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Can ESPN Survive As Cable TV Fades?

jayboogieman
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WhoKnows Veteran

WhoKnows

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I know people like to gamble and all but I laugh at those commercials. Make every game more interesting, bet on every play, yada yada. Just another tax on the stupid who don’t make money gambling.

On ESPN, they have already faded. Only way they stay relevant is through content like showing exclusive NFL games, MLB, college conferences, etc. Problem is there are bigger streamers out there and the SEC could decide to just do their own channel when they have 36 teams and a 3 week SEC championship tourney before the BCS championship.

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jayboogieman Grand Master

jayboogieman

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7 minutes ago, WhoKnows said:

On ESPN, they have already faded. Only way they stay relevant is through content like showing exclusive NFL games, MLB, college conferences, etc. Problem is there are bigger streamers out there and the SEC could decide to just do their own channel when they have 36 teams and a 3 week SEC championship tourney before the BCS championship.

The video gets into this a little bit and one of the former ESPN executives says the goals for ESPN is to tie up the different leagues in as many long terms contracts as they can. ESPN signed the SEC from CBS in 2020 and the 10 year contract started with the 2024 season.

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PanthersATL Veteran

PanthersATL

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Thx for posting that video - had been looking for it on CNBC's schedule but it never showed up as a dedicated show.

The ESPN history book THOSE GUYS HAVE ALL THE FUN gets into the details of what built ESPN to be the cable/sports powerhouse. Highly recommended read.

The biggest issue is that ESPN is the primary reason for high cable prices being passed along to consumers -- and as consumer choose to cancel their primary cable subscriptions, ESPN (and Disney) revenues drop.

The direct-to-consumer ESPN service that is supposed to come out in the next year or so (NOT the sports bundle partnership, but ESPN by itself) was originally rumored to be in the $50/month range - but new info suggests a more affordable $25/$30 month charge.  It's more more than the $13/m ESPN charges for cable subscribers to placate the traditional cable providers.

ESPN needs subscriber and advertiser money to lock in exclusive broadcast rights for sports that bring in eyeballs. Social media isn't going to help you watch the Masters or the National College Football championship.

Getting exclusive rights isn't specific to ESPN. NBC with the Olympics, FOX and CBS with (most) NFL football games.... as long as there's live sports that interest a viewing audience, there's going to be some fee/cost involved from *somewhere*. 

Question is whether the broadcasters will ever just walk away and say "no more, it's not worth the cost/effort to bother"

 

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Panthero Experienced

Panthero

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2 hours ago, jayboogieman said:

And prepare for costs to keep going up.

And prepare for me to ride the high seas to watch,  and live, as a man free of these skallywags. 

Edited by Panthero
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