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Topic: MAC, ESPN expected to reopen media rights deal

Topic: MAC, ESPN expected to reopen media rights deal

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Ted Thompson
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MAC, ESPN expected to reopen media rights deal

Posted: 5/6/2013 5:57:30 PM

With all the networks looking for product, glad to see the MAC trying to leverage that.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/blog/jeremy-fowler/22207009/more-maction-mac-espn-expected-to-re-open-media-rights-deal

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Pataskala
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RE: MAC, ESPN expected to reopen media rights deal

Posted: 5/6/2013 10:59:50 PM

I hope they're negotiating for MORE money. Based on the ratings they cite for MACtion, it could go the other way.

In the past, ESPN has had a noon slot for the Big Least on the U or 2, and some Thursday nights on ESPN or 2. Maybe some of those will open up with the contract with the AAC.

That acronym (AAC) still reminds me of Bill the Cat.

Last Edited: 5/7/2013 6:55:59 AM by Pataskala

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colobobcat66
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RE: MAC, ESPN expected to reopen media rights deal

Posted: 5/7/2013 6:48:44 AM

Just like the MAC to be giving away the rights for next to nothing. Everybody loves the exposure and selfishly loves to watch the games for free on TV, but I'm still not a big fan of mid-week games. Would somebody who has looked at this in detail show the attendance figures for November weekend versus weekday games. The stadiums usually look empty, but they probably are in weekends as well . Life in the MAC, I guess .

Pataskala
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RE: MAC, ESPN expected to reopen media rights deal

Posted: 5/7/2013 6:55:26 AM

colobobcat66 wrote:

When comparing weekend vs weekday, also keep in mind that the better teams are playing the weekday games (for the most part) so the weekend games are usually bottom tier MAC and wouldn't draw that many anyhow.

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UpSan Bobcat
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RE: MAC, ESPN expected to reopen media rights deal

Posted: 5/7/2013 10:52:01 AM

colobobcat66 wrote:

I actually did a comparison at one point. Maybe later I'll see if I can find it. Obviously, there is a decrease in attendance, but it seems that it's not huge compared to other cold-weather November games on Saturdays. The issue is that many MAC stadiums are empty at all times, especially when the weather gets bad at the end of the season.

perimeterpost
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RE: MAC, ESPN expected to reopen media rights deal

Posted: 5/7/2013 12:41:55 PM

Here's the attendance for every home game in the Solich era, with weeknight games highlighted.

2012            2011    2010    2009    2008    2007    2006    2005
25,893         24,244        22,955         24,616         19,938        19,823         19,409         24,545
25,542         23,155        21,645         20,188         18,268        18,297         18,546         21,034
23,673         23,146        19,855         17,968         15,018        17,031         15,631 17,959
20,044         17,490    19,455         16,018         13,114        16,781         15,026         16,721
19,122         17,155    15,255 14,756         10,042    15,632 15,010           9,908
16,789         14,155        15,112         14,135*       ----------        11,438         ---------          ---------

*Friday after Thanksgiving

I do not understand the complaints about MACtion being some great sacrifice and destroyer of programs and fan bases everywhere. The numbers just don't support it. Even when you ignore the natural decline that would happen if a game was played on a sunny Saturday afternoon in November the drop off in attendance is negligible at best.

Trading a couple of thousand sold tickets for a nationally televised game on a night when there are no other college football games on isn't even a trade, its a steal.

In 2012 WMU played all 12 games on a Saturday and did not have to play on the week of Thanksgiving. Yet, in spite of this ideal schedule their home opener agains E Illinois was the only home game that had a higher attendance then our lowest game of the season. Weeknight TV games are not the problem.

MACtion has been positive for our conference and if ESPN is willing to open talks on the package then I'm assuming its been positive for them too. I hope we see revenue that makes us even more of a power player in the Go5.

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L.C.
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RE: MAC, ESPN expected to reopen media rights deal

Posted: 5/7/2013 4:22:53 PM

Here are Ratings for 2012 College Football games.

The MAC games that I see are:
9/1/ Ohio v. Penn State 2.4 (3.5M)
9/1 Bowling Green v. Florida 1.8 (2.8M)
11/6 Ball State v. Toledo .4 (570k)
11/7 BGSU v. Ohio .5 (719k)
11/14 Toledo v. NIU .4 (557k)
11/14 Ohio v. Ball State .2 (281k)
11/20 Akron v. Toledo .4 (542k)
11/23 Ohio v Kent .1 (153k)
11/30 NIU v. Kent .9 (1.3M)

The sad truth is that, with the exception of the Ohio-Penn State game and the BG-Florida game, plus maybe the MAC Championship, these ratings are not going to going to make ESPN want to pay more than the current deal.

On another note, the attendance data show above shows that attendance tracks winning percentage. There was a pop in attendance the first year under Solich, caused by the hype of his hire, and by the Pitt game sellout, but after that it tracked winning percentage. It slipped during the struggles of 2007-2008, but once the team became a steady winner, starting in 2009, attendance has been climbing. Average attendance:
2005 (4-7) - 18,033 (was 16,406 not including Pitt game)
2006 (9-5) - 16,724
2007 (6-6) - 16,500
2008 (4-8) - 15,276
2009 (9-5) - 17,947
2010 (8-5) - 19,046
2011 (10-4) - 19,891
2012 (9-4) - 21,844

Last Edited: 5/7/2013 4:45:36 PM by L.C.

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Ted Thompson
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RE: MAC, ESPN expected to reopen media rights deal

Posted: 5/7/2013 4:49:00 PM

L.C. wrote:

You can't know that just from the data you have. The question is what would it cost them to get the same type of rating. The World Poker Tour may cost a lot more than $1M per year to drive similar (or better) numbers. The MAC also provides a lot of content for ESPN3. ESPN also realizes that NBC, Fox and CBS all have college networks now for which they need product. The price tag is going up and this looks like ESPN making a preemptive play.

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L.C.
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RE: MAC, ESPN expected to reopen media rights deal

Posted: 5/7/2013 5:07:53 PM

I do think it would be a good thing if it went up. The MAC has improved a great deal in the last five years, and I attribute it at least in part to increased national awareness of MACtion, due to the mid-week games. Recruiting definitely improved all across the MAC about 4-5 years ago, and now we're seeing improved results on the field. To continue that progress, though, the athletic departments are going to have to see budget increases, and where will the money be coming from? $100,000 per Mac team isn't even a drop in the bucket.

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Alan Swank
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RE: MAC, ESPN expected to reopen media rights deal

Posted: 5/7/2013 9:19:25 PM

perimeterpost wrote:

Hate to say it but those are resume numbers not actual butts in the seats. On tv the lack of people in the stands drives the perception of the viewers not some number in a box score. For these weekday games I hope neither team has to punt.

perimeterpost
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RE: MAC, ESPN expected to reopen media rights deal

Posted: 5/7/2013 9:56:22 PM

Alan Swank wrote:

Who tunes into a MAC game being played on a cold Tuesday night in November in some small college town in the Midwest and expect to see 50K cheering fans in the stands? The perception is the reality and viewers are ok with that. When most people hear the word MACtion they think of entertaining weeknight football, not empty stadiums. Only people who pick their favorite team because they are worried about other people's opinions (ie Buckeye bandwaggoners) would focus on the attendance.

this is what 17K fans at MAC game look like on ESPN, I think this probably exceeds viewer's expectations more than not.

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OhioCatFan
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RE: MAC, ESPN expected to reopen media rights deal

Posted: 5/7/2013 10:26:00 PM

PP, though we've disagreed in another post in another forum in what seems like a different universe, I'm in agreement with you here. While attendance does bother me a little bit at some of these midweek games (more at places like Akron and Bowling Green than Ohio), it's not quite the absolute embarrassment that Al seems to think. That being said, I would like to see the MAC negotiate a new contract that would include a few national Saturday games -- maybe early starting 11:00 a.m. games on the U, or even late starting games -- like 10 p.m. EDT. Let's get creative.

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Alan Swank
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RE: MAC, ESPN expected to reopen media rights deal

Posted: 5/7/2013 11:23:59 PM

L.C. wrote:

For those 6 mid week games, .2% of the people in America tuned in. What advertiser in their right mind would pay for that kind of viewership?

Ted Thompson
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RE: MAC, ESPN expected to reopen media rights deal

Posted: 5/8/2013 12:24:50 AM

Alan Swank wrote:

L.C. wrote:

For those 6 mid week games, .2% of the people in America tuned in. What advertiser in their right mind would pay for that kind of viewership?

Well, you can bet ESPN is charging them more than $1M per year so I guess the answer is plenty. Finding a DVR-proof audience is getting harder and harder which is why sports programming is becoming more valuable.

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L.C.
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RE: MAC, ESPN expected to reopen media rights deal

Posted: 5/8/2013 12:57:12 PM

Alan Swank wrote:

For those 6 mid week games, .2% of the people in America tuned in. What advertiser in their right mind would pay for that kind of viewership?

So long as the price is fair for the number of viewers, there is no problem. Obviously the viewership is going to be more for, say, Notre Dame-USC, than for Ohio-Kent, but the price is going to be a lot higher, too.

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Pataskala
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RE: MAC, ESPN expected to reopen media rights deal

Posted: 5/8/2013 1:13:43 PM

L.C. wrote:

Alan Swank wrote:

For those 6 mid week games, .2% of the people in America tuned in. What advertiser in their right mind would pay for that kind of viewership?

ESPN probably sells advertisers the package of their football broadcasts (or at least some number of games) with a guarantee of a certain number of ratings points. If they don't make it, the advertiser gets bonus spots elsewhere on the ESPN schedule, probably the next week. Whatever spots don't sell are filled in with spots that aren't assigned to a particular slot or with promos.

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L.C.
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RE: MAC, ESPN expected to reopen media rights deal

Posted: 5/8/2013 2:22:09 PM

It's going to be a little more difficult than that because there are going to be both National advertisers, and local ones, with ads sold by the local cable provider. The local advertisers probably typically buy the entire season, and get one ad in each ESPN game. They aren't going to look at the ratings for specific games, just the average for the season.

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Pataskala
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RE: MAC, ESPN expected to reopen media rights deal

Posted: 5/8/2013 7:58:25 PM

L.C. wrote:

If that's the case, then they're getting what they pay for -- a spot in each game, no matter what the viewership. But I doubt that the cable companies and satellite providers actually sell spots for specific programs. They might sell for categories of programs (sports, news, women-focused, etc.) but I doubt they place spots in specific football games or other programs. With all the channels they offer, it would be a logistic nightmare to schedule in particular spots for specific programs.

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anorris
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RE: MAC, ESPN expected to reopen media rights deal

Posted: 5/9/2013 12:47:05 PM

Ted Thompson wrote:

Alan Swank wrote:

L.C. wrote:

Here are Ratings for 2012 College Football games.

The MAC games that I see are:
9/1/ Ohio v. Penn State 2.4 (3.5M) ESPN
9/1 Bowling Green v. Florida 1.8 (2.8M) ESPN
11/6 Ball State v. Toledo .4 (570k) ESPN2
11/7 BGSU v. Ohio .5 (719k) ESPN2
11/14 Toledo v. NIU .4 (557k) ESPN2
11/14 Ohio v. Ball State .2 (281k) ESPNU
11/20 Akron v. Toledo .4 (542k) ESPN2
11/23 Ohio v Kent .1 (153k) ESPNU
11/30 NIU v. Kent .9 (1.3M) ESPN2

The sad truth is that, with the exception of the Ohio-Penn State game and the BG-Florida game, plus maybe the MAC Championship, these ratings are not going to going to make ESPN want to pay more than the current deal.

On another note, the attendance data show above shows that attendance tracks winning percentage. There was a pop in attendance the first year under Solich, caused by the hype of his hire, and by the Pitt game sellout, but after that it tracked winning percentage. It slipped during the struggles of 2007-2008, but once the team became a steady winner, starting in 2009, attendance has been climbing. Average attendance:
2005 (4-7) - 18,033 (was 16,406 not including Pitt game)
2006 (9-5) - 16,724
2007 (6-6) - 16,500
2008 (4-8) - 15,276
2009 (9-5) - 17,947
2010 (8-5) - 19,046
2011 (10-4) - 19,891
2012 (9-4) - 21,844

For those 6 mid week games, .2% of the people in America tuned in. What advertiser in their right mind would pay for that kind of viewership?

A couple comments here seem a bit off-track, so let me try to do some edjumacatin'.

I added some relevant info back to the ratings numbers above -- which network they aired on, which makes a big difference in what would be considered "good," given that expectations for each are very different. For the year, ESPN (mothership) average 24-hour rating is 0.9, has been for a couple years. Obviously, prime and weekends are higher, overnight and daytime are lower. 2.4 and 1.8 for those two games then, obviously, are bringing that up. Lets compare to the critically acclaimed and very well received 30 for 30 series. The highest-rated ever premier as of January (You Don't Know Bo) pulled a 2.6. Pretty sure the football was much cheaper to put on the air, too (source).

ESPN2 (having to go back a couple years here, to 2010) averages a 0.276 over 24-hours -- again, .4, .5, .9 are pretty good numbers there. They don't break out ESPNU individually in this release, but based on the numbers in it, U, NEWS, Deportes, and Classic all combined average .126 over 24-hour ratings. .1 and .2 on U certainly are decent numbers (source).

No, the MAC's ratings aren't going to compete with the Big Ten or SEC marquee games. They don't have to. The fact is, live sports makes people stop surfing, and even two no-name FBS teams will typically rate better than a reair of World's Strongest Man or episode of Baseball Tonight. Live games also don't get DVRed and deliver a maximal live audience, which is helpful with how ratings are currently calculated.

As far as .2% tuning in and advertisers in their right mind... well, .2% is a lot better than many networks see over the course of their day. Why would anybody in their right mind advertise on VH1, Travel, The Weather Channel, Headline News, CMT, CNBC, NFL Network, MTV2, NBC Sports Network, BBC America, Fox Business News, or MLB Network? All averaged .2 or lower in 2012 -- half their programming viewership was WORSE than .2% of the country (source)! We aren't in the three network era anymore, where 30% of the population tunes in to watch... well, anything. The video business is all about niche these days, and delivering the viewers advertisers want. ESPN delivers young men better than anybody, and there are a lot of advertisers who want to buy them. Most advertisers would prefer to buy .2% of the country, specifically targeted, than waste money advertising tampons to 10% of the country, half of whom aren't going to buy, ever.

If the MAC can fill those weekday slots and rate better than what the games replace, that has value. We (MAC) signed our deal just as the market really started to pick up, and would be wise to try to get some more out of it. Ted also has a good point that ESPN may wish to keep the rights, even for a few more bucks, to warehouse them. Throw some games on 3 to make incremental revenue, and keep them off NBC/Fox/CBS.

Disclaimer: All these views are mine, not my employer's, etc. etc., and all the info above is available publicly (and sourced).

Last Edited: 5/9/2013 12:50:03 PM by anorris

Jeff McKinney
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RE: MAC, ESPN expected to reopen media rights deal

Posted: 5/9/2013 1:14:08 PM

Thanks, Alex.

AudioCat'13
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RE: MAC, ESPN expected to reopen media rights deal

Posted: 5/9/2013 3:29:29 PM

Even though MACtion might only get .2% viewers I'm sure a lot of recruits or perspective recruits tune-in. They might not care about how many people watch but rather just the fact that they would be on national tv, be involved in exciting games that would be the only game that night, and for an out of state player, give their family and friends a chance to tune in from the comfort of their own home.
Overall not only would it help Ohio and the MAC's brand but the coaches could also argue that it could help the players with their "personal brand" for Sundays. How many break out games have Lavon Brazill, Taylor Price, Noah Keller, etc had on a week night game?
Also being the only show on the turf that night means a little bit of a shout out on SportsCenter where on a Saturday the game would be buried. I remember a couple years ago against Buffalo there were a few top plays shown that might not of seen the light of day on a Saturday. I'm not saying every game should be moved to Wednesday. But a "MACtion game of the week" with NIU vs Toledo, Ohio vs Miami, BG vs Toledo on a Thursday night with a College Gameday type atmosphere might be benificial for ESPN and the MAC. The only question would be could the MAC get out of conference teams to jump on board with this? Ohio vs Marshall, BG vs Indiana, Toledo vs Navy could be interesting Thursday night "MACtion games of the week." BTW, I know that these games are this year, I just mean overall these kind of matchups, ESPN could find interesting and compelling to televise.

Just my .02 cents worth for how the MAC could expand the brand.

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RE: MAC, ESPN expected to reopen media rights deal

Posted: 5/9/2013 4:18:02 PM

OHIO = cash cow for ESPN/television.

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RE: MAC, ESPN expected to reopen media rights deal

Posted: 5/9/2013 6:17:47 PM

Thanks Alex. I learned a lot from your post.

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Pataskala
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RE: MAC, ESPN expected to reopen media rights deal

Posted: 5/9/2013 9:00:47 PM

Thanks, Alex. Just to follow up, last Sunday, the Dodgers-Giants game on ESPN drew a whopping 0.6, and I doubt any advertisers were complaining (or at least not that much). The highest rated show that night on an advertiser-supported cable channel was FX's movie with a 1.4. By contrast, the highest rated over-the-air show was Amazing Race with a 2.4. The days of double-digit TV ratings is long gone, and the days of single-digit ratings might not be far behind.

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