Just to clarify, you don't pay for the SEC network or regional sports packages unless you subscribe to that level of service. If you get basic cable you only get ESPN and pay a lot less.
www.theringer.com
There will be no benefit in scheduling ND once there are 4 16 team conferences. What powerhouse team would schedule ND when they are playing a 9 or 10 game conference schedule. ND would be playing a schedule of non-power 4 teams basically. They would end up in conversation like happen with UCF and Boise State currently. The fact is without the ACC guaranteeing them 5 games a year they wouldn't be able to put together a decent schedule now.
If we see consolidation, who will they play?
If viewership ratings decline, the next contract won't be so big. The way you make it sound, nothing matters. You could pit Southeast Tippytoe Louisiana against Central Arkansas State A&M (or just do a Gilligan's Island re-run) and get the same thing, since "viewership ratings mean extremely little".
The 12 team scenario is a ways away. Listening to the PAC12 Commish yesterday, he said, their was only one conference in the room during the discussions...that being the SEC. Non of the other conferences have had input. I guess the SEC is now driving everything.Proposed playoff changes favor conference champions now. ND can be 12-0 and will automatically be seeded below the fourth highest conference champion at best, even if said conference champion was 10-2 or 9-3 (regular season). The powers that be wrote this into the proposal to push ND into a conference. If they stay independent, it's gonna end up costing them over time.
The College Football Playoff 12-Team Expansion Proposal FAQ
Why is the playoff poised to expand to 12 teams? How would it change the sport’s landscape? And what would it mean for Notre Dame?
"The proposed College Football Playoff bracket would feature 12 teams: the six highest-ranked conference champions, plus six at-large teams. The four highest-ranked conference champions would earn first-round byes, and the next four highest-ranked teams would host the teams ranked nos. 9-12 in first-round playoff games."
Same teams they've always played. Plenty of schools will want to play them OOC. They have a national following.
Yeah, and people pay for those packages including the SEC network because of the intriguing matchups they get - in the SEC.
Well right now they have the ACC wrapped around their little fingers with our 5-game guarantee and don't have to make that choice. They could string us along for the next 15 years and be just fine, since we've put all our marbles on getting them full time. Are we going to dump them?
The big things that ESPN has depended on as they rose to behemoth power are: No two providers contracts with ESPN ended at the same time, and at least some people were interested in sports. That power is coming to an end because so many people are cutting the cord, and the TV providers are starting to thumb their nose at ESPN. ESPN put on a campaign to get people to abandon Comcast since the ACCN wasn't available on Comcast. I don't think that campaign had much effect.
So if they make the playoffs, that just gives them a guaranteed extra game.Proposed playoff changes favor conference champions now. ND can be 12-0 and will automatically be seeded below the fourth highest conference champion at best, even if said conference champion was 10-2 or 9-3 (regular season). The powers that be wrote this into the proposal to push ND into a conference. If they stay independent, it's gonna end up costing them over time.
The College Football Playoff 12-Team Expansion Proposal FAQ
Why is the playoff poised to expand to 12 teams? How would it change the sport’s landscape? And what would it mean for Notre Dame?
"The proposed College Football Playoff bracket would feature 12 teams: the six highest-ranked conference champions, plus six at-large teams. The four highest-ranked conference champions would earn first-round byes, and the next four highest-ranked teams would host the teams ranked nos. 9-12 in first-round playoff games."
Uh huh. I'm pretty sure if viewership declines, the contract shrinks as well.
@Coloradojacket is correct that the bottom package does not include SEC network, but it is only the very bottom package on sat TV, and only the locals only on cable TV. (On Dish Top 120 doesn't have it, but Top 120 plus does) You don't subscribe to the SEC network, you just don't get the very bottom package.
Nope, viewership doesn't matter one bit for subscriber fees.
In the short term, while the contract is in place.
The only reason I don't have the bottom package on Uverse is because it doesn't include the ACC Network. So I pay for it to see intriguing matchups in the ACC.
I do agree with that, but it took 30 years for the short term to start going away, and 10 years after that they are still grossing about $8 billion from subscriber fees alone for the main ESPN channel. When the "short term" lasts 40-50 years, the only time someone is going to look at changing it is on the down slope. (which is happening now)
www.spglobal.com
If the SEC merged with the ACC, wouldn't that dilute their payout per team? If so, why would they want to do it?
So fewer subscribers means less money.