ESPN/TEXAS Relationship

[TYLERTECHSAS]

I totally agree. This could possibly belong in the SEC/A&M thread but I thought it deserved a thread of it's own.

link
Memo to NCAA: it’s beyond time to address the ESPN/Texas relationship
Posted by John Taylor on July 20, 2011, 8:07 AM EDT

In January of this year, ESPN and the University of Texas announced the official creation of what would come to be called the Longhorn Network, an endeavor that would initially entitle UT to an estimated $300 million over 20 years from the WWL.
For that money, ESPN would also provide a reported $400 million in production value in exchange for content that ranged from one or two UT football games a year to basketball to Olympic sports to “non-athletic fare like musical performances, plays, and documentaries by faculty members and students” to high school football games in the state of Texas to… wait… what? Televising potential football recruits on a television network dedicated to a single university? Yeah, some individuals who would be impacted by that development took issue with the prep aspect of things.
Rest of story
http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports...-relationship/

[champion110]

Something needs to be done, but no one is stepping up and doing anything about it. A&M had a meeting to discuss if there were violations, but we don't know the outcome of that.

OF COURSE there are violations! The NCAA has no balls at all with the bcs teams or conferences. It is sickening......... This should turn other bcs teams against UT, unless they have the power to pull it off themselves. Alabama is the only one I can think of that could do it right now, but I think SEC has rules against it. The B12-2 is getting screwed by UT. I wish A&M would pull out and just let Texas go indy. If Texas went indy, they might have a little problem scheduling other bcs teams right now.

[KSDAWG]

This is a sad sign of the times we live in.

[okiealdawg]

The state of Alabama has no where near the money the state of Texas does.

[HogDawg]

. This should turn other bcs teams against UT, unless they have the power to pull it off themselves. Alabama is the only one I can think of that could do it right now, but I think SEC has rules against it.

You're kidding, right? Alabama?

The state of Alabama has about 4.7 million residents, and probably half of those are die hard Auburn fans. Meanwhile, the state of Texas has over 25 million residents. And as others pointed out, Alabama is a generally "poor" southern state compared to Texas.

There's probably not more than 5 or 6 universities in the entire country that have the "national" fan base and unlimited resources to pull off something like this. (Probably USC, BYU, Notre Dame and Ohio State are the only viable candidates with big enough fan bases for their own TV network.)

Things are about to get very interesting. If Texas succeeds at this, the folks at LSU, Alabama, Oklahoma, etc....are going to experience being 2nd class citizens for the very first time in their lives. Why? Because they simply don't have the population base to support something like this. And they aren't going to like it.

This will be fun to watch.


HD

[ddgravy]

http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/col...ow-on-hold.ece Timeout?

[mikedog]

You're kidding, right? Alabama?

The state of Alabama has about 4.7 million residents, and probably half of those are die hard Auburn fans. Meanwhile, the state of Texas has over 25 million residents. And as others pointed out, Alabama is a generally "poor" southern state compared to Texas.

There's probably not more than 5 or 6 universities in the entire country that have the "national" fan base and unlimited resources to pull off something like this. (Probably USC, BYU, Notre Dame and Ohio State are the only viable candidates with big enough fan bases for their own TV network.)

Things are about to get very interesting. If Texas succeeds at this, the folks at LSU, Alabama, Oklahoma, etc....are going to experience being 2nd class citizens for the very first time in their lives. Why? Because they simply don't have the population base to support something like this. And they aren't going to like it.

This will be fun to watch.


HD

You're dreaming if you think the SEC is going to be perceived as 2nd class citizens because of this TV deal. Notre Dame has proven that having one's own TV deal (and the extra money that goes with it) doesn't automatically translate into on-the-field success. The fact of the matter is that UT has always had a money advantage over the SEC schools, yet it hasn't translated into championships. The SEC has dominated college football over the last decade, and I don't see that changing anytime soon.

[TYLERTECHSAS]

You're kidding, right? Alabama?

The state of Alabama has about 4.7 million residents, and probably half of those are die hard Auburn fans. Meanwhile, the state of Texas has over 25 million residents. And as others pointed out, Alabama is a generally "poor" southern state compared to Texas.

There's probably not more than 5 or 6 universities in the entire country that have the "national" fan base and unlimited resources to pull off something like this. (Probably USC, BYU, Notre Dame and Ohio State are the only viable candidates with big enough fan bases for their own TV network.)

Things are about to get very interesting. If Texas succeeds at this, the folks at LSU, Alabama, Oklahoma, etc....are going to experience being 2nd class citizens for the very first time in their lives. Why? Because they simply don't have the population base to support something like this. And they aren't going to like it.

This will be fun to watch.


HD

You're dreaming if you think the SEC is going to be perceived as 2nd class citizens because of this TV deal. Notre Dame has proven that having one's own TV deal (and the extra money that goes with it) doesn't automatically translate into on-the-field success. The fact of the matter is that UT has always had a money advantage over the SEC schools, yet it hasn't translated into championships. The SEC has dominated college football over the last decade, and I don't see that changing anytime soon.

I don't think HD was making an SEC comparison at all.

[HogDawg]

You're dreaming if you think the SEC is going to be perceived as 2nd class citizens because of this TV deal. Notre Dame has proven that having one's own TV deal (and the extra money that goes with it) doesn't automatically translate into on-the-field success. The fact of the matter is that UT has always had a money advantage over the SEC schools, yet it hasn't translated into championships. The SEC has dominated college football over the last decade, and I don't see that changing anytime soon.

You're letting your SEC pride get in the way of your common sense. I wasn't making a comparison between Texas and the whole SEC. I was making a comparison between Texas and almost any other INDIVIDUAL SCHOOL, including those in the SEC.

No one disputes that the SEC is a fine football conference (I'll say that so you can get your blood pressure back down.) But this isn't about the "SEC". It's about INDIVIDUAL SCHOOLS hosting their own 24/7 TV network. The SEC doesn't have any schools with big enough numbers (population base, large enrollment, national following, etc...) to do this. Like it or not, Texas does. :icon_wink:

Why do you think Texas A&M is still considering leaving the Big 12-2? It's because they feel like 2nd class citizens up next to Texas and the Longhorn Network. The Aggies know that UT will have a distinct recruiting advantage once the Longhorn Network starts showing Texas high school sporting events and televising UT games around the state. They fear that kids in Texas will grow up wanting to be Longhorns because they grew up watching UT on TV all the time.

Individual schools in the SEC rarely feel like 2nd class citizens....but they WILL in this situation. There's no way ESPN forks over $300 MILLION for Alabama to host a 24/7 "Tide TV" network, because Alabama doesn't have the numbers to support it. Same with LSU and all of your other wonderful SEC schools. It's the same with Oklahoma & Nebraska too. They are all 2nd class citizens in this scenario.



HD

[mikedog]

The schools in the SEC rarely feel like 2nd class citizens....but they WILL in this situation. There's no way ESPN forks over $300 MILLION for Alabama to host a 24/7 "Tide TV" network, because Alabama doesn't have the numbers to support it. Same with LSU and all of your other wonderful SEC schools. It's the same with Oklahoma & Nebraska too. They are all 2nd class citizens in this scenario.

HD

Frankly, I don't think any school outside of the Big 12-2 care about UT's TV deal. The SEC, ACC, and Big 10+2 schools are doing quite well with their existing TV arrangements. If anything, it will give the conferences more bargaining power with the networks.

Regarding your 2nd class citizen assertion, the stature of individual schools in the college football landscape is determined by their wins and loses. UT's TV deal won't put W's in their win column. Thus, I don't see UT's TV deal having an effect on the perception of the individual schools.

[HogDawg]

Frankly, I don't think any school outside of the Big 12-2 care about UT's TV deal. The SEC, ACC, and Big 10+2 schools are doing quite well with their existing TV arrangements. If anything, it will give the conferences more bargaining power with the networks.

Regarding your 2nd class citizen assertion, the stature of individual schools in the college football landscape is determined by their wins and loses. UT's TV deal won't put W's in their win column. Thus, I don't see UT's TV deal having an effect on the perception of the individual schools.

Evidentally you just DON'T WANT to see.

Remember, this Longhorn TV revenue ($300M) in over and above the Big XII-2's conference TV contract. That's where UT is killing it. Everybody has their own conference TV contract. But this is $300M more than Alabama, or LSU, or Florida will take in. And don't for one minute think these SEC schools aren't wanting a piece of that pie. They do. But they won't get it.



HD

[Bigdog13]

Evidentally you just DON'T WANT to see.

Remember, this Longhorn TV revenue ($300M) in over and above the Big XII-2's conference TV contract. That's where UT is killing it. Everybody has their own conference TV contract. But this is $300M more than Alabama, or LSU, or Florida will take in. And don't for one minute think these SEC schools aren't wanting a piece of that pie. They do. But they won't get it.



HD

HD you are exactly right. This is unprecedented. And it indeed will be VERY interesting to see how this plays out. I don't see anyway it doesn't eventually lead to Texas becoming an Independent.

[TYLERTECHSAS]

Frankly, I don't think any school outside of the Big 12-2 care about UT's TV deal.

I don't see UT's TV deal having an effect on the perception of the individual schools.

Say what??

[mikedog]

Say what??

Surprise. Surprise. Texas residents thinking everything is better in Texas. As I said before, this is nothing but a money deal. Texas already had an athletic budget twice that of most SEC schools, yet those schools are doing (and will continue to do) more with less.

[TYLERTECHSAS]

Surprise. Surprise. Texas residents thinking everything is better in Texas. As I said before, this is nothing but a money deal. Texas already had an athletic budget twice that of most SEC schools, yet those schools are doing (and will continue to do) more with less.

But that wasn't even the topic. And BTW, I'm from Louisiana not Texas.