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Looks like DISH is close to picking up the SEC Network
Posted on 1/13/14 at 8:53 am
Posted on 1/13/14 at 8:53 am
quote:
SEC Network’s cost will top that of other college nets
By John Ourand, Staff Writer
Published January 13, 2014
Distributors in SEC country can expect to pay a rate of $1.30 to carry the soon-to-be-launched SEC Network, according to several sources with knowledge of the rate card.
That fee, paid on a monthly per-subscriber basis, is what cable and satellite companies within the SEC’s 11-state footprint would pay to ESPN, the owner of the SEC Network. Outside of SEC territory, the channel’s license fee drops to 25 cents.
Cable operators are certain to blanche at the network’s price tag, which is more expensive than other college conference channels like Big Ten Network and Pac-12 Networks.
But ESPN could have leverage as it negotiates with cable operators, as it appears to be on the cusp of landing a deal with one of the industry’s biggest distributors. Sources said that the country’s third-largest distributor, Dish Network, has agreed to carry the channel from its August launch. The deal has not been completed and is part of a bigger overall deal that it is negotiating with ESPN. Dish’s ESPN deal expired at the end of September, but the two worked out an extension, and they are still negotiating terms. Sources say SEC Network carriage is not a sticking point in these talks.
Dish Network’s national reach and roughly 14 million subscribers would be a significant deal for the new network. AT&T U-verse, with 4.5 million subscribers, previously said that it would carry the channel. It’s unusual for channels to have distribution deals so far in front of a channel’s launch. Typically, distributors and networks wait until just before or after a launch to agree on carriage terms.
Comcast and Time Warner Cable are the biggest cable operators in the SEC’s footprint, and ESPN is using its schedule to apply pressure against them. The SEC Network’s first football game Aug. 28 will be between two schools based in Time Warner Cable markets: South Carolina and Texas A&M. The second game of its Aug. 28 doubleheader will feature Vanderbilt, which is in a Comcast market, against Temple, in Comcast’s hometown of Philadelphia.
ESPN President John Skipper has said in the past that the network expects the SEC channel to reach distribution on par with ESPNU, which is in nearly 75 million homes.
An in-market rate of $1.30 makes the SEC Network significantly more expensive than the Big Ten Network. BTN launched in 2007 and currently charges up to $1 in its 11-state footprint from New Jersey to Nebraska. Sub fees on average from both inside and outside the footprint average 37 cents, according to researcher SNL Kagan.
ESPN executives have expressed confidence that the SEC Network will get carriage, especially in SEC states, because of the conference’s rabid fan base across sports. It was ESPN’s top-rated football conference in 2012. SEC games account for nine of the 10 most-viewed regular-season college baseball games in ESPNU history, and it holds nine of 10 of the most-viewed college softball games on ESPNU.
David Preschlack, executive vice president of affiliate sales and marketing for Disney and ESPN Networks Group, is leading the talks for ESPN. Justin Connolly, ESPN senior vice president for programming, is leading the creation of the network.
LINK
It looks like when all is said and done A&M will be bringing in over a dollar (more than the SEC would have received without A&M) for every cable and satellite subscriber in Texas. (It's the least we could do for getting the chance to be a part of the best conference in the country!)
This post was edited on 1/13/14 at 8:56 am
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Posted on 1/13/14 at 8:55 am to Hugh McElroy
Charter better get with the program with a quickness.
Posted on 1/13/14 at 8:58 am to Hugh McElroy
ESPN and DISH can eat a big ole bag of dicks as far as I'm concerned since DISH isn't a provider that ESPN will let you use to access watchESPN.
Posted on 1/13/14 at 9:01 am to Doldil
quote:
ESPN and DISH can eat a big ole bag of dicks as far as I'm concerned since DISH isn't a provider that ESPN will let you use to access watchESPN.
I don't care if you hate DISH and ESPN, we want DISH to pick the SEC Network up. If they do, the other providers will have no choice.
Posted on 1/13/14 at 9:02 am to Hugh McElroy
my point is that if they can work out a deal on the SEC Network they should be able to work out a deal on the rest of their crap since it's all under the same umbrella. 
Posted on 1/13/14 at 9:05 am to Hugh McElroy
quote:
It looks like when all is said and done A&M will be bringing in over a dollar (more than the SEC would have received without A&M) for every cable and satellite subscriber in Texas. (It's the least we could do for getting the chance to be a part of the best conference in the country!)
I'm betting this nets about $5 million a school for the first year, with better growth in the second and third year.
Posted on 1/13/14 at 9:10 am to cokebottleag
quote:
I'm betting this nets about $5 million a school for the first year, with better growth in the second and third year.
care to show the numbers?
Posted on 1/13/14 at 9:11 am to bona fide
Looks to me like Clay Travis was pretty dang close:
LINK
If Travis is right about the 30 million cable or sat providers, and the 1.30 per month per subscriber is right, then we're looking at over 450 million per year, just for the in-state fees. Of course, ESPN will get a bunch of that, and costs.
quote:
the overall Big Ten footprint, which now includes Nebraska, charges, per SNL estimates, about .90 cents per month in those states.
Out of market states, those without Big Ten teams, pay less than ten cents per month.
That's why entering new states is so valuable. Every time a conference colonizes a new state, it's network revenue potential increases by ten fold.
How does this apply to the SEC?
In adding Texas A&M and Missouri to its conference footprint the number of cable and satellite subscribers in SEC states increased by nearly 50% from a 12 team SEC in 20.8 million cable homes to a 14 team SEC in 30.3 million homes.
Think about this for a minute if you doubt the coming SEC Network, with the addition of just two teams the SEC increased its potential revenue by 50%.
Most commentators focused on "markets." That's the wrong metric in a conference network era. You want to focus on footprints, new states mean many more subscriber dollars
Given the rabid nature of SEC fans, the quantity of actual games that fans would want to see, and the fact that the SEC would be in partnership with ESPN, cable operators would be forced to carry this network across the South. In fact, the SEC Network would immediately become the second most popular sports station in most of the South. It's also important to note that the SEC Network would carry a bevy of football and basketball games since ESPN has rights to virtually every SEC sporting event with the exception of the weekly football game on CBS and some basketball contests. (Every SEC game you see on Fox or Comcast or another regional network ESPN has sold the sub-rights to that network).
Indeed, as we discussed yesterday, pegging the average revenue at $1 a month in the SEC footprint, which is conservative in the long run given that regional sports networks like Comcast SportsNet Washington bring in $3.36 a month, means that the SEC could easily do revenue from this Southern subscriber base of around $360 million a year.
LINK
If Travis is right about the 30 million cable or sat providers, and the 1.30 per month per subscriber is right, then we're looking at over 450 million per year, just for the in-state fees. Of course, ESPN will get a bunch of that, and costs.
This post was edited on 1/13/14 at 9:14 am
Posted on 1/13/14 at 9:19 am to Doldil
quote:
ESPN and DISH can eat a big ole bag of dicks as far as I'm concerned since DISH isn't a provider that ESPN will let you use to access watchESPN.
fricking this.
Posted on 1/13/14 at 9:22 am to TbirdSpur2010
quote:
Charter better get with the program with a quickness.
Good luck. Those guys will find a way to screw it up.
Posted on 1/13/14 at 9:22 am to Hugh McElroy
I don't think we will get $5M the first year because of the expenses in getting the network up and running, but I would love to be proved wrong.
Posted on 1/13/14 at 9:23 am to Hugh McElroy
quote:
If Travis is right about the 30 million cable or sat providers, and the 1.30 per month per subscriber is right, then we're looking at over 450 million per year, just for the in-state fees. Of course, ESPN will get a bunch of that, and costs.
Travis' numbers are a guess. Still would like to see the numbers breakdown because ESPN takes a big piece of that total.
Also looks like the SEC will get less exposure at a national level and possibly in the SEC states.
Could be wrong on this, maybe someone can clarify.
Posted on 1/13/14 at 9:23 am to Hugh McElroy
Hot damn 
I have Dish .
I have Dish .
Posted on 1/13/14 at 9:24 am to bona fide
Posted on 1/13/14 at 9:24 am to bona fide
I would go without before I ever willingly do business with DISH again.
Posted on 1/13/14 at 9:26 am to Hugh McElroy
I have DISH
Posted on 1/13/14 at 9:31 am to bona fide
quote:
Travis' numbers are a guess.
If the sportsbusinessdaily's report is accurate, then Travis was dead-on regarding his "$1 per ins-state subscriber, conservatively" estimate.
The only question is whether he is correct about his 30 million in-footprint cable and satellite tv subscribers claim. I can't imagine that he doesn't have a source for that.
This post was edited on 1/13/14 at 9:32 am
Posted on 1/13/14 at 9:36 am to cokebottleag
quote:
I'm betting this nets about $5 million a school for the first year, with better growth in the second and third year.
It will be well north of that IMO.
It's a 50/50 partnership with ESPN -- and it's sharing the production facilities with ESPNU in Charlotte. My understanding is that the teams are responsible for their on-campus infrastructure getting raised to ESPN standards at all venues -- while ESPN is responsible for all up-front operating costs -- with an exact 50/50 share of profits.
The B1G Network pulls in about $0.37 per subscriber nationally once the OOS markets are normalized into the numbers. Year 1 of the SEC Network will be north of $0.50 per subscriber. With just Dish and Uverse, that's 18.5 million subscribers. Normalizing to $0.50 per, that's $111 million gross in the first year with only 2 providers. That's about $55mil to the SEC itself, split 15 ways, so we are slightly under $4mil/yr/team 7 months prior to the launch and with only 2 providers on board.
This is also prior to advertisements on said network -- which I think will be split down the middle as well.
Bottom line -- we're 2 years away from having 14 of the top 30 richest athletics departments in the country.
Posted on 1/13/14 at 9:49 am to engie
The same DISH that dropped Fox Sports South awhile back? Screw DISH.
Posted on 1/13/14 at 10:34 am to Doldil
quote:
ESPN and DISH can eat a big ole bag of dicks as far as I'm concerned since DISH isn't a provider that ESPN will let you use to access watchESPN.
I've had a problem with that as well although I get around it by being a Verizon subscriber.
However, I have a feeling it is going to change, the ESPN3 factor, with DISH and ESPN once this SEC Network deal goes through because they will have to allow, through their app, the viewing of the ESPN SEC Network games via their app.
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