MEGA Conference Realignment and lawsuits Megathread: Stories, Tales, Lies, and Exaggerations

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Going with Vineyard Vines would be the death of the maudes. There's enough stupidity with the perennial Less Filling vs Tastes Great threads like this one and the stadium threads. I can't even imagine how bad the Vine Yard vs Vinyerd threads would be.
 
there have been rumors for a while of Disney selling off parts of ESPN (im talking years and years ago). Iger left and they seemed to die but now theyre back which isnt a coincidence. ESPN costs Disney money and doesn't produce enough in revenue for the company. you already saw Disney fire a ton of their personalities and virtually their entire radio staff. its going to happen soon and id bet they boot off the ACCN the first chance they get or at least farm it out. needless to say, I dont think Disney will be the one standing in the way of miami getting to the b10 (I said miami will gone to the b10 on this thread a year ago or so when everyone was saying SEC).


On this we can agree. The shedding of big salaries is usually a predicate for selling to someone new (or spinning off).
 
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No kissy face. My hatred of Florida State and Florida and Notre Dame and others is well known.

But in a world where conference expansion makes 9 or 10 conference games likely, it would be nice to maintain an annual rivalry with our biggest rival. Being in the same conference makes that goal more possible.

Very fair. I’m not tied to the rivalry. More interested in if they are in the same conference and that is better for Miami - great. If the rivalry dies, it dies.
 
iger is cleaning it up and youre already seeing it. sports costs money more than it makes. people dont realize it but you actually dont make a ton of ROI in the sports media/sports broadcasting model. rights for these leagues cost money and very little return on it outside of the marquee events


You can actually make a lot of money when you pay a 20-year below market price to a league desperate to be the last to launch its own network...

But on a more serious note, it all depends on what the elements of the programming are. Yes, "league rights fees" spiked for a while, and now you are going to get some wheat/chaff separation. Big 10 and SEC bets will continue to pay off, others will not.

Also, you can't ignore the ad revenue side. Live sports is the king content for "not time-shifting" and "not skipping the commercials" and advertisers know it. Of course, that's very different content compared to the endless ESPN news shows, talking heads shows, personality shows, etc.

Finally, we don't have a lot of good data on what $$$ ESPN is able to clear on the streaming. Meaning, if you move a lot of the content you paid for to the "streaming" site, it can be a combo of live action and replay. So it is unclear whether ESPN is able to monetize all of their content via the streaming side. Do people pay for, and watch, a ton of live games? A ton of talk show/news show content? If ESPN is struggling on the "exclusive" streaming side, then they are definitely paying too much for live sports content.

The bottom line is that ESPN is a hot mess of programming right now. You have the "most desirable" content (live sports), but there are only so many time slots in the day, and not enough separately-priced streaming demand.

You have the overpaid anchors and talking heads who bore the brunt of the layoffs, but this is programming that "fills in the blanks". But...across three or more networks? Maybe it's just too much.

And finally, you have the super-low-cost content like Pickle Ball and Cornhole, which is great if you are hung over, but is probably not "appointment television".

That's a weird mix of crap, for which ESPN has been paying quite a bit of cash.
 
Holy ****, that’s real!


I wasn't making that **** up. I've seen the rise of "Tommy Bahama"/"Vineyard Vines"/"Cutter & Buck" merch on the UM websites, which is why I've been laughing at the Lululemon comparison. I know **** well they've moved beyond "just yoga pants". I'm fine with Miami doing a side "Lululemon deal", just as they do with all those other premium-ish brands.

But the primary sports apparel AND equipment provider is much broader than just "comfy shorts". It's not asking too much to focus the conversation on the two or three companies that have any realistic shot at doing a university-wide deal.

I don't mind acknowledging that I've worn Nike since 1979. But it would also be nice for some other people to acknowledge that there are only two companies that have a shot at getting this next contract with Miami.
 
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Havn't seen any data on it but I wonder how much (if anything) ESPN makes off the ACC network? Thats a pretty big part of the equation and would be the primary factor in how hard they fight for the GOR and broadcast rights vs letting it go.
Number I saw for 2021 was approximately $120 million profit. Not enough to "renegotiate" the media contract and even sniff closing the gap with the Big 2 conferences. They should just let the top 8 programs go to the B10 and SEC ... that way they at least continue to have added programming of quality programs for the SECN. Then either fold the ACCN or merge with the PAC 12 for the PacAtlantic conference with the leftovers for regional fill in broadcasts.
 
I wasn't making that **** up. I've seen the rise of "Tommy Bahama"/"Vineyard Vines"/"Cutter & Buck" merch on the UM websites, which is why I've been laughing at the Lululemon comparison. I know **** well they've moved beyond "just yoga pants". I'm fine with Miami doing a side "Lululemon deal", just as they do with all those other brands.

But the primary sports apparel AND equipment provider is much broader than just "comfy shorts". It's not asking too much to focus the conversation on the two or three companies that have any realistic shot at doing a university-wide deal.

I don't mind acknowledging that I've worn Nike since 1979. But it would also be nice for some other people to acknowledge that there are only two companies that have a shot at getting this next contract with Miami.
Obviously I’m just kidding around about lulu being the sole provider. Nike is preferred and expected but I’d like to see Miami actually farm it all out to everyone. Make as much as you can. Why restrict to only one? To an extent, Miami has been doing it by licensing out their rights to other companies
 
there have been rumors for a while of Disney selling off parts of ESPN (im talking years and years ago). Iger left and they seemed to die but now theyre back which isnt a coincidence. ESPN costs Disney money and doesn't produce enough in revenue for the company. you already saw Disney fire a ton of their personalities and virtually their entire radio staff. its going to happen soon and id bet they boot off the ACCN the first chance they get or at least farm it out. needless to say, I dont think Disney will be the one standing in the way of miami getting to the b10 (I said miami will gone to the b10 on this thread a year ago or so when everyone was saying SEC).
ESPN to the Saudis. They will get a piece of all American sports.
 
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Obviously I’m just kidding around about lulu being the sole provider. Nike is preferred and expected but I’d like to see Miami actually farm it all out to everyone. Make as much as you can. Why restrict to only one? To an extent, Miami has been doing it by licensing out their rights to other companies


Finally, you and I can link arms and skip down the Yellow Brick Road together.

I agree, I'm fine with doing a core "mass market deal" and then supplementing with "premium" and "custom" deals with some higher-end companies. I just went out to the various websites looking to see if I could buy a Law School polo (since I already have a B-School polo by adidas), and I couldn't find anything.
 
Finally, you and I can link arms and skip down the Yellow Brick Road together.

I agree, I'm fine with doing a core "mass market deal" and then supplementing with "premium" and "custom" deals with some higher-end companies. I just went out to the various websites looking to see if I could buy a Law School polo (since I already have a B-School polo by adidas), and I couldn't find anything.
I think they have the generic t shirt somewhere. ill find it for you
 
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