Tuesday, September 26, 2017

ESPN cutting corners on ACC Network?

The News & Observer is worried about ESPN's announcement that instead of producing the ACC Network from Charlotte (where the SEC Network studios are), the new network will be in ESPN's headquarters in Bristol, CT.  To the typical future viewer, this won't make a difference. Who cares where the talking heads are? Because of the connection and involvement of the conference, there won't be much controversial content and true editorial independence is out the window already. What should matter to fans and the partner schools is ESPN's financials and strategy in the mount of cord cutting battles. 

ESPN is in a battle with Northeast cable companies about surcharges and college networks. The ACC Network deal has mandated payouts to the partner schools. Maybe the production cost cutting is an offset to whatever new, less lucrative deals they may have to cut with cable companies. 

I don't really care where the production originates or what sort of deal ESPN cuts with the cable and satellite companies. I only have three questions. Will I be able to get the ACC Network when it launches? Will the production quality be decent? And will the network finally provide the long-term stability the conference needs? I know the ACC had to make this deal and picking ESPN as a partner was the best option, but it all feels too little, too late. Hopefully I am wrong and the network become a great source of content and revenue for BC and the other schools. 

13 comments:

JBQ said...

Sadly if BC doesn't get basketball and football turned around, there will be no ACC to worry about.

Unknown said...

Hopefully you are right as an Eagle in Phila area I don't have access to NESN.
WE have proved we can compete in ACC football and Basketball.
We need good - very good coaches who must be payed.
It has been proven for 7 years INCOMPETENCE will not cut it.
Father Monan spent many years of his life making BC an elite powerhouse academically and a
formidable foe athletically. IT WOULD BE A CRIME to undercut the work of a GREAT SON OF
Loyola.

Napolean Bonaparte said...

ESPN - suffering from competition (streaming, you tube, etc.) due largely to big cable greed and reduced demand (a newer generation less interested in sports or unwilling/unable to pay for it). And it will soon be available as a streaming service and competing with cable (which doesn't help its relationship with cable). Basically, it's too expensive and its costs are too high. The leverage of the new college league networks isn't nearly what it used to be.

https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-04-28/espn-can-t-afford-to-go-on-like-this

https://money.usnews.com/investing/stock-market-news/articles/2017-08-11/streaming-espn-disney-dis-stock-problems

BCAlum2000 said...

On an only remotely related topic, I recognize fully how miserable the last decade has been at BC for both football and basketball. However, it takes news like what we saw yesterday from a US Attorney announcing indictments against assistant college coaches and shoe execs, to put things into perspective. This is what is happening at the "upper echelons" of college sports so that schools can get the "best" talent. Rick Pitino might actually be the most corrupt person in all of college sports ... followed by his colleague Bobby Petrino.

As I have always asserted, winning at all costs is simply not worth it. Louisville is the poster-child for everything wrong with modern college sports. I would honestly take a decade of losing versus selling out to be like them.

JERZeagle said...

i was talking to a bud who is a huge nova basketball insider

he said that several of the prospects mentioned in the case were hard nova leans and at some point in the process, these prospects went cold and cut off all communications with wright and his staff.

pretty amazing to find out later that several of these prospects became subjects in the case

TGS said...

BCAlum, are you arguing that we have only two choices? Be a laughing stock as we are currently, or be a cesspool like Louisville. If so, that's the silliest example of circular logic I've heard in quite some time. BC has played at high levels in the past without cheating and obviously high caliber programs like ND, Stanford, Duke, NW, etc. are doing it now.

Napolean Bonaparte said...

Nobody here has ever advocated "winning at all costs". For a lot of reasons - the most obvious being that it isn't "winning" and makes sport meaningless. But, on the flip side (for BC), losing at all costs isn't so great either!

Napolean Bonaparte said...

And besides - even if we decided to win at all costs - we would probably screw it up.

John said...

NB - too funny! 🙂

Knucklehead said...

Football can be fixed with a competent hc. Haven't had one since TOB.

Basketball is fucked. Really need a top flight coach. Tom Crean would be very good for Boston College. Don Brown . . . Jim Harbaugh . . . Jim Harbaughs sister is married to . . . Tom Crean. Not too far fetched.

Jarmond needs to stop being a money grubbing, drag the game into the 4th quarter douche and make a move.

Knucklehead said...

. . . Jeff Jagodinski was not a competent coach.

Sad I have to explain that.

BCAlum2000 said...

BCAlum, are you arguing that we have only two choices? Be a laughing stock as we are currently, or be a cesspool like Louisville. If so, that's the silliest example of circular logic I've heard in quite some time. BC has played at high levels in the past without cheating and obviously high caliber programs like ND, Stanford, Duke, NW, etc. are doing it now.

No, that is not what I am arguing.

Napolean Bonaparte said...

Tom Crean would be an excellent hire - but right now after reading the details on ESPN.com of this federal investigation - I'm of the mind that we shouldn't do anything until this whole disgusting mess comes to a conclusion. After its done - most of us might want to drop down to Division 3 and get out of this charade. Take a few minutes to read this if you haven't already done so: http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/20834050/the-story-how-fbi-brought-words-corruption