WSJ: BCS Moves to ESPN

[Pony Soup]

Some of us take time to copy/paste and not just post a link....


ESPN Hauls In Rights to Top College Bowl Games
Cable Industry Secures Powerful Position Against Free, Over-the-Air Rivals in Competition to Televise Major Sports Events

By MATTHEW FUTTERMANArticle

College football's biggest games are on the way to Walt Disney Co.'s ESPN.

The shift, which became official Monday when News Corp.'s Fox Network failed to match ESPN's $500 million bid for the media rights to college football's Bowl Championship Series, signals the growing dominance of cable television in the competition for the most high-profile sports events.

College football's national-title game will be on ESPN starting in 2011.
Media executives say moving the BCS games to cable beginning in 2011 also foretells the end of a decade-long debate over whether putting marquee events on cable will ultimately hurt the mass appeal of a sport.
For years, sports leagues and event organizers have struggled with a trade-off between money and exposure. Led by ESPN, cable-sports outlets that collect money from both subscriber fees and advertising could afford to outbid their free, over-the-air counterparts for the broadcast rights to major events.

But the immediate payoff came at a price, as audiences for contests such as the semifinals of the National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball playoffs shrunk significantly once they migrated to cable.

Now media executives say ESPN's potency and declining ratings for sports on broadcast television are starting to render the debate moot. The college-football deal with ESPN covers an array of rights, including broadband, mobile phones, radio and international media.

"ESPN gives you a huge amount of promotional opportunities," said International Management Group's Barry Frank, who represented the BCS, the organization of athletic conferences and university presidents that controls college football's national-championship game and four other major postseason contests. "These games are of sufficient interest that anyone who wants to watch isn't going to have any trouble finding them."

Last week, ESPN said it had acquired the media rights to the British Open and would begin broadcasting all four rounds of the event, making it the first of the four major golf tournaments featured exclusively on cable.

Much of the NBA, Major League Baseball and National Hockey League playoffs are now on cable television. Only the National Football League has kept all of its postseason games on free television, even though prime-time ratings for NFL games on ESPN are comparable with those on broadcast television.

A spokesman for Fox Sports, which will broadcast the BCS bowl games through 2010, said going beyond the company's $400 million bid to retain the national championship and the Sugar, Fiesta and Orange Bowls for an additional four years didn't make economic sense.

"Fox Sports made a very competitive bid to keep broadcasting BCS games free to every home in America," said Lou D'Ermilio, the Fox Sports spokesman. "Unfortunately, the university presidents and BCS commissioners were not satisfied and they've decided to take their jewel events to pay television."

Fox's parent company, News Corp., also owns Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal.

ESPN spokesman Mike Soltys said the network wouldn't comment on the BCS deal until it was complete. ESPN also is considering moving the Rose Bowl, whose media rights are independent from the BCS, from ABC to the cable network.

Media analysts said because most sports fans have cable, which now reaches 86% of households with television sets, and an increasing number of viewers make no distinction between cable and broadcast, cable is bound to become the ultimate destination for the biggest events. In addition to the extra cash, ESPN makes for a powerful platform with its four main channels, its Web site and its ability to gain exposure on Disney's ABC network.

"If this was five or 10 years ago you would be concerned," said Lee Berke, a media consultant for the sports industry. "But that's not the case anymore."

Write to Matthew Futterman at [email protected]

[J.T.supporta]

thanks for posting...some of us dont take time but not that its a rule, i just remember when i first joined this site, the mods asked that we post a link...


poor foxsports...didnt want to fork over more cash like ESPN did.

ESPN is like the yankees of sports networks. heres to hoping all the CFB fans have cable by the time the move is made

[Pony Soup]

thanks for posting...some of us dont take time but not that its a rule, i just remember when i first joined this site, the mods asked that we post a link...

just kidding around - i've grown wary of the "pay site peddlers" from stampede and computer viruses..

[J.T.supporta]

thanks for posting...some of us dont take time but not that its a rule, i just remember when i first joined this site, the mods asked that we post a link...

just kidding around - i've grown wary of the "pay site peddlers" from stampede and computer viruses..

oh definitely...paysites are a waste of time, why pay of it when someone can just post it. thats what most of my firends do with espn insider accounts

[diamond_tom]

One of my coworkers came in today telling me that she bought her digital converter box over the weekend (getting ready for February since she doesn't have cable). She plugged it in and along with all the crystal clear networks and standard channels, she gets ESPN now.

[Pony Soup]

One of my coworkers came in today telling me that she bought her digital converter box over the weekend (getting ready for February since she doesn't have cable). She plugged it in and along with all the chrystal clear networks and standard channels, she gets ESPN now.

BONUS!!!!!!!!

[ponyfan84]

This is great news. FOX has no business doing college football. Maybe ABC can air the game? CBS, ABC and ESPN are the 3 best options to air the BCS Games.

[03Mustang]

One of my coworkers came in today telling me that she bought her digital converter box over the weekend (getting ready for February since she doesn't have cable). She plugged it in and along with all the crystal clear networks and standard channels, she gets ESPN now.

Haha...I'm sure the games on ABC with the ESPN presentation throw quite a few people off that aren't very tech-savvy.

[NavyCrimson]

why does it matter -

who gives a rat's behind when the cartel excludes you from even playing apart?

hopefully it goes down in flames -

[Pony Soup]

This is great news. FOX has no business doing college football. Maybe ABC can air the game? CBS, ABC and ESPN are the 3 best options to air the BCS Games.

NO FOOTBALL GAME SHOULD EVER BE AIRED ON CBS AFTER THEIR LAST CRACK AT THE SUPERBOWL.

what an embarassment

[J.T.supporta]

This is great news. FOX has no business doing college football. Maybe ABC can air the game? CBS, ABC and ESPN are the 3 best options to air the BCS Games.

NO FOOTBALL GAME SHOULD EVER BE AIRED ON CBS AFTER THEIR LAST CRACK AT THE SUPERBOWL.

what an embarassment

haha, give them SEC football, and the masters, thats all they need

[RednBlue11]

has anyone else noted that Josh Elliot HATES the bcs?