Television?

[wizard1]

Bobby Parker....We need regular TV of road games. If we are to build the BU basketball program, we must have TV coverage. ESPN3 is not the answer.
Wizard

[Da Coach]

Maybe we should send a thank you note to the ESPN3.com engineers.

[tornado]

wiz- see my opinions each of the last two or three seasons...and you'll see all the somewhat unsatisfactory reasons why they are doing what they are doing..

basically it is the end result of Michael Cross dismantling almost everything that worked fine (see the discussions on Itoo, running Joe Stowell out, etc..) and built a huge Bradley fans base for decades- which is now crumbling and disappearing

but then - it had been sorta since the KK era that anyone up there actually listens to the fans...until Dr. Reynolds - but there's still really too much to undo--


it was part of the calculated plan to go small...
go after the newer younger fans and ignore the long time fans who also were their big donors...
just go ask a few - Mort Cantor's family, the Vonachen family, McCord family, etc...all gone or moved up or out of the lower bowl when Cross quadrupled the mainteance and tripled the ticket prices.

[lefty]

TV is a tough sell....and it was becoming that before we got so bad really.

[tornado]

many schools and several conferences have high quality streaming for most or all games, but we rely picking up the other teams' feeds or hoping ESPN gets their act right...and it hasn't been that successful.
As much as most younger people naively think everyone can do the streaming - they are clueless to the fact that a huge pct. of the older, most loyal, most generous and financially supporting fans - are not connected nor addicted to their iPhones and don't do the computers...
it's all part of the reason we used to have 10-12,000 at every game and now are lucky to get 4-5,000

[Vent]

TV is a tough sell....and it was becoming that before we got so bad really.

You are absolutely correct. In fact, the major reason our cable bills keep going up is due to the amount of money sports channels must pay to televise sporting events. The NFL, NHL, NBA and MLB all have their own network now, in addition to the other sports channels such and ESPN, Fox Sports, Comcast Sports and others.

As for college, if you are a mid-major in basketball your games will be on ESPN3 or ESPNU for the most part. Actually from a national standpoint, ESPN3 is the best package mid-majors are going to get. It provides the airing of their football, baseball, women's basketball and women's softball. Their cost savings come from paying the local play by play and color commentary people.

The Big 10, SEC and ACC all have their own networks. The Big XII doesn't because the University of Texas has their own sports network, similar the what the Big 10, SEC and ACC have, and don't have to share revenue with other schools.

Mid-major conferences and schools don't have the financial means to have their own networks. As a result they must rely on ESPN3 or in some instances local affiliates to provide occasional coverage. Local coverage is almost a thing of the past due to high production costs and the selling of advertising doesn't generate enough revenue.

It's life as a mid-major.

[tornado]

Wichita has every one of their games televised...
they are on network and ESPN a bunch but half their games are carried TO THEIR LOCAL FANS by a local TV deal with a local Wichita network so their fans can have their own guys broadcasting
They are stuck on ESPN3 only four times all season

most of the other MVC schools just do the ESPN3 thing...maybe we need some new marketing brains in the Valley...
..if you are not going to make the team widely available to your own fans then it doesn't save you money - it loses you money in the long run..
the attendance figures don't lie

[Vent]

Wichita has every one of their games televised...
they are on network and ESPN a bunch but half their games are carried TO THEIR LOCAL FANS by a local TV deal with a local Wichita network so their fans can have their own guys broadcasting
They are stuck on ESPN3 only four times all season

most of the other MVC schools just do the ESPN3 thing...maybe we need some new marketing brains in the Valley...
..if you are not going to make the team widely available to your own fans then it doesn't save you money - it loses you money in the long run..
the attendance figures don't lie

Wichita is an exception to the rule, due mostly to their recent sustained success. Their success is also why there is interest in them joining another conference. The local stations don't televise them so their fans can have their own guys broadcasting the games. They do it because they can sell plenty of advertising, at the right price, to make money on the production. It's as simple as that. The local stations don't do it as a community service. I don't think there is another team in the Valley, that has the ability to do that. Otherwise, they would be on local television. It's all about the money. And the money follows winning.

[tornado]

well, sure they are now... but flash back 10 years....

in 2006 the drawing power, legacy, winning record, fanbase, recruiting prowess, and just about everything else between Wichita and Bradley was virtually identical...
except maybe Bradley was even better & stronger in many areas...

so BOTH Bradley and Wichita were neck & neck in every regard - both having just made a run to the Sweet Sixteen but here's the difference....

-Wichita soon lost their coach and made a great hire and has gained massively since then in all areas of respect and is now almost a MAJOR and no longer a mid-major

-Bradley instead hired a new President that fired the AD and ultimately the head coach and made th worst imaginable moves, decisions and hires (to appeal to the ego of the President, the PJS writers and a few loud squeaky wheels among the fan base) and after that we sunk nearly to the DIII level

there could NOT be a better lesson in all of college sports...
Make the right hires and flourish & succeed
Make the wrong hires and destroy 112 years of powerful basketball history & legacy...Take a bow JG & MC.
...we chose poorly over the objections of the major part of the fan base and are now living with the fallout.

[Vent]

Ten years ago there was also no Big 10, SEC or ACC network. If there was money in it local networks would still do it. That's the bottom line.

[Da Coach]

Ten years ago there was also no Big 10, SEC or ACC network. If there was money in it local networks would still do it. That's the bottom line.

All the Peoria stations now have side channels that could easily accommodate the games. Yes, there wouldn't be much profit, which is what the last administration was trying to get, but at least it would drive local interest in Bradley basketball. Bradley spends a lot of money on advertising, which accomplishes far less. I have been told that multiple Peoria stations offered deals to the last administration to televise games locally in the Peoria market, but they were turned down in favor of the ESPN3 deal. ESPN3.com works for some out-of-town fans, but unfortunately, it doesn't reach the majority of the local viewers who don't do computer streaming or don't have smart TVs, and thus local fan interest in the community is disappearing.
Not long ago, it seemed everyone I knew or talked to followed Bradley basketball. Now I can't even find anyone to give my extra tickets away to.

[lefty]

If TV stations thought it would pay they would do it.....it was starting to go by the wayside several years ago.......I bought ad packages for years but as the price kept rising and the TV audience was shrinking it just wasn't worth it..... the losing just accelerated decline quicker

[Da Coach]

lefty, there were local TV stations who really wanted to televise the games, and a couple that thought they had a good deal in place. But the TV stations wanted the better games that would draw the bigger audiences, while the administration wouldn't do the deal unless they took mainly the bad games (and recall the schedule was loaded with crappy games in 2012, 2013, and 2014). I've talked with people who produced the games for many years. It was the administration's demands that killed the deal.

In fact, most of the MVC teams do have television deals in place this season to broadcast their games to their local audience through a local network agreement:
Drake televises at least 9 of their games this season on local TV- Mediacom channel MC22
Illinois State has at least 9 of their games televised locally on ComcastSportsNet or Comcast SportsNet Plus
Loyola has a local TV package with Comcast SportsNet Chicago for several of their games
Missouri State University has a bunch of their games televised locally on their own Bears TV Network.
Northern Iowa has a bunch of their games on their own local Panther TV Network in Cedar Falls and other cable systems in Iowa.
And Wichita State has at least 14 of their games televised locally on the Cox channels 2021 or 2022

In fact, Bradley, Evansville, Indiana State, and SIU appear to be the only MVC teams that do not have a local TV deal this season. So somehow, there are 6 teams, most of whom do not have the finances, revenues, or fan following that Bradley has, who have figured out a way to get their games on local TV.
Personally, I don't really care, since I can watch ESPN3, but the current system is shutting out a large percentage of people who used to follow Bradley and now are losing interest or who have dropped out completely. IMO, it would be in Bradley's best interest to get back on local TV.

[tornado]

every Morton High School girls and boys game and every East Peoria HS game are on my cable system - you saying they make money for the stations?

[Vent]

every Morton High School girls and boys game and every East Peoria HS game are on my cable system - you saying they make money for the stations?

The local cable stations you are talking about, are not for profit.