(10-08-2015 05:32 PM)cleburneslim Wrote:  

(10-08-2015 04:28 PM)rokamortis Wrote:  

(10-08-2015 03:34 PM)FIU4Ever Wrote:  

(10-08-2015 10:53 AM)rokamortis Wrote:  This wouldn't appease the TV only crowd but Amazon is rumored to be looking into a streaming live TV service.

http://blog.streamingmedia.com/2015/10/a...rvice.html

I have no idea if they are interested in sports but if they are I could see them signing up a few DI conferences neglected by the mouse house and giving them their own virtual channels for a reasonable amount of money. Most DI schools already stream the majority of their events so this should make it a bit easier.

If they could work out a deal with some of the broadcasters like NBC, CBS, and Fox then they could broadcast some of the games on traditional TV stations and treat as advertising for their services.

Sony, Sling and others are already doing the a la carte live TV streaming. The thing with a la carte channels is they must pay for themselves. Each subscriber will directly share the cost associated with the streaming platform, production cost, TV revenue for each school in the conference and the conference office's cut. If each subscriber pays 10 bucks a month, how many subscribers would it take to support that channel?

The big question for us G5ers is how to get to that critical mass to support such a venture.

I assume Amazon isn't looking to offer a la carte streaming - but provide value by having lost of options.

But if there was a dedicated channel that is a la carte - it gets down to production quality. I know ESPN3 is basically passing the production costs to the schools for most sports. The Big South is essentially providing a streaming channel for all members and sports to viewers for free. I figure at $5 a month 250K annual subscribers would generate $15 million. There are expenses of course, but I could see that being the floor with the school providing the production for most of the sports / games with the occasional professional production. On top of the subscription fees the conference could sell sponsorships.

Is 250,000 annual subscribers willing to pay $5 a month a reasonable estimate for a conference like the Sun Belt? I don't know.

The OVC has the OVC digital network that provides all conference sport for online streaming. Honestly if the big south and ovc provide online streaming it must not be very difficult. This is another reason asn is a better deal simply because any conference could provide their own online streaming.

Yeah, I'd love to see what it costs the conferences to offer it. The Big South's offering is actually pretty decent for it being free. Just some of the schools have a few issues here and there but for the most part it is great to have available.

I do agree - if the BSC and OVC can do it then it can't be that difficult to offer. The issue is monetizing.

(10-08-2015 06:33 PM)rokamortis Wrote:  

(10-08-2015 05:32 PM)cleburneslim Wrote:  

(10-08-2015 04:28 PM)rokamortis Wrote:  

(10-08-2015 03:34 PM)FIU4Ever Wrote:  

(10-08-2015 10:53 AM)rokamortis Wrote:  This wouldn't appease the TV only crowd but Amazon is rumored to be looking into a streaming live TV service.

http://blog.streamingmedia.com/2015/10/a...rvice.html

I have no idea if they are interested in sports but if they are I could see them signing up a few DI conferences neglected by the mouse house and giving them their own virtual channels for a reasonable amount of money. Most DI schools already stream the majority of their events so this should make it a bit easier.

If they could work out a deal with some of the broadcasters like NBC, CBS, and Fox then they could broadcast some of the games on traditional TV stations and treat as advertising for their services.

Sony, Sling and others are already doing the a la carte live TV streaming. The thing with a la carte channels is they must pay for themselves. Each subscriber will directly share the cost associated with the streaming platform, production cost, TV revenue for each school in the conference and the conference office's cut. If each subscriber pays 10 bucks a month, how many subscribers would it take to support that channel?

The big question for us G5ers is how to get to that critical mass to support such a venture.

I assume Amazon isn't looking to offer a la carte streaming - but provide value by having lost of options.

But if there was a dedicated channel that is a la carte - it gets down to production quality. I know ESPN3 is basically passing the production costs to the schools for most sports. The Big South is essentially providing a streaming channel for all members and sports to viewers for free. I figure at $5 a month 250K annual subscribers would generate $15 million. There are expenses of course, but I could see that being the floor with the school providing the production for most of the sports / games with the occasional professional production. On top of the subscription fees the conference could sell sponsorships.

Is 250,000 annual subscribers willing to pay $5 a month a reasonable estimate for a conference like the Sun Belt? I don't know.

The OVC has the OVC digital network that provides all conference sport for online streaming. Honestly if the big south and ovc provide online streaming it must not be very difficult. This is another reason asn is a better deal simply because any conference could provide their own online streaming.

Yeah, I'd love to see what it costs the conferences to offer it. The Big South's offering is actually pretty decent for it being free. Just some of the schools have a few issues here and there but for the most part it is great to have available.

I do agree - if the BSC and OVC can do it then it can't be that difficult to offer. The issue is monetizing.

If we are talking about football, we're not allowed as a league to use any streaming other than ESPN3. Schools can't even use their own service for those.

(10-08-2015 10:29 AM)Niner National Wrote:  

(10-07-2015 09:05 PM)chiefsfan Wrote:  

(10-07-2015 08:38 PM)cleburneslim Wrote:  

(10-07-2015 11:13 AM)chiefsfan Wrote:  

(10-07-2015 10:15 AM)Niner National Wrote:  Boone is technically in Charlotte's tv market, so they get Charlotte OTA stations.

ASN also has stations in Greensboro and Raleigh, so App would actually get great coverage across the state. Their game against ODU was available in all three major metro areas in NC and maybe even more (I don't remember the full list of networks picking that game up). It was great exposure for them. I'd love to see the ratings for that game, but I imagine they were pretty good. They definitely got considerably more viewers than an ESPN3 stream ever would.

In our first two seasons, Charlotte was getting 20,000-30,000 viewers per game that was carried OTA in Charlotte. ESPN3 streams average, what, a few thousand? There is clear value for branding in having your games available over the air.

I fully expect to see ESPN reach a deal with the SBC like they have for the MAC and AAC. They have nothing to lose. ASN picks up the production costs and ESPN3 gets to carry it for digital viewers.

ASN gets more quality content to put on their network. Viewers get more options. Everybody wins.

I wouldn't be so sure of that.

You sound satisfied with being relegated to obscurity.

What on earth are you talking about? Far be it for me to be skeptical that the Charlotte metro area somehow gives App State great television ratings. 20K Nationally is terrible numbers.

I have no idea what the numbers are on ESPN3 for the SBC, but acting like getting 20K viewers is something amazing is pretty insane. Far be it for me to think that the SBC can do better, and reach far more people in the process.

Nobody is acting like 20k nationally is a good thing...besides, I never said nationally, I said that was in one market.

We owned our own TV rights the first year and we made more money from being on one channel locally than SBC schools get from ESPN. We kept 70% of the advertising dollars spent while our games were on television and the station got the other 30%.

An ESPN3 / ASN combo is really a pretty nice situation because it allows for the die hard fans to catch the game regardless of where they live and it opens you up to casual viewers that would never casually watch a game. If I'm flipping through channels and I see a close game, I'll stop and watch. If I'm browsing ESPN3, I'm not choosing 2 teams I know nothing about.

There has been some speculation on the CUSA board that ESPN may be taking that approach with CUSA for our new TV contract. Fox will get Tier 1 rights, ESPN/ASN gets tier 2, with those presumably mostly being ESPN3 / ASN partnership broadcasts. I would be happy with that.

Our current contract with ESPN prevents us from using any other company for broadcasts. They have complete autonomy over Tier 1 and Tier 2 rights. Member schools maintain their own Tier 3 rights, provided we offer the feed to ESPN3 for national broadcast.

In its current structure, ASN offers no advantage to the Sun Belt anyway. We'd have to have streaming capabilities to fall back on to ensure all fans can see the game, not just some random people somewhere. ASN would then have to allow us to offer all of their games on a streaming platform. As of right now, that's something that even CUSA cannot do.

The SBC cannot renegotiate with any other networks until 2020. We can ask ESPN to look in and consider increasing our current contract value now, but we can't call any other network and ask to use their services. Hence why we don't use ASN.

(10-09-2015 11:16 AM)chiefsfan Wrote:  If we are talking about football, we're not allowed as a league to use any streaming other than ESPN3. Schools can't even use their own service for those.

I'm talking all sports in the future. If the SBC can't get a decent deal when the current contract expires then it may be worth bringing it in house and having more control.

(10-09-2015 11:23 AM)chiefsfan Wrote:  

(10-08-2015 10:29 AM)Niner National Wrote:  

(10-07-2015 09:05 PM)chiefsfan Wrote:  

(10-07-2015 08:38 PM)cleburneslim Wrote:  

(10-07-2015 11:13 AM)chiefsfan Wrote:  I wouldn't be so sure of that.

You sound satisfied with being relegated to obscurity.

What on earth are you talking about? Far be it for me to be skeptical that the Charlotte metro area somehow gives App State great television ratings. 20K Nationally is terrible numbers.

I have no idea what the numbers are on ESPN3 for the SBC, but acting like getting 20K viewers is something amazing is pretty insane. Far be it for me to think that the SBC can do better, and reach far more people in the process.

Nobody is acting like 20k nationally is a good thing...besides, I never said nationally, I said that was in one market.

We owned our own TV rights the first year and we made more money from being on one channel locally than SBC schools get from ESPN. We kept 70% of the advertising dollars spent while our games were on television and the station got the other 30%.

An ESPN3 / ASN combo is really a pretty nice situation because it allows for the die hard fans to catch the game regardless of where they live and it opens you up to casual viewers that would never casually watch a game. If I'm flipping through channels and I see a close game, I'll stop and watch. If I'm browsing ESPN3, I'm not choosing 2 teams I know nothing about.

There has been some speculation on the CUSA board that ESPN may be taking that approach with CUSA for our new TV contract. Fox will get Tier 1 rights, ESPN/ASN gets tier 2, with those presumably mostly being ESPN3 / ASN partnership broadcasts. I would be happy with that.

Our current contract with ESPN prevents us from using any other company for broadcasts. They have complete autonomy over Tier 1 and Tier 2 rights. Member schools maintain their own Tier 3 rights, provided we offer the feed to ESPN3 for national broadcast.

In its current structure, ASN offers no advantage to the Sun Belt anyway. We'd have to have streaming capabilities to fall back on to ensure all fans can see the game, not just some random people somewhere. ASN would then have to allow us to offer all of their games on a streaming platform. As of right now, that's something that even CUSA cannot do.

The SBC cannot renegotiate with any other networks until 2020. We can ask ESPN to look in and consider increasing our current contract value now, but we can't call any other network and ask to use their services. Hence why we don't use ASN.

Thanks for the explanation. Do you think they are going to execute the review now? I think if ESPN could provide some dedicated space on College extra for football, basketball, and baseball then we should be pretty happy.

Also, can you break down the difference between tier 1, 2, and 3 rights or direct me to a good resource? In the Big South we never really had to worry about those.

(10-09-2015 11:44 AM)rokamortis Wrote:  

(10-09-2015 11:23 AM)chiefsfan Wrote:  

(10-08-2015 10:29 AM)Niner National Wrote:  

(10-07-2015 09:05 PM)chiefsfan Wrote:  

(10-07-2015 08:38 PM)cleburneslim Wrote:  You sound satisfied with being relegated to obscurity.

What on earth are you talking about? Far be it for me to be skeptical that the Charlotte metro area somehow gives App State great television ratings. 20K Nationally is terrible numbers.

I have no idea what the numbers are on ESPN3 for the SBC, but acting like getting 20K viewers is something amazing is pretty insane. Far be it for me to think that the SBC can do better, and reach far more people in the process.

Nobody is acting like 20k nationally is a good thing...besides, I never said nationally, I said that was in one market.

We owned our own TV rights the first year and we made more money from being on one channel locally than SBC schools get from ESPN. We kept 70% of the advertising dollars spent while our games were on television and the station got the other 30%.

An ESPN3 / ASN combo is really a pretty nice situation because it allows for the die hard fans to catch the game regardless of where they live and it opens you up to casual viewers that would never casually watch a game. If I'm flipping through channels and I see a close game, I'll stop and watch. If I'm browsing ESPN3, I'm not choosing 2 teams I know nothing about.

There has been some speculation on the CUSA board that ESPN may be taking that approach with CUSA for our new TV contract. Fox will get Tier 1 rights, ESPN/ASN gets tier 2, with those presumably mostly being ESPN3 / ASN partnership broadcasts. I would be happy with that.

Our current contract with ESPN prevents us from using any other company for broadcasts. They have complete autonomy over Tier 1 and Tier 2 rights. Member schools maintain their own Tier 3 rights, provided we offer the feed to ESPN3 for national broadcast.

In its current structure, ASN offers no advantage to the Sun Belt anyway. We'd have to have streaming capabilities to fall back on to ensure all fans can see the game, not just some random people somewhere. ASN would then have to allow us to offer all of their games on a streaming platform. As of right now, that's something that even CUSA cannot do.

The SBC cannot renegotiate with any other networks until 2020. We can ask ESPN to look in and consider increasing our current contract value now, but we can't call any other network and ask to use their services. Hence why we don't use ASN.

Thanks for the explanation. Do you think they are going to execute the review now? I think if ESPN could provide some dedicated space on College extra for football, basketball, and baseball then we should be pretty happy.

Also, can you break down the difference between tier 1, 2, and 3 rights or direct me to a good resource? In the Big South we never really had to worry about those.

Tier 1 is National: That includes any games broadcast on ESPN2, ESPNU, or ESPNNews. We get 6 guaranteed Tier 1 games per year. (First is this Tuesday, Arkansas State at South Alabama on ESPN2) ESPN has complete control of these rights.

6 games:
Arkansas State at South Alabama (ESPN2)
UL-Lafayette at Arkansas State (ESPN2)
Georgia Southern at App State (ESPNU)
Texas State at Georgia Southern (ESPNU)
Arkansas State at App State (ESPNU)
UL-Lafayette at South Alabama (ESPNU)

Tier 2 is Regional/Online: These used to include Sun Belt games on the Old CSS. The rule of thumb was that CSS had the rights to broadcast 1 game a week over their network, but the signal could not be available in a state that does not currently have an SBC program, or does not border a Sun Belt State. When CSS went belly up, we switched our Tier 2 content to Online only via ESPN3. ESPN pays for production, but does not give us a fee for these rights. In exchange, we got an agreement that all Sun Belt football games would be guaranteed to be picked up on ESPN3 if they were not already on National Television.

Tier 3 is Local: In the Sun Belt, a team has complete control of its local rights. Many don't know this, but a Sun Belt team is free to contract with its own television network to produce all its home games for local television (That are not already picked up for Tier 1) The only requirement is that the feed must be made available to ESPN3 to be distributed to the Tier 2 audience. This is how Aggie Vision works. Aggies sell off their rights to a network like Fox Sports-SW, for local broadcast, while ESPN3 maintains national rights with a given blackout in areas that the game is available on television.

The issue the SBC has with Tier 3 is that most stations do not like to share their product with a competing network. For years Western Kentucky had a separate deal with Fox Sports to televise all its home basketball games, but when the SBC signed on with ESPN, the Hiltoppers lost that deal because ESPN required the game be made available on ESPN3, and Fox Sports didn't want to limit its signal and share it's video with it's main competition.

(10-09-2015 11:44 AM)rokamortis Wrote:  

(10-09-2015 11:23 AM)chiefsfan Wrote:  

(10-08-2015 10:29 AM)Niner National Wrote:  

(10-07-2015 09:05 PM)chiefsfan Wrote:  

(10-07-2015 08:38 PM)cleburneslim Wrote:  You sound satisfied with being relegated to obscurity.

What on earth are you talking about? Far be it for me to be skeptical that the Charlotte metro area somehow gives App State great television ratings. 20K Nationally is terrible numbers.

I have no idea what the numbers are on ESPN3 for the SBC, but acting like getting 20K viewers is something amazing is pretty insane. Far be it for me to think that the SBC can do better, and reach far more people in the process.

Nobody is acting like 20k nationally is a good thing...besides, I never said nationally, I said that was in one market.

We owned our own TV rights the first year and we made more money from being on one channel locally than SBC schools get from ESPN. We kept 70% of the advertising dollars spent while our games were on television and the station got the other 30%.

An ESPN3 / ASN combo is really a pretty nice situation because it allows for the die hard fans to catch the game regardless of where they live and it opens you up to casual viewers that would never casually watch a game. If I'm flipping through channels and I see a close game, I'll stop and watch. If I'm browsing ESPN3, I'm not choosing 2 teams I know nothing about.

There has been some speculation on the CUSA board that ESPN may be taking that approach with CUSA for our new TV contract. Fox will get Tier 1 rights, ESPN/ASN gets tier 2, with those presumably mostly being ESPN3 / ASN partnership broadcasts. I would be happy with that.

Our current contract with ESPN prevents us from using any other company for broadcasts. They have complete autonomy over Tier 1 and Tier 2 rights. Member schools maintain their own Tier 3 rights, provided we offer the feed to ESPN3 for national broadcast.

In its current structure, ASN offers no advantage to the Sun Belt anyway. We'd have to have streaming capabilities to fall back on to ensure all fans can see the game, not just some random people somewhere. ASN would then have to allow us to offer all of their games on a streaming platform. As of right now, that's something that even CUSA cannot do.

The SBC cannot renegotiate with any other networks until 2020. We can ask ESPN to look in and consider increasing our current contract value now, but we can't call any other network and ask to use their services. Hence why we don't use ASN.

Thanks for the explanation. Do you think they are going to execute the review now? I think if ESPN could provide some dedicated space on College extra for football, basketball, and baseball then we should be pretty happy.

Also, can you break down the difference between tier 1, 2, and 3 rights or direct me to a good resource? In the Big South we never really had to worry about those.

I have heard speculation that the SBC plans to wait for the Membership situation to settle before going to ESPN. When you bring in FCS programs, there is a question of brand and national interest in that brand. We didn't immediately look in when we brought in App and GS because we didn't yet know what their value to television would be. My guess is that we will likely look in whenever Coastal Football joins, at which point Texas State, Georgia State, Georgia Southern, and App State will all be established FBS programs.

(10-09-2015 02:21 PM)chiefsfan Wrote:  

(10-09-2015 11:44 AM)rokamortis Wrote:  

(10-09-2015 11:23 AM)chiefsfan Wrote:  

(10-08-2015 10:29 AM)Niner National Wrote:  

(10-07-2015 09:05 PM)chiefsfan Wrote:  What on earth are you talking about? Far be it for me to be skeptical that the Charlotte metro area somehow gives App State great television ratings. 20K Nationally is terrible numbers.

I have no idea what the numbers are on ESPN3 for the SBC, but acting like getting 20K viewers is something amazing is pretty insane. Far be it for me to think that the SBC can do better, and reach far more people in the process.

Nobody is acting like 20k nationally is a good thing...besides, I never said nationally, I said that was in one market.

We owned our own TV rights the first year and we made more money from being on one channel locally than SBC schools get from ESPN. We kept 70% of the advertising dollars spent while our games were on television and the station got the other 30%.

An ESPN3 / ASN combo is really a pretty nice situation because it allows for the die hard fans to catch the game regardless of where they live and it opens you up to casual viewers that would never casually watch a game. If I'm flipping through channels and I see a close game, I'll stop and watch. If I'm browsing ESPN3, I'm not choosing 2 teams I know nothing about.

There has been some speculation on the CUSA board that ESPN may be taking that approach with CUSA for our new TV contract. Fox will get Tier 1 rights, ESPN/ASN gets tier 2, with those presumably mostly being ESPN3 / ASN partnership broadcasts. I would be happy with that.

Our current contract with ESPN prevents us from using any other company for broadcasts. They have complete autonomy over Tier 1 and Tier 2 rights. Member schools maintain their own Tier 3 rights, provided we offer the feed to ESPN3 for national broadcast.

In its current structure, ASN offers no advantage to the Sun Belt anyway. We'd have to have streaming capabilities to fall back on to ensure all fans can see the game, not just some random people somewhere. ASN would then have to allow us to offer all of their games on a streaming platform. As of right now, that's something that even CUSA cannot do.

The SBC cannot renegotiate with any other networks until 2020. We can ask ESPN to look in and consider increasing our current contract value now, but we can't call any other network and ask to use their services. Hence why we don't use ASN.

Thanks for the explanation. Do you think they are going to execute the review now? I think if ESPN could provide some dedicated space on College extra for football, basketball, and baseball then we should be pretty happy.

Also, can you break down the difference between tier 1, 2, and 3 rights or direct me to a good resource? In the Big South we never really had to worry about those.

I have heard speculation that the SBC plans to wait for the Membership situation to settle before going to ESPN. When you bring in FCS programs, there is a question of brand and national interest in that brand. We didn't immediately look in when we brought in App and GS because we didn't yet know what their value to television would be. My guess is that we will likely look in whenever Coastal Football joins, at which point Texas State, Georgia State, Georgia Southern, and App State will all be established FBS programs.

Thanks for the tier explanation and this. I understand the reasoning to wait for Coastal but that seems a little late to review if the contract expires in 2020. By the time we become full members the contract only has 2 years left before it expires.

(10-09-2015 11:42 AM)rokamortis Wrote:  

(10-09-2015 11:16 AM)chiefsfan Wrote:  If we are talking about football, we're not allowed as a league to use any streaming other than ESPN3. Schools can't even use their own service for those.

I'm talking all sports in the future. If the SBC can't get a decent deal when the current contract expires then it may be worth bringing it in house and having more control.

The ASN could be useful for a sub-licensing deal with ESPN, if the ASN can find a national cable network for their programming. The ESPN TV contract with the Mid-American Conference gives them the ability to sub-license any MAC sporting event to another network. This season, six MAC football games are sub-licensed to the CBS Sports Network as well seven basketball games.

They have also sub-licensed some MAC games to ASN, but those games are not available nationwide. Does not help much and there is no revenue with the ASN. The ASN is just about regional exposure at this point.

There is no Network that will offer a good financial package for Sun Belt athletics until the conference puts a better product out there. If the Sun Belt does get better in both football and basketball, ESPN is probably not going to let us go. So I think we will be with ESPN for a long time. I think the best we could hope for at this point would be a MAC type of TV deal, which would be a big improvement over what we currently have.

(10-08-2015 04:18 PM)Niner National Wrote:  

(10-08-2015 02:53 PM)CardinalBlackTrojan Wrote:  

(10-06-2015 09:33 AM)eaglewraith Wrote:  ESPN3 is pretty much available everywhere.

ASN isn't available for the majority of the country.

I'd rather be on ESPN3.

Same here. I haven't heard of ASN until 2 weeks ago. I don't even pick it up and have no way to stream it, and I have the full cable package.

I'll take ESPN3 all day long.

They have a lot of affiliates across the country. It isn't an actual channel--although they are exploring buying the Tennis Channel.

Charlotte has no Sinclair Broadcasting Group stations (they are the company that produces ASN games), yet we get all Charlotte games a lot of other CUSA games because our local CW affiliate picks up the games. TV stations in any market can do the same if they think there is enough interest in the games. WCCB in Charlotte will carry most of the Marshall ASN games because Marshall has a good presence here. They picked up the App game because App has a good presence here. It's not perfect, but it's the same concept as Raycom Sports that produces ACC football games shown on a network of local OTA stations.

What he said ^ ^ ^

For all of those saying the I don't get ASN or I don't have a Sinclair station....it's syndication! Any local TV station can pick up the games. So if the Sun Belt actually had a contract with ASN/Sinclair, then local TV stations in Sun Belt markets might actually pick up the games. It's a chicken and egg problem. Are you telling me that a local station in Montgomery or Troy wouldn't pick up a Troy game if it was offered to them to broadcast?

I like ASN/Sinclair because it gives me an opportunity to actually go to a place/bar and say hey can you turn to channel X...my team is on.

I like ASN/Sinclair because when a buddy asks me if a Georgia State game is on TV...I don't have to explain that ESPN 3 isn't a real TV channel...but is online streaming...and I don't have to see that look on my buddy's face when he's thinking that sounds like more trouble than it's worth.

I like ASN/Sinclair because it provides an opportunity for the casual fan flipping through and perhaps tune into a game because it's a local team/school.

ESPN 3 is great for catering to the existing fan base. But that's not enough, the Sun Belt needs an outlet to help EXPAND the fan bases.

As a side note, in the absence of an ASN/Sinclair deal, I really wish Georgia State will use its Tier 3 rights and try to get games on the local CW/UPA channel in Atlanta or Peachtree TV in Atlanta - which aren't nationally affiliated with ABC, NBC, Fox, or CBS.

(10-10-2015 12:37 AM)GaStPanthers Wrote:  

(10-08-2015 04:18 PM)Niner National Wrote:  

(10-08-2015 02:53 PM)CardinalBlackTrojan Wrote:  

(10-06-2015 09:33 AM)eaglewraith Wrote:  ESPN3 is pretty much available everywhere.

ASN isn't available for the majority of the country.

I'd rather be on ESPN3.

Same here. I haven't heard of ASN until 2 weeks ago. I don't even pick it up and have no way to stream it, and I have the full cable package.

I'll take ESPN3 all day long.

They have a lot of affiliates across the country. It isn't an actual channel--although they are exploring buying the Tennis Channel.

Charlotte has no Sinclair Broadcasting Group stations (they are the company that produces ASN games), yet we get all Charlotte games a lot of other CUSA games because our local CW affiliate picks up the games. TV stations in any market can do the same if they think there is enough interest in the games. WCCB in Charlotte will carry most of the Marshall ASN games because Marshall has a good presence here. They picked up the App game because App has a good presence here. It's not perfect, but it's the same concept as Raycom Sports that produces ACC football games shown on a network of local OTA stations.

What he said ^ ^ ^

For all of those saying the I don't get ASN or I don't have a Sinclair station....it's syndication! Any local TV station can pick up the games. So if the Sun Belt actually had a contract with ASN/Sinclair, then local TV stations in Sun Belt markets might actually pick up the games. It's a chicken and egg problem. Are you telling me that a local station in Montgomery or Troy wouldn't pick up a Troy game if it was offered to them to broadcast?

There's a great chance a station in Arkansas would turn down an Arkansas State game, or an Alabama station would turn down a Troy/USA game. It's happened before.

The point is this, the stations that do broadcast in our areas currently, are not broadcasting CUSA games. We can say all we want about "well they'll give the local team the coverage" but it would be downright foolish to place our faith in local media. Think about it, we've all had our own Tier 3 rights for years, but no one has a Tier 3 deal outside of NMSU, and I guarantee you that is not for lack of trying.

It's been talked about in Arkansas. Sure, we can place our faith that the Little Rock sinclair affiliate will move the game off the impossible to reach digital channel if Arkansas State was on, but what if they don't? We can all take solace that some random dude in a bar MIGHT be interested enough to cheer for us?

Currently you can take solace that on espn3 no one in any bar is cheering for you.

So, I came across this nugget. WTGS a FOX affiliate in Savannah list the UTEP @ FIU on their schedule for noon today. The game is ASN's and WTGS is on cable as well as over the air for the region. Will see if they actually broadcast the game but if they do, is ASN aggressively trying to expand its reach?

http://www.locatetv.com/listings/wtgs-fox

It seems that way also the bham cw also on cable is showing the same game. Followed by houston baptist v. Central Arkansas followed by La. Tech v.UTSA.

(10-10-2015 07:44 AM)cleburneslim Wrote:  Currently you can take solace that on espn3 no one in any bar is cheering for you.

Yep.

(10-10-2015 01:27 AM)chiefsfan Wrote:  

(10-10-2015 12:37 AM)GaStPanthers Wrote:  

(10-08-2015 04:18 PM)Niner National Wrote:  

(10-08-2015 02:53 PM)CardinalBlackTrojan Wrote:  

(10-06-2015 09:33 AM)eaglewraith Wrote:  ESPN3 is pretty much available everywhere.

ASN isn't available for the majority of the country.

I'd rather be on ESPN3.

Same here. I haven't heard of ASN until 2 weeks ago. I don't even pick it up and have no way to stream it, and I have the full cable package.

I'll take ESPN3 all day long.

They have a lot of affiliates across the country. It isn't an actual channel--although they are exploring buying the Tennis Channel.

Charlotte has no Sinclair Broadcasting Group stations (they are the company that produces ASN games), yet we get all Charlotte games a lot of other CUSA games because our local CW affiliate picks up the games. TV stations in any market can do the same if they think there is enough interest in the games. WCCB in Charlotte will carry most of the Marshall ASN games because Marshall has a good presence here. They picked up the App game because App has a good presence here. It's not perfect, but it's the same concept as Raycom Sports that produces ACC football games shown on a network of local OTA stations.

What he said ^ ^ ^

For all of those saying the I don't get ASN or I don't have a Sinclair station....it's syndication! Any local TV station can pick up the games. So if the Sun Belt actually had a contract with ASN/Sinclair, then local TV stations in Sun Belt markets might actually pick up the games. It's a chicken and egg problem. Are you telling me that a local station in Montgomery or Troy wouldn't pick up a Troy game if it was offered to them to broadcast?

There's a great chance a station in Arkansas would turn down an Arkansas State game, or an Alabama station would turn down a Troy/USA game. It's happened before.

The point is this, the stations that do broadcast in our areas currently, are not broadcasting CUSA games. We can say all we want about "well they'll give the local team the coverage" but it would be downright foolish to place our faith in local media. Think about it, we've all had our own Tier 3 rights for years, but no one has a Tier 3 deal outside of NMSU, and I guarantee you that is not for lack of trying.

It's been talked about in Arkansas. Sure, we can place our faith that the Little Rock sinclair affiliate will move the game off the impossible to reach digital channel if Arkansas State was on, but what if they don't? We can all take solace that some random dude in a bar MIGHT be interested enough to cheer for us?

I would expect it'll be a much easier sell for an athletics department to work with local affiliates to get their games on TV when they can show that all of the costs of production and producing the game have been paid for by someone else - and all the local affiliate has to do is basically broadcast the game. Versus, likely trying to convince the local affiliate to bear some of the production and other costs of trying to broadcast the game.

Some of the bars around Mobile will show the Jags games for the ESPN3 games especially the away games. I like ESPN3 games, it is better than no games and can pull up on pc/appletv. We have had a few games on a local TV channels too.

(10-10-2015 11:29 AM)kevinwmsn Wrote:  Some of the bars around Mobile will show the Jags games for the ESPN3 games especially the away games. I like ESPN3 games, it is better than no games and can pull up on pc/appletv. We have had a few games on a local TV channels too.

Yup... I've been asked many times to bring my laptop and HDMI cable to one of the neighborhood sports bars in my area for Jags away games and I'm always more than happy to comply. Almost always there are one or a few folks saying "Wow, the Jags are pretty good! I'm going to have to go to a game."

(10-10-2015 07:44 AM)cleburneslim Wrote:  Currently you can take solace that on espn3 no one in any bar is cheering for you.

You need to go to different bars. Most have ESPN3 access now. I've found that I have a far different time finding one that gets the obscure television network. Most every place in JOnesboro will gladly show an ESPN3 tied Arkansas State game, because they all have that capability, but when we were on the PAC 12 network a few weeks ago, most places no longer could offer the game because they didn't have a video service that got that network.