A Look Inside The BCS, FOX, IMG Love Triangle
Friday, July 11, 2008
I hadn't heard about this until now, but apparently three weeks ago IMG signed on as FOX's International Content Distributor. On the surface it seems like just another deal but when you take into consideration that IMG is working on a commission basis, the BCS contract is up in 2010 and the negotiations are actually this Fall....it's actually much bigger than just a deal.
What's the problem you ask? Well with IMG at the helm, and FOX having a 30-day window to negotiate, it's not likely that the BCS is going anywhere. That means ABC is S.O.L. when the contract is up and we'll be getting more band shots for years to come. Fanhouse's C. Rich has broken it down the best....
Fox has the TV rights to the BCS bowl games excepting the Rose Bowl. They have the Fiesta, Sugar and Orange through January 2010. Fox also has the National Championship game through January 2009. The contract is coming up for renegotiation this fall.With this amount of money on the table I'm pretty sure we're never going to get to see a Playoffs in our collective lifetime. If anyone remembers how bad last year's BCS games were, just think how bad it will be next year and the year after. More random crowd shots, a ton more ads slowing down games to a crawl, and dying livers from our "Band Drinking Game". I can't believe I'm saying this but I'm actually rooting for an ABC/ESPN win this Fall. Go Team!
Disney/ABC/ESPN is expected to push very hard to get the rights for the BCS and Championship games. This means one way or another the 4-year, $330 million dollar deal Fox gave last time will be going significantly higher....
....The big loser regardless, will be the fans. No matter which media group gets the BCS and National Championship game, it means trying to make back that money. That means advertising revenue. We have seen how Fox has jammed tons of ads in the last couple years. That isn't likely to change.
It also means any hope of a playoff is still years away.
IMG, BCS, Fox in an Interesting Money Triangle (Fanhouse)
7 Comments:
Oh I do too, but we're not going to be able to survive it in a few years.
The problem with a playoff isn't that the BCS is worth a lot of money. A playoff would be worth more, plus it would involve more games unless it was a plus-one. *SHAMELESS PLUG* I wrote a case for a playoff that could convince even the networks and conferences here.
What I'm rooting for is that the Rose Bowl is on the same network as the rest of the BCS in order to streamline any transition to, say, a plus-one.
I always wish for FOX to lose. They have screwed more things up than they have helped. (See: Buck, Joe and McCarver, Timothy)
Fox is horrible, absolutely horrible. Thom Brennaman, in my opinion, was good in the Boise State-Oklahoma Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, but that's about it. Everything else is just bad. Brennaman has since regressed, and with the exception of Charles Davis who works with Brennaman on the Big Ten Network, all of the announcers Fox employed worked a total of 0 college football games during the season. That in itself is a recipe for disaster. Add in the horrific production of Fox and the countless shots of the band and the crowd, and it's intolerable.
Go ABC/ESPN!
Don't forget Bonerama!
"actually rooting"? you say that like ABC/ESPN is a bad alternative. As crappy as they appear at times, I think college football has been one of their strenghts. It just seems wrong to give it to FOX when they don't cover it at all during the regular season.
Can we start a telethon to raise money to return the BCS to ABC/ESPN? I'll throw in $10.
Hey, i rather enjoyed the 'band drinking game'...