Conferences/BCS/TV Deals and the Lakers

jonathanjoseph · Mon Feb 14, 2011 5:14 pm

Told ya this was coming.

A perfect example of why conferences are going to be irrelevant sooner than anyone thinks. Conferences only exist as middle men to negotiate media deals on behalf of a group of universities. In just the last year, you've seen BYU and Texas go to independent TV deals and now the Lakers.

The middle men are getting cut out and all that matters is the quality of/demand for your product. Lower tier teams/conferences/networks will be out of luck. That's why Cowen needs to go.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118032229

golfnut69 · Tue Feb 15, 2011 3:27 pm

BYU..s an Independent can market it's home Football games as it chooses, however when on the road it must abide by the confere,TV rights of the host team if that game is to be Televised but may choose to air the game "taped delayed" on the BYU network...TEXAS must abide by the conference contract in regards to games chosen for TV..but may telivise all Texas games not chosen, as pay per view..therefore the conference contract overrides the private network

jonathanjoseph · Tue Feb 15, 2011 4:43 pm

golfnut69 wrote:BYU..s an Independent can market it's home Football games as it chooses, however when on the road it must abide by the confere,TV rights of the host team if that game is to be Televised but may choose to air the game "taped delayed" on the BYU network...TEXAS must abide by the conference contract in regards to games chosen for TV..but may telivise all Texas games not chosen, as pay per view..therefore the conference contract overrides the private network

I'm not even sure I know of the particulars to which you prefer but the question is, does it matter? Does anyone who wants to see a BYU or Texas or Lakers game ever NOT going to be able to see it? And do those teams now have extremely lucrative, full-time channels marketing their teams? Yup.

Exclusive TV contracts only mattered when there were limited number of channels/options and the alternative was NOT being televised. Now just about every game is televised and there is an unlimited number of choices. The only thing that matters is demand for your product. Which is why the bigger programs, college and pro, are going this route now. It will surely trickle down once the economics are understood.

So in a few years when there will be a Web-enabled HD broadcast of every Boise State game, will it matter what conference they are in? Nope. All that will matter is that they have top notch football teams and a top notch schedule.

That's why Cowen's vision is guaranteed to bankrupt (or at best permanently ruin) Tulane athletics. Speak now or forever hold your peace, so to speak.

jonathanjoseph · Tue Feb 15, 2011 4:55 pm

The economics of these deals are game changers.

Annual payout for local TV broadcast rights:

Portland Trailblazers: $12M
Old Lakers deal: $30M
New Lakers deal: $150M

And we know that the SEC and Big 10 conference channels have been game changers in terms of member conference revenues. But these deals only work if there is demand for the product. Tulane needs to fix that problem.

edit: N.E.E.D.S to fix that problem