Fox Sports and C-USA Strike TV Agreement

[StallionsModelT]

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2011/0 ... ason/77440

[RGV Pony]

so does that mean no more cbs college sports?

[Harry0569]

Well this kind of screws me as I assume it will only be on the Regional Fox Sports Stations (a la FSSW).

[SMU2007]

is there a way to get FSSW if you are outside of the dallas area? would those games get included in the ncaa football package with directv?

[EastStang]

Yes, you can get all the regional Foxes on DirecTV sports package. From the press release it looks like ESPN is the odd man out and CBSC is still in the mix.

[ponyfan84]

Shoot...I had CBS College sports so now I guess I can't watch SMU on TV and will have to settle for the channelsurfing.net games. Bummer.

[NickSMU17]

Cutting ESPN out is the wrong way to play this...

[RE Tycoon]

I think this is a HORRIBLE move for the conference. We go from a national presence with ESPN, to a regional presence with Fox Sports. Not to mention ESPN lends a credibility that Fox just does not offer.

The little exposure that ESPN gave the conference will now be minimized even further. Why champion a product who's success you will not stand to benefit from. Even worse, it's not like we will be the main man over on Fox Sports. We will still take a back seat to Big 12, ACC, Big 10, SEC, Pac 12 and any other conference that has a more intriguing matchup.

Unless they were willing to double the money (they didn't), I would have told CUSA to cling on for dear life with ESPN. The only thing i can think of is ESPN told CUSA to take a hike and Fox Sports was the only legit offer.

Points of Concern/Need clarification:

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According to terms of the agreement, FOX Sports Networks (FSN) will showcase a minimum of 20 regular-season football games per season

Are these national or regional games? If the conference was not guaranteed one spotlight/national game each week (Saturday), then this a bad deal.

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The C-USA football championship game will also be carried on FSN, FOX Sports, or FX, the company’s flagship general entertainment cable network available in over 98 million homes.

With the lack of college programming on the Fox flagship, if I was the commish I would have had Fox guarnatee the championship game be broadcast on the flagship station.

-

Conference USA joins Fox’s impressive roster of other conference partners that includes the Big Ten, Pac-10, Big 12, ACC, and SEC.

Where do we lie in this pecking order? I believe they already have a national game of the week each Saturday for the Big 12 and Pac-10. Where does a national game fit in for CUSA, if there even is one agreed to.

-

Not only can Fox provide extensive national TV exposure for the Conference through a variety of outlets, but we can also serve the Conference’s member schools and local fans through our strong regional presence. An RSN like FOX Sports Houston is a natural fit to distribute Rice and Houston games, while SMU, UTEP, and Tulane are located in FOX Sports Southwest’s footprint. We’ll have tremendous programming opportunities to explore, especially with cross-over match-ups with our other conference rights.”

This is the only semi-encouraging nugget I can find in this deal. A regional broadcast of our games that aren't on nationally will be better than Time Warner Sports. Again, I'm just concerned that the quote above is the plan, and not a national broadcast for our conference.

I think CUSA just shot itself in the foot with this deal.

[RGV Pony]

Wonder if CUSA had a choice regarding distancing from ESPN.

[SMU89]

Attached has the $. No bucks, no Buck Rogers. $80 MM Total (not incld naming rights to the new Mustang Maniacs Corral)

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/spo ... 67052.html

Conference USA switched television partners Wednesday, agreeing to a five-year, $38 million deal with Fox Sports that will begin with the 2011 football season.

The agreement with Fox, which continues through the 2015-16 school year and includes rights to the conference football and basketball championships, replaces a six-year, $22 million agreement with ESPN that expires at the end of the 2010-11 season. C-USA and its member schools, including Rice and the University of Houston, earlier signed a six-year deal estimated at about $42 million with CBS College Sports.

[HB Pony Dad]

We have the Pac-10 on Fox here in socal and get one or more Regional Pac-10 games a week which aren't shown anywhere else.

This has got to be better than watching on channelsurfing no matter what.

In how many ESPN games did we appear anyway? Two (Texas Tech, TCU)?

This doesn't preclude being televised nationally on ESPN as the Pac 10 teams often appeared both Regionally on Fox and Nationally on ESPN.

Just saying we really don't know enough to be moaning.

[ponyboy]

Just saying we really don't know enough to be moaning.

As is the case 99% of the time.

[Mitch McConnell]

I always enjoyed the 9:30 p.m. Saturday night PAC 10 game. Gave you a reason to stay up late. Loved it when the late games were played at UW or in the Rose Bowl.

Loved the announcers too. The PBP guy had been doing it for years Larry XXXX. Love the analyst with the greek-sounding name.

Perhaps the new relationship will end the ridiculousness of the Wednesday night 8 pm game. Sounded good on paper for exposure for your conference, but I wonder what kind of ratings it truly generated.

[RGV Pony]

why do all fox sports college football games look like they're being broadcast from Trinity Mother Frances Stadium with crappy lighting? Do their cameras just suck?

[RE Tycoon]

This doesn't preclude being televised nationally on ESPN as the Pac 10 teams often appeared both Regionally on Fox and Nationally on ESPN.

Yes it does, unless we are the visitor at a OOC team where ESPN holds the TV rights.

The agreement with Fox, which continues through the 2015-16 school year and includes rights to the conference football and basketball championships, replaces a six-year, $22 million agreement with ESPN that expires at the end of the 2010-11 season.

This deal sucks.