guess the price tag was too high, kind of a shocker, could be a negotiating ploy but if they back away the big 10 is basically negotiating with fox and CBS, which would drive the price down
Espn to walk away from the big 10
- Thread starter kurt cloverdales
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I think it’s more about the price getting so high they dropped out.
NBC is in the deal too. B1G revenues from tv will be huge. Brilliant adding the LA schools. BTN may need a second channel, even more revenue. ABC/ESPN locked into the SEC with a much smaller market footprint. Apparently ESPN has lost tons of viewers and households.
correct, the downside the fewer bidders the less leverage the big has, plus Espn has multiple channels, not good for the big 10
ESPN was outbid, meaning B1G maxed its revenue. Let's drink to that!!
just saw CBS paid 350 million for the 330-football game, previous deal with the sec was for 55 million. that's crazy
?? what's with the ESPN hate? I mean, I go all the way back to when they first started and showed a ton of Aussie rules football! Mulitple channels that focus on sports and are essentially free as part of a cable package? Big Monday in the 80s? Tons of great 30 for 30s, College Gameday (fball and bball) and college football and bball games all over? College World Series and Little League World Series? What in the world is any sports fan's gripe with ESPN, and why would you think you'd be better off without it?
Entertainment that decided to be “activist” rather than sticking to entertainment starts to lose its way. ESPN has lost its way
Actually espn didn’t have the money to offer. They are losing 8-10% revenue a year. This hurt them. I saw a graphic that the only thing keeping them afloat was sports bars.(they went all in on cable) Fs1 has more households than the espn flagship channel. Remember a few years back they had to lay off 1/3 of their staff? Disney will only throw money at them for so long. They didn’t just walk away from the B1G. The B1G threw them out of the negotiations. ESPN is trying to save face. ESPN just lost 1/3 of their better content.
Because more and more slant on game day mornings and campy rhetoric isn’t flying anymore. ESPN is a big loser in this.
They are an SEC/ACC network first when it comes to college content. Basically a channel for the southern U.S. I can remember going back to middle school when you would get ready every morning and then throw on Sports Center to see what happened in sports the day before. The only time I turn on ESPN now is either an IU game or occasionally an NFL game.
If the BIG has deals with Fox and either NBC or CBS along with the BTN, they won't need ESPN.
I still watch ESPN quite a lot on a daily basis. Hope they figure out how to get their bearings back. College Gameday is still one of my favorite shows. And ESPN is my go to channel during college bball season, any time IU isn't playing on a different channel. I really think their loss in viewership has a lot more to do with people now sitting around on their phones with their idle time, than it does any content issues they might have.
Even though I do still watch ESPN a lot...my own time watching is for sure down as well. Where as I used to sit down and almost involuntarily switch the TV to 206...now I sit and flip through YouTube reels on my phone for a bit, and then at some point, get pissed at myself for wasting time on my phone...then proceed to watch an hour or so of ESPN.
Even though I do still watch ESPN a lot...my own time watching is for sure down as well. Where as I used to sit down and almost involuntarily switch the TV to 206...now I sit and flip through YouTube reels on my phone for a bit, and then at some point, get pissed at myself for wasting time on my phone...then proceed to watch an hour or so of ESPN.
Aussie football was the best. A cross between rugby, soccer and American football without the pads. Played on a field the size of a small city. With 100K Foster lager-drinking bloats in the crowd cheering. Fair dinkum, mate. One of the few times I've watched an 'international' sport not common in the USA and thought..hey, this is pretty cool stuff.
a couple very good 30 for 30s. Once Brothers (Petro/Vladi Yugoslavia story), Two Escobars (my personal favorite) and...the Marcus Dupree story- "The greatest there never was" is also a pretty good episode.
I've ignored ESPN for a couple decades+ except for some, not many, selected games. Some of their content/programming is similar to crap. Some of their talking heads added after initial launch leave lots to be desired. I only require reporting, I'll form my own opinions. Can anyone say Olbermann. What a maroon.
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if I was going broke, I think the last thing I would do would be pay Stephen a smith 10 mil a year
Yep, any mention, reference or discussion relating to morality, discrimination, social inequality or whatnot as it involves/effects people involved in sports is "activist" and therefore to be shunned/taboo. Just no way ESPN should get within a 1000 miles of things like Colin Kapernick, USA women's soccer demanding equal pay, superstar commentary on BLM, MSU/PSU athletics burying sexual abuse, etc.
Perish forbid that current events/social consciousness should in any way intrude upon my 'entertainment' experience. Give me an insulated bubble disconnected from reality where I can eat my apple pie in peace any day.
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Kurt wins the internet today.
Also lost all respect for Greenberg after he stabbed Golic in the back for his own show. I watch games on ESPN. That's it. And maybe if there's a good 30 for 30 on and I've got an hour to kill.
when I saw an ESPN/B1G TV post this morning, I knew it would spiral into a political debate before lunchtime. We're almost there.....
Espn is still good, these idiots who don't watch because they are activist are lying. what's happened to Espn is the NFL network the mlb network the golf channel streaming etc etc. the sports fan who just watches for NFL coverage has been syphoned away for example. SportsCenter is still great and it's not political at all. FS1 tried a SportsCenter, and it failed miserably. there is so much content available today than there was 20 years ago if ESPN is only losing 10 percent of their revenue that's probably a pretty good job.
Watching a game is the only time I ever turn on the tv period. Might make an exception for live streams of meteor impacts, alien incursions and other apocalyptic incidents though I'd probably check out as soon as they cut to a commercial break.
That's what I think. If you're a sports fan, I can't imagine NOT watching ESPN, especially college bball. Sure the networks gobble up most of the big time college games, but there is still a ton of B10 games (maybe more meaningful if you don't live in B10 country?) and other games. I love all the options: networks, FS1, ESPN, BTN, ACC... I think there's a lot of folks on here posturing because they don't like their politics, but it doesn't intrude on, nor affect what I watch or the content provided therein imo. I have a feeling there will be a lot of guys on here lamenting the loss of content, if it were actually to go away. Those mid 80s Big Monday's were must watch TV. The Big East was terrific then, and the BT was also... the Big West was a throw in, but usually consisted of UNLV vs someone and was still good viewing. Stephen A; ...what's a Steven A? You guys know you can change the channel, right?
valid point..when I was a kid, there were two ways to watch IU bball...channel 4, and CBS if we were the big weekend game. Now you have to check every game, there's no telling what channel an IU game might be on.
It’s not like switching off espn is going to insulate one from seeing the political stuff in sports. It’s bigger than just one network (it’s coming from the leagues, teams, etc.).
the way to escape it, and people are doing it, is to avoid the sport, not espn.
reference to the "The Two Escobars" episode of ESPN's 30 for 30, attached is the trailer. This thing is chilling. Andres Escobar was one of the nicest, most humble sports icons in the world. The "other" Escobar, well let's just say, he wasn't quite as nice. This is definitely 90 minutes of time well spent watching the tube. One time where sports and politics collided, and the results were terrifying.
ESPN just lost. No two ways about it. All the networks assumed ESPN would lock up the B1G but they low balled. Dumb move. Make no mistake it wasn’t espn walking out it was the B1G that had its ducks in a row. The template for the B1G was made years ago by adding markets not brands. ESPN doubled down on bad platforms. I stopped watching all the silly games show style shows on espn years ago. Why watch posturing idiots on a topic you can get on YouTube. They rarely have breaking news anymore. I watch games not commentary 24/7. I think a lot of people are moving that way. Also, it’s not that we don’t watch espn at all it’s that we watch it less. Now it will be even less after 2023.
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And that's exactly what I do. If it's not a game, I'm not really turning on ESPN (or any other sports network). Sportscenter used to be part of the morning routine and the last thing I watched before turning in for the night. I can probably count on one hand the number of times I've watched SC this calendar year. I'll watch the SVP version a few times during football season on Sunday or Monday nights if the game preceding it was good. I find him to be entertaining and he does a good job with interviews. It's just too late to regularly watch.
Personally, it started going south for me when they started running all the content that was little more than people arguing with each other. I think the Sports Reporters on Sunday morning was the first and only version of that and now it seems as if it's the majority of the programming. I can get that just about any other place and don't need to hear from Kellerman and Smith. Fox has their version of it with Sharpe and Bayless that's just as cringe.
I don’t watch because of the campy game show style stuff 24/7. The political stuff turns me off regardless of topic or channel not because it’s not important but there are plenty of outlets for that. I watch games not rhetoric. To each his/her own.
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Yeah, it happens, and that's a market factor. I watch games and just ignore 90% of their programming with the exception of the odd 30/30, or CWS, or LLWS, as I got sucked into last night. Why am I thinking all those posturing on here and whining about ESPN's "political bent" aren't similarly crying about Fox News POV? They're covering athletes... who are mostly young and black, with personalities that are if not black, mostly young. Why wouldn't they have a political bent? How many interviews did DT grant to NPR or any news organization, that wasn't Fox News, or worse? There's still a shit ton of content I'd miss if I didn't have ESPN. Losing the B10 will cut in to that, but I still would want the option, especially during fball and bball season.
I can't stand Bayless. Maybe it's just the act they have to put on for that show, but his entire presentation looks and smells of a slick used car salesman.
There's the problem with you socialists/leftists/democrats....you eat, breathe and even dream about discrimination, social inequality, women's rights, etc. It's in everything you see and do.
No room for fun in your life when you're part of a cult.
They will still cover B1G news. I’m betting that game day will be at Ohio state/Michigan and others. FS1 isn’t better it’s just not worse. I’m not downing politics either way for the record I just don’t go to sports channels for politics and I don’t watch political channels for sports. I change the channel. I’ll continue to watch sports just like I always have it will just include less espn. Agree with the 30 for 30and documentaries. I just think power just shifted to the older networks and that’s a good thing. Also, the views and background of any athlete is interesting wether we agree on lifestyle or politics. It’s just part of the picture not the main focus for me.
I don't really have loyalty to one sports network over the other. If there's a game I want to watch, I'll find the network and watch it and not give it much more thought. Having said that, whichever network is covering IU games, I'll make sure I have that network. So in that regard, I guess my loyalty to IU equals out to loyalty to whomever is covering the games and that's exactly what the networks that bought those tv rights want.
yes, even before Covid, they were having huge financial issues, layoffs, firing big talent, etc.
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