TV Contract Pipe Dream

I have been running some numbers in my head the last couple of days about our tv contract and just how bad it is and will get once its all said and done. It got me to thinking about what the best solution would be and I came up with this scenario. Keep in mind that it would take a good bit more leadership and competence than I have seen since we have been here. I propose that The conference take back its media rights and place them all on CUSAtv. Now before you start freaking out here me out.

1. Most all of our content is now online only but its distributed across so many places that if has become convoluted. We already have a base network to hold and distribute the content right now but its so poorly run and deprived of the actual stuff most of us want to watch that its become ignored. All 14 schools would have to invest about $500,000 each into their own production studios and other things that would create better content. This was the original idea but was quickly abandoned for short term gains.

2. Each school would be responsible for selling a minimum of 5,500 subscriptions ranging in price from $99.99 to $120.00 each. This annual subscription would encompass all sports and be similar to how bowl ticket allotments are treated. I have done the math on this and not only would it be possible but I feel like if done right Tech could stay in the 6000 range annually. Each sport, Alumni association and Student Association could facilitate a large portion of the sales.

3. Member institutions with the help of CUSAtv management would be responsible for selling their media content to local Terrestrial Stations. Being able to get football and basketball on in the Shreveport, Alexandria and Monroe tv markets would be a huge get for Us. The biggest selling point would be that we could offer is cheap since the majority of our funding would be through subscriptions. Anything we get here is a bonus.

4. Championship games could be self produced by CUSAtv with the help of member institutions and sold to the highest bidder for more money than what we are getting right now because we would be producing it ourselves and ESPN, FOX, and CBS wouldn't have to send crews to do that themselves.

5. One game subscriptions would also be lagniappe. Every time an OOC fan buys a 1 day pass they are contributing to our media deal.

OK, lets assume that our base income from this contract would be based on 5,500 times 14 teams times $110. That comes down to $605,000 annually per school. If we were able to sell our games over the air to our three media markets at $10,000 each plus some advertising, that's another $30,000 plus. Now if the CUSA Leadership were competent they could get us a minimum of 1.5 million annually for our championship games and tourney. That's another $107,000 per school. The total annual payout to us would be about $742,000 base with 10% going back to CUSAtv equaling $667,800 annually. also add $110,000 for every 1,000 subscriptions sold.


Pros: The pros would be that we would be in control of our own destiny. Our market value would be accurate and we would know what to sell our ota rights and championship rights after a couple of years. On field competition would almost immediately go up since the fans and their subscriptions control the purse strings and not a tv network. Our media exposure would be much much higher in our local market because we could sell our own rights to local stations. The overall value of the conference would go up and realignment wouldn't affect us as much.

Cons: We would lose some national media attention since we would not be on major networks, but aren't we already there? It would be hard hard work and complacency would be even more punishing. Our investment in our production facilities would be costly. I have heard that it would be anywhere from $250,000 to $650,000 to get us up to ESPN standards.

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Originally Posted by KSDAWG

I have been running some numbers in my head the last couple of days about our tv contract and just how bad it is and will get once its all said and done. It got me to thinking about what the best solution would be and I came up with this scenario. Keep in mind that it would take a good bit more leadership and competence than I have seen since we have been here. I propose that The conference take back its media rights and place them all on CUSAtv. Now before you start freaking out here me out.

1. Most all of our content is now online only but its distributed across so many places that if has become convoluted. We already have a base network to hold and distribute the content right now but its so poorly run and deprived of the actual stuff most of us want to watch that its become ignored. All 14 schools would have to invest about $500,000 each into their own production studios and other things that would create better content. This was the original idea but was quickly abandoned for short term gains.

2. Each school would be responsible for selling a minimum of 5,500 subscriptions ranging in price from $99.99 to $120.00 each. This annual subscription would encompass all sports and be similar to how bowl ticket allotments are treated. I have done the math on this and not only would it be possible but I feel like if done right Tech could stay in the 6000 range annually. Each sport, Alumni association and Student Association could facilitate a large portion of the sales.

3. Member institutions with the help of CUSAtv management would be responsible for selling their media content to local Terrestrial Stations. Being able to get football and basketball on in the Shreveport, Alexandria and Monroe tv markets would be a huge get for Us. The biggest selling point would be that we could offer is cheap since the majority of our funding would be through subscriptions. Anything we get here is a bonus.

4. Championship games could be self produced by CUSAtv with the help of member institutions and sold to the highest bidder for more money than what we are getting right now because we would be producing it ourselves and ESPN, FOX, and CBS wouldn't have to send crews to do that themselves.

5. One game subscriptions would also be lagniappe. Every time an OOC fan buys a 1 day pass they are contributing to our media deal.

OK, lets assume that our base income from this contract would be based on 5,500 times 14 teams times $110. That comes down to $605,000 annually per school. If we were able to sell our games over the air to our three media markets at $10,000 each plus some advertising, that's another $30,000 plus. Now if the CUSA Leadership were competent they could get us a minimum of 1.5 million annually for our championship games and tourney. That's another $107,000 per school. The total annual payout to us would be about $742,000 base with 10% going back to CUSAtv equaling $667,800 annually. also add $110,000 for every 1,000 subscriptions sold.


Pros: The pros would be that we would be in control of our own destiny. Our market value would be accurate and we would know what to sell our ota rights and championship rights after a couple of years. On field competition would almost immediately go up since the fans and their subscriptions control the purse strings and not a tv network. Our media exposure would be much much higher in our local market because we could sell our own rights to local stations. The overall value of the conference would go up and realignment wouldn't affect us as much.

Cons: We would lose some national media attention since we would not be on major networks, but aren't we already there? It would be hard hard work and complacency would be even more punishing. Our investment in our production facilities would be costly. I have heard that it would be anywhere from $250,000 to $650,000 to get us up to ESPN standards.

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You know, we already have an ESPN compliant studio under construction? In fact, it may be completed by now. I saw it under construction in the DEZ Building back in the middle of football season.