I think NWA is right though - ESPN would love to get those ACC schools down to AAC rates to offset what they’re paying to the SEC.
What that conference is called or looks like doesn’t matter much to them. ACC, AAC, it’s more about dropping $35 million down to like $8 million per.
I’m willing to bet that they have preferred pricing / value tiers that they are trying to steer these programs to. Probably have a P&L on each of them.
I was referring to both the networks comments and the Aresco comment. You can count him to drop those comments into the conversation like clockwork. 
That’s completely contradictory of the networks are dictating all of this. I agree the networks would prefer to pay a lower contract. But that doesn’t mean the network is dictating what the conferences have to do. I too would like to pay less for a car. But I can’t dictate to the dealership what the value of their product is.
There’s a reason they say the contract goes to the highest bidder, not the lowest seller.
I highly doubt they care what the 3rd tier successor conference to the ACC is called. They do care about cutting how much they have to pay BC, Wake, Duke, even Syracuse.
And to that end it won’t matter much to them whether each of those schools is in that league or another 3rd tier league like the AAC. As long as they fix their costs where they want them.
They’d probably even support regionalizing those 3rd tier leagues.
I think the networks pretty much did this with the P12. No one would renew the contracts at the price the P12 schools thought they were worth and the networks basically forced the conference to collapse. ESPN got the majority of the conference at the B12 and ACC rate and Fox was able to get the 2 premium brands at the B10 rate and left 2 schools hanging out to dry. They can do the same thing to the ACC if they don’t renew their contract later this year or whenever that opt out comes. I used to think this was very unlikely. The last year has completely changed my mind.
I don’t really disagree with any of that. But the same way the networks care about cutting the costs, the schools/conferences care about maximizing the revenue. It’s a negotiation that goes to the highest bidder.
“Support” does not mean dictate.
And how did Syracuse get to 3rd tier? There’s going to be something between their level and Texas?
That’s a negotiation though, not a dictation. Sure, the networks will set a price and make suggestions, but at the end of the day, the conferences/schools have the goods and make the decisions. The PAC made a bad decision on how much they’re worth.
If the networks were truly controlling everything, why even make an offer at all?
At the end of the day the schools can always walk away. So ultimately they have that control. The networks control the board though. It doesn’t really matter what the schools want - it’s just what the networks offer.
IMHO:
Tier 1 - P2
Tier 2 - Big 12, ACC (until the flagship programs leave)
Tier 3 - AAC, MWC, PAC 2
Tier = Value of media rights on a per program basis, within a comparable range.
When the ACC implodes, if it survives, it’ll likely be a Tier 3 league. Leftovers could merge / swap / pilfer, be pilfered, etc by the other tier 3s. Won’t change the tiers. Media dictates this because while ostensibly there is competition, there are only 2 real competitors (as of now), and they do have funding limits. If one of them gives you a number or says you’re in but they’re out, you really can’t shop the offer.
Would take a major player like Amazon, Netflix, Apple, or one of the legacy broadcast networks (they’ve shown almost no interest in huge contracts) getting involved to change things.
I really though Amazon would jump in - but they don’t have a live coverage model they are trying to save so I wonder how valuable it is to them.
Yeah, and when it comes to sports, OTA / traditional broadcast capacity seems to be holding on. I think that speaks to how old the fanbases for most sports skew.
If the majority were younger, I think the streaming giants would be more interested.
I get what you are saying but no matter how hard the ACC tries to negotiate they are never getting the deal the SEC and B10 got even with Clemson and FSU. The networks know this has the top brands in that conference scrambling to get out and that’s exactly what they wanted. Get the top brands in fewer conferences and pay everyone else less. They aren’t directly controlling who goes where but they are influencing it with their money and doing a damn good job of it over the last few years. They can continue paying the middle tier ACC schools pretty much what they pay them now by moving them to the Big 12. Move the top tier to the SEC and B10 and leave the bottom tier hanging out to dry just like they did OSU and WSU. In the end they can pretty much pay out the same amount they do now and consolidate the number of conferences they have to cover while eliminating dead weight.
Rumor had it the PAC had an offer from both Apple and ESPN. They over valued their worth, but they did have choices. If ESPN was ultimately in full dictator mode and didn’t want the PAC, they wouldn’t have even made the offer.
That may be what happens and it may be what ESPN wanted, but it’s not because of what ESPN dictated. It’s because the SEC and BIG10 made the “better” business decisions.
If you’re only focusing on the lower tier, yes, the networks have a larger say in how successful they will be. But I’m telling you, if it comes down to one upper tier division, they are going to control what netwrok they’re on more than the other way around. Just look at the NBA deciding to leave TNT and the #1 sports show on tv.
Wasn’t a rumor as far as the ESPN offer. Pac-12 BoD thought they should get B10-type money - $50M vs $30M per school. Total hubris on the part of the Pac-12 and ESPN ended up finding a willing partner with the Big XII.
The subsequent scramble to land an Apple contract was more complicated. Started at a base of $23M per school with larger payouts contingent upon subscriptions sold.
The only schools that have any level of control are the ones already in the P2 or those that are possible targets of the P2. And the networks basically tell the conferences what they will pay for each potential new member. That’s why Oregon and Washington ended up in the B10 but taking a lower payout than pretty much everyone else in the conference. Everyone else just has to take what they can get at this point.
clt says the #1 sports show has laura rutledge and mina kimes
That’s what I said.
If more network partners jump in willing to pay at or near top dollar then the leagues gain some more control back. As long as it’s basically fox and espn paying top tier those two pull all the strings.
Anything the SEC or B10 do will be with the guidance or blessing of their tv partners.