Fox Sports and C-USA Strike TV Agreement

[RE Tycoon]

Or, and this is a novel idea here, you could actually go to the games to see them.

This isn't for us, it's for program exposure.

As someone else mentioned, I'm also curious as to the quality difference between FSN and other channels. The picture quality is horrendous. Can any techie answer this?

[Mexmustang]

Years ago, I financed (along with 40 other banks) a growing newspaper group that just bought the London Times. The money was used to get into broadcast TV here. Within two years, FOX made "deals" with a number of regional stations prelviously affiliatied with two of the majors in a number of key markets, taking over their local channel numbers and forcing CBS and/or NBC to new station numbers and having to find new local affililiates. Today we have FOX as a major network. Years later, they got into cable news--impossible with the strength of CNN, and created FOX News, now a major challenger to CNN and far more popular in conservative markets.

If Fox sports is putting $80MM into CUSA, look out, they are going to be putting up a major challenge to ABC/ESPN's sports monopoly. This maybe a better long-term deal than it appears today.

[NickSMU17]

I don't disagree...I would love for them to take down ESPN...

I need to get in with mexmustang...guy is making deals...

[RE Tycoon]

Years ago, I financed (along with 40 other banks) as growing newspaper group that just bought the London Times. The money was used to get into broadcast TV here. Within two years, FOX bought out the regional stations of two of the majora in major markets, taking over their local channel number and removing CBS and/or NBC to new station numbers. Today we have FOX as a major network. Years later, they got into cable news--impossible with the strength of CNN, and created FOX News, now a major challenger to CNN and far more popular in conservative markets.

If Fox sports is putting $80MM into CUSA, look out, they are going to be putting up a major challenge to ABC and ESPN. This maybe a better long-term deal than it appears today.

If this deal was to be on the FOX mother ship, I would be wildly enthusiastic. We will have to see how it ultimately plays out, but from the sound of the press release, this will regionalize CUSA TV games instead of giving us a national game each week. For example, they might show UH v SMU on FSSW, UCF v So. Miss on the Sun (or whatever the Fla version is), and ECU v Marshall on FSN South, all in the same time slot, and all broadcast by geographic region. So while all programs may be on TV "more", they won't be getting national exposure.

[NickSMU17]

Years ago, I financed (along with 40 other banks) a growing newspaper group that just bought the London Times. The money was used to get into broadcast TV here. Within two years, FOX made "deals" with a number of regional stations prelviously affiliatied with two of the majors in a number of key markets, taking over their local channel numbers and forcing CBS and/or NBC to new station numbers and having to find new local affililiates. Today we have FOX as a major network. Years later, they got into cable news--impossible with the strength of CNN, and created FOX News, now a major challenger to CNN and far more popular in conservative markets.

If Fox sports is putting $80MM into CUSA, look out, they are going to be putting up a major challenge to ABC/ESPN's sports monopoly. This maybe a better long-term deal than it appears today.

Have you ever heard the story of Clarke Swanson? Owner of Swanson Vineyards?

[Mexmustang]

FOX' strategy maybe to greatly expand its regional sports channels--more games, more schools, more regionally specific because other than its NFL games (I believe) on its national network, it is pretty small "potatoes" at this juncture compared with ESPN. Other than a couple of SMU games, I never watch anthing on Fox Sports SW, even the Rangers.

I have found Newscorp's stategies interesting, over the years. Think about it, they got into internaltional newspapers (from Australia) at a time of high union wages and antiquated work contracts, declining readership, rising paper and distribution costs and made a mark challenging the unions, consolidating the prinitng into one plant and now transferring all their money into brand new ventures (at the time) SKY, FOX and the various cable stations, litterally abandoning the old newspaper model by managing them down as the print business disappeared. Many other companies, such as the Times-Mirror, Dow Jones and the Chicago Tribune, simply continue to ride the industry down without a meaningful transfer of capital or talent.

Clarke Swanson, no, never met him. But, I believe he made his start about ten years before I got into the business.

[NickSMU17]

Great Vineyard...

Clarke inherited some money from grandfather who sold Swanson family dinners in the 50s much to early to make a fortune...

Clarke went to school, decided he was into broadcasting got some reporter gigs...

Guy came up to him with an idea that needed funding and new Clarke had some money saved...

Idea was a channel on "cable TV" that was all news all the time...Clarke liked it and invested...

The man was Ted Turner and channel was CNN...

It's a really nice vineyard...

[Mexmustang]

Great story, I used to go to DLJ's Preditor's Balls and met Ted-before he was "Ted". The last one held he was a key speaker and didn't have the time to meet with any of us. I wished he had asked me for some money, of course I didn't have the money to join the Mustang Club back then, much less be an angel investor.

[1983 Cotton Bowl]

Although I have zero media experience, I had the same thought as MexMustang when I read about this deal. Yes, ESPN is the big dog in college football today. But I remember when Fox Sports first started out. I also remember the launch of Fox News. In both cases, I didn't think it would last. Clearly, that was dead wrong.

If Fox has decided that they want to expand their presence in the college football business and spend $80 million on C-USA, I'm pretty sure they aren't going to half-ass it. Maybe ESPN won't be the big dog a decade from now.

[rich59]

We get FSN here in Prescott, AZ and I feel sure that we will get all the games that Fox does for CUSA. I believe it is really a step in the right direction. ESPN is too closely tied to the BCS to do a decent job with CUSA games. I was involved with a ski resort that had ESPN do the Extreme Games and ESPN is a sorry bunch.

[skyscraper]

Mr. McConnell created a new thread for this link, but it deserves to be mentioned in this thread.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5996230

The inaugural Pac-12 football championship game is heading to Fox, solidifying the network's college football imprint after losing the Bowl Championship Series.
...
No date has been decided for the game, although the person said it likely will be played on Dec. 3, giving Fox a doubleheader with the inaugural Big Ten title game.

The title game represents a significant opportunity for Fox, which lost much of its college football clout when it lost the BCS games. Fox had aired the lucrative series except for the Rose Bowl and national title games played in Pasadena from 2006 through last season. ABC/ESPN now has all five games, including Monday night's championship between Oregon and Auburn.

Fox still has rights to the Cotton Bowl and secured rights to the inaugural Big Ten title game through 2016 in part because it is a minority partner in the Big Ten Network. Fox also agreed to a five-year contract with Conference USA this week that includes at least 20 regular-season football games, the championship game, and men's and women's basketball.

Certainly seems that Fox is headed toward being a player on College Football Saturday's.

[mrydel]

I still do not see why we are happy, sad, concerned, confused, ambivalent, hysterical, or any other emotion over this news. It is highly unlikely that we will be in CUSA at least as it now exists in the near future. Where will we be? I do not know, but wherever it is it will not be today's CUSA so this pact with FOX may not affect us. Yes, we will be in CUSA next year, but this is short term thinking. I am much more concerned with where we will land when the dominos start to fall again and what is their TV package like. Now if the merger of MWC and CUSA takes place then hopefully a good package would be included in the deal. I just do not see using up my limited energy in worrying about this. IMHO.

[RE Tycoon]

Valid point. Taking SMU out of it, I still think this is a bad deal for the conference.

[mrydel]

Valid point. Taking SMU out of it, I still think this is a bad deal for the conference.

I am not smart enough to figure it out. I guess that is why God made remote controls and special sports packages.