never bothered to pick it back up...
..and a well done TV deal would increase our fans and maybe help boost attendance...
I know there are other factors but was pointing out that we are kinda down and need things to work WELL to draw in new fans and draw back old fans.
Just talked this morning with perhaps the only Bradley fan whose basement has more Bradley stuff than mine and he mentioned last year was the first year in 2 decades he was NOT in St. Louis...we blew thru the last 4-5 years losing fans rapidly - we have to get it right this time.

[Old Coach]

Even when Bradley was playing well in the mid-2000s, local TV broadcasts did not make money. WEEK was doing at a push, and sometimes at a loss the last 2 seasons they televised Bradley basketball. The ratings would regularly be a 1 or - (which means something less than 1). Selling spots for $200 a piece was challenging when a typical prime time rating point sold for between $75-$100 a point. On top of that, you had to pre-empt regularly scheduled prime time programming which always honked off a certain percentage of local viewership. If it were a money-making proposition, I guarantee you that HOI, WEEK, WMBD, or WYZZ would be regularly broadcasting games. The on-line digital platform is definitely the way to go.

[tornado]

.. If it were a money-making proposition, I guarantee you that HOI, WEEK, WMBD, or WYZZ would be regularly broadcasting games. The on-line digital platform is definitely the way to go.

I know, but there were still people at the local TV stations who wanted to do BU games but the offer to do so came with conditions that someone at Bradley would not accept, so the deals floundered and were failures.
Among MVC teams - how many have BIG fan bases, in bigger TV markets of over 100,000, for a team with a great. loyal following and a tremendous tradition.
At least as far as MVC schools, Bu was among the top 2 or 3 - and yet we never had a TV deal over the past 5 years that was any better than the bottom dwellers.

[Old Coach]

I know, but there were still people at the local TV stations who wanted to do BU games but the offer to do so came with conditions that someone at Bradley would not accept, so the deals floundered and were failures.
Among MVC teams - how many have BIG fan bases, in bigger TV markets of over 100,000, for a team with a great. loyal following and a tremendous tradition.
At least as far as MVC schools, Bu was among the top 2 or 3 - and yet we never had a TV deal over the past 5 years that was any better than the bottom dwellers.

Sure. They could have bought airtime on a secondary channel on paid programming basis, and televised almost every game. However, Bradley would have then had to sell all of the ad space in an effort to recoup the programming costs. They were already losing money, and I don't think anyone would have been supportive of them losing even more money every game.