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jmanatVT

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Member since: January 17, 2008
Last post: 05/12/2023 08:36 AM ET

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"It's called basketball" - You probably have forgotten just how strange and

bad it was and linked is a great recap where SB Nation/Secret Base dubs it "The Worst College Basketball Game"

The data shows that not every cord cutter is subscribing to an OTT provider

many are opting to pick up only on demand services Netflix, Disney+, Paramount, Hulu, etc. I can find an article if you don't believe me they are on here and elsewhere. The point being the days of ESPN having the clout to be included in and make money off the nearly universal choice, e.g. basic cable, are over.

Yeah, but I'd point out that they have historically trailed UMD who isn't

exactly lighting the world on fire, let alone lighting a candle on fire for that matter, in the Big10.

Virginia Tech has played at Byrd Stadium just twice since 2000. #2 and #28

in all time attendance at the Byrd (2005 and 2009, respectively). #1 is 59k against PSU in 1975. #2 out of 70 years of games, ~300? 3 is WVU in '83, #4 is Alabam in '74. There's a reason the 2014 VT@UMD game was scheduled to be played in the 71k M&T Bank Stadium. There was an article out there that VT Football had the best TV ratings in the DMV, but that was old and I can't find it. Not sure it would have changed though.

Yikes, VT's worst finish since 2005. Granted, that was in the cards

after the worst fall as far back as I've bothered to look (before 2015). But thanks for saying top 55 so we could be in your stat :-).

I think he means the importance of ratings in valuations is trending up.

As opposed to 10 years ago when it was about getting into markets--everyone was paying the sports subscriptions in their basic package whether they were watching ESPN, etc or not. In other words, Rutgers' 7 fans don't bring a chunk of everyone in NYC (as much and decreasing) anymore. Edit: Wow, how did I miss that there was a reply already...shame. ** Edited by jmanatVT at 6/28/2023, 9:09:38 AM

Speaking of bowl payouts, probably lost out on others, too?

Fenway (Can't find payout; UVA withdrew), Military Bowl (~$2M BC withdrew), Sun Bowl ($4M - Miami replaced), Holiday Bowl ($6.5M UCLA withdrew from playing NCST) So, 4 out of 10 bowls weren't played; did that $12-15M still get paid? I'd guess not. If that's the case the Orange Bowl's ~$28M + 12M + Fenway = 40M, that's $2.85M per school.

Until whatever the new agreement is, the conference paid expenses

for bowls and the championship game (travel, I think a portion of unsold tickets for bowls), etc. Pitt 41.3 -- ACC CG travel to charlotte, Peach bowl travel to Atlanta Louisville 40.3 -- Bowl travel to Texas VT 40.3 -- Travel to NY (seems a little high, but maybe lodging in NYC makes up for distance) NC State 40.2 -- Bowl travel to Florida UNC 40.1 -- Bowl travel to Charlotte (Seems high, might include the previous season's January Orange bowl) Clemson 39.7 -- Bowl travel to Orlando BC 39.4 -- Bowl travel to Annapolis (game was cancelled, but they had already traveled) Wake 39.3 -- ACC CG (basically no travel to Charlotte), Jacksonville (Seems low, game was on 12/31, maybe the expense shows up in the following year?) Miami 38.9 -- Withdrew from bowl UVA 38.9 -- Bowl Cancelled Duke 38.8 FSU 38.6 Syracuse 38.3 Georgia Tech 37.9 Edit, updated UNC ** Edited by jmanatVT at 5/26/2023, 9:41:48 AM ** Edited by jmanatVT at 5/26/2023, 12:55:04 PM

But SEC leadership is asking itself, how many of those fans will they lose

and how many will they gain. The former is nearly 0 and the latter is substantial. There's 112k people willing to travel to the middle of nowhere to watch a middling team in the conference and a middling team from the mag7; I wonder how many would tune a tv or pick a stream. ** Edited by jmanatVT at 5/22/2023, 8:42:23 AM

The payout of the pinstripe bowl is not 4.4M because Syracuse was in it.

It's negotiated in advance in accordance with the conference tie-ins of who might be available. (Granted, Syracuse is uniquely valuable to Pinstripe, like VT is uniquely valuable to say the Military Bowl). This one year of data is not the argument you think it is.

Had the 7th most TV viewers among B12, PAC-10, and ACC teams over the past

decade (Highest in the B12 is #9). I suspect that the regular season TV is an order of magnitude larger than bowl payouts. Even then, I'm not sure bowl payouts are a great argument for the school which until a couple of years ago had the longest active streak... Are there any business schools in the B12? ** Edited by jmanatVT at 5/18/2023, 9:54:40 AM ** Edited by jmanatVT at 5/18/2023, 10:02:25 AM

Thing is, you knock VT out and I don't just start being interested in the

SEC. I don't think college football fans are that elastic. Maybe I underestimate the ratio between people who like college football and people who like their school.

Yeah, stalling until 2036 might work in our favor as long as our fans don't

give up. I don't think being in a 3-5 conference will do that. That and some of what you said. Do teams bring their own fans, or do they generate interest from outsiders via quality?

“We think there’s an inevitability to that" - Bog Iger

“We haven’t really changed our position regarding basically migrating ESPN’s flagship service as a direct-to-consumer or streaming platform,” Disney CEO Bob Iger said on the conglomerate’s May 10 earnings call. “We think there’s an inevitability to that, but it’s a huge decision for us to make. And we know that we’ve got to get it right, both in terms of pricing and timing.”

Paid TV (that is Sat, Cable, and OTT like YoutubeTV) at lowest numbers

since 1992. Cord cutters are not swapping cable for OTT, they are swapping for individual on-demand services. It used to be the person who only wanted Bravo was paying for ESPN and whatever RSNs and Conference Networks were in demand enough where they lived to be on basic cable. Now they are happy with just Peacock on-demand. So a fan doesn't bring their neighbors along anymore. Further, I doubt YouTubeTV, operated by the largest consumer data company in the world, negotiated statewide or larger rates with ESPN like the cable companies did. There's a reason Bob Iger has said "there’s an inevitability to" ESPN being direct to consumer. You actually need people to want your product now.

Here's a recent article showing this is the case; Pay TV lowest since '92

In this Pay TV includes OTT like Youtube TV, Hulu Live, etc., cable, and satellite; but not on-demand services. =================== Pay TV is suffering from what Moffett calls “the impoverishment cycle,” in which higher sports-broadcast fees have driven retail prices higher — thereby fueling cord-cutting and forcing distributors to increase prices to compensate. Even ESPN, one-time stalwart of the traditional ecosystem, has conceded that there will be a day when a la carte streaming is a viable option, Moffett noted. “We haven’t really changed our position regarding basically migrating ESPN’s flagship service as a direct-to-consumer or streaming platform,” Disney CEO Bob Iger said on the conglomerate’s May 10 earnings call. “We think there’s an inevitability to that, but it’s a huge decision for us to make. And we know that we’ve got to get it right, both in terms of pricing and timing.”

I would venture a lot of cable subscriptions are not replaced with a

subscription including Live TV/sports, but instead the On Demand offerings of HBO, Hulu, Disney+, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Paramount+, etc. None of those are paying for ACCN or SECN. I suppose the ACCN might receive more from a YoutubeTV subscription in a state with a school versus not; but I'd guess Google is paying the ACCN more wisely than Cable Companies which have less ability to track actual views, geography, etc. Those changes in distribution are certainly changing some aspects of the financial model as well.

IIRC you worked (adjacent?) to the TV industry? Do you think with falling

cable subscription numbers, we'll hear more about ratings/fans/etc. versus "they bring the X market". It seems the old model was that the X (for example) BC fans gave a lot of leverage to get $Z month from all Y basic cable subscribers, making BC worth Y*Z. But if Y plummets, then the value of a school has to be closer to X*Z (where Z probably changes depending on how you might rebundle/unbundle the programming), where the only people bothering to keep cable are those interested in live sports. Does that track? Have I asked the wrong guy?

Pride vs Prejudice.

** Edited by jmanatVT at 12/2/2022, 2:13:19 PM

The Lounge 3 y ago

I think the economics just aren't there. Sure, VB/Nor/NN at 37th

has peers with pro sports teams, but none of them have a giant portion of the economy which won't buy advertising or a suite, let a lone a season ticket. 33 KC 34 Nashville 35 Columbus 36 LV 37 Milwaukee 38 VB/Nor/NN 39 Hartford 40 Salt Lake City 44 Raleigh 45 Jacksonville 47 New Orleans 48 Memphis Compare https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Kansas_City https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nashville,_Tennessee#Economy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Connecticut (for Hartford) to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Norfolk,_Virginia and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Beach,_Virginia#Economy

(Only the first 3 links are shown. Post contained 5 links.)


The Lounge 3 y ago

That's true, but there's plenty of $s to worry about losing to nuclear, etc

In 2000, something like 10% of US energy consumption was in the form of natural gas or petroleum used for residential/commercial heating/cooking/etc. In 2000, the US spent about $750B on energy. 10% of that market is $75 B. $75 B in revenue (it appears to be closer to $100B with 2020's figures) for which there is no technological moat, just circumstances, on oil/gas members' balance sheets. That's just one area. Besides, why do you think they have a 60 year history of giving money to these causes? Goodness of their hearts? ** Edited by jmanatVT at 10/28/2022, 3:59:28 PM