Wheels wrote: ↑Wed May 17, 2023 12:46 pm
coda wrote: ↑Wed May 17, 2023 11:59 am
wgdsr wrote: ↑Wed May 17, 2023 9:59 am
silver lining doc b is also back warning of the imminent demise of the acc.
The ACC is in serious trouble. College athletics seems to be going to Big 10/SEC model. It is all about those football dollars. For lacrosse it may not be as big of an issue, outside the Big 10 likely picking up a team or 2 in the future (ND, Virginia, or UNC). Even if UVa and UNC end up in the SEC, they would probably put together a similar collaboration to the current ACC configuration. The Holy Grail for lax would be an SEC lacrosse conference, but that would be a long shot and take time.
Think it was Andy Staples in The Athletic that said this, but the best way to think about what's happening with college football right now is similar to the AFC and NFC in football. Each conference has a primary and lucrative deal with a major network (Fox, CBS). Right now, Fox is locking up the B1G, and ESPN is locking up the SEC. Every other rights deal will be dwarfed in comparison. That's why USC/UCLA hopped on board to Fox...er, I mean, the B1G. That's why Clemson and FSU want in on ESPN...er, I mean, the SEC. There's going to be a finite point for expansion. When the revenue from new TV markets added no longer exceed the individual payouts of existing members, expansion will stop. Contra FFG, that's why GT will be a target for the B1G (and was rumored to be be back when MD and RU joined). Whether or not anyone watches GT football in ATL doesn't really matter. The size of the ATL market does matter.
When the musical chairs stop, I bet Duke follows UConn basketball's route to the Big East while football goes independent.
In a subscriber based world have you read up on what’s going on w ESPN and cable in general? This sub model is wildly anachronistic that folks keep insisting is the future. I can only speak for being inside a room with the top 100 athletics donors a half dozen times in the last 15 months with respect to Ga Tech (because as of 2yrs ago my FIL was #71 on that list, he’s may even slipping as he’s got an issue with the how they dealt with the prior women’s BB coach that he was close to). But that’s still better than every single other person here speculating about Ga Tech. The people who run and are influencing institutional decisions at Ga Tech don’t believe what you speculators are all insisting is the case. That’s primary source word spoken directly to me.
Markets are irrelevant in streaming…
Disney CEO Bob Iger says ESPN will 'one day' be streaming only
Feb 9, 2023, 10:49 AM ET
Bob Iger
Disney CEO Bob Iger is reorganizing the company, but doesn't plan on immediately spinning off ESPN.
Photo by Kimberly White/Getty Images for Vanity Fair
Disney CEO Bob Iger predicts that ESPN will "one day" shift to a streaming-only model.
He said that it would be a "phenomenal product for the sports fan."
ESPN+, the unit's current streaming arm, ended 2022 with nearly 25 million subscribers.
Speculation has long-swirled that Disney would spin off ESPN, but that's not in the cards for newly returned Disney CEO Bob Iger — at least not right now.
Iger, who was reinstated as the company's top exec in November, is quickly making changes at the House of Mouse, including a reorganization that splits the company into three units. They include Disney Entertainment, which consists of the movie studios and streaming platforms; parks, experiences, and products; and ESPN, which encompasses both the linear ESPN network, and the ESPN+ streamer.
During an interview on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" Thursday morning, Iger said that he predicts ESPN will "one day" become a streaming-only platform.
"I think the model ultimately will change," Iger said, regarding a shift for Disney's sports content from linear to streaming. "I think it will become an over-the-top model."
"A so-called over-the-top model — a streaming model — it would be a phenomenal product for the sports fan," he added.
When asked directly if ESPN will one day largely be a streaming service, Iger said that "there's an inevitability to it."
But he cautioned that Disney wouldn't do anything "reckless" and would "time it right."
During Disney's fiscal-year Q1 earnings call on Wednesday, Iger said that Disney's streaming business "is the future," a point he reiterated during Thursday's CNBC interview, adding that Disney has to turn streaming "into a growth business."
Disney reported on Wednesday that ESPN+ ended 2022 with 24.9 million subscribers, up from 24.3 million the prior quarter.
Iger replaced his successor Bob Chapek after stepping away from the role in early 2020. Chapek himself reorganized the company — including by creating a new unit called Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution — which Iger quickly began to unravel.
"It created a huge divide between the creative side of the company — the content engines, movies and television — and the monetization and distribution side of the company," Iger said on Thursday. "It was very, very apparent to me, both while I was out and when I came back, that that was a mistake."
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