Podcast: Mizzou DE Arden Walker plus catching up with Craig and Nikki
- By Nikkieds
- Buff Nation
- 4 Replies
Craig and I reunite to talk with Missouri DE transfer Arden Walker about his experience in the SEC, deciding on Colorado and more. (00:00 - 31:37)
After the interview, we discuss the Buffs' spring roster departures and additions as well as the most important position group needs.
Check out the full podcast below:
colorado.rivals.com
After the interview, we discuss the Buffs' spring roster departures and additions as well as the most important position group needs.
Check out the full podcast below:
CUSportsReport - Podcast: Mizzou DE Arden Walker plus catching up with Craig and Nikki
Interview with Mizzou DE Arden Walker plus catching up with Craig and Nikki.
colorado.rivals.com
Deion Sanders' grand rebuild at Colorado has started to raise questions
- By Craig Meyer
- Buff Nation
- 72 Replies
I wanted to take a bigger look at everything that's unfolded this past week and what it means about Deion Sanders' rebuilding efforts in Boulder. For all the excitement he has brought to the program, it's fair to wonder if he's going about things wisely, at least until he fills these scholarship openings with new players
colorado.rivals.com
CUSportsReport - Deion Sanders' grand rebuild at Colorado has started to raise questions
The glut of recent transfers over the past month has purged the Buffs' roster in ways that aren't all encouraging
colorado.rivals.com
OT: ESPN Events announces teams playing in 6 MBB tourneys
- By rward
- Buff Nation
- 0 Replies
ESPN Events Runs 17 bowls, the FCS kickoff, Cricket MEAC/SWAC Challenge Kick-Off and HBCU Kickoff games in football and several MBB and WBB tourneys. CU is not in any of these, but Wyoming and some PAC 12 teams are.
ESPN Events Unveils Participating Teams for Six Tournaments During 2023-24 Men’s College Basketball Season
Today, ESPN Events announced the tournament fields for six of its owned and operated events during the 2023-24 men’s college basketball season.
espnpressroom.com
Story on combination of traditional linear TV and direct-to-consumer services
- By rward
- Buff Nation
- 2 Replies
Sports Media at WCOS: Different paths, similar destination for media giants
By 2030, television companies’ networks largely expect to be aligned in how they deliver video — through a combination of traditional linear TV and direct-to-consumer services.
www.sportsbusinessjournal.com
By 2030, television companies’ networks largely expect to be aligned in how they deliver video — through a combination of traditional linear TV and direct-to-consumer services.
ESPN, Fox and NBC are each taking a different path to get to that point. Top executives from those three networks spoke about their strategies at the 2023 CAA World Congress of Sports in Los Angeles last week.
“There may be different strategies for different companies — it is not a cookie cutter,” said Rick Cordella, president of programming for NBC Sports and Peacock Sports. “Just as our businesses today are a little bit different, they’re going to be a little bit different in 2030. We’ll all still be here.”
ESPN’s president of content, Burke Magnus, agreed. “There’s no right or wrong answer here. Fox has employed a prudent strategy that serves their business the right way. And for us it was different.”
Fox’s strategy is based on trying to keep the cable bundle healthy for as long as possible. Fox has Tubi, an ad-supported streaming service, but it has largely sat on the sidelines as others have pushed direct-to-consumer services.
“We’ve embarked on a strategy where we believe fiercely in the bundle,” said Mark Silverman, president and COO of Fox Sports. “Both ESPN and NBC have taken a more aggressive approach. They’re investing, and they’re building. … But we’re obviously all watching each other and trying to see the best way to navigate in an evolving future.”
ESPN also wants to make sure the bundle stays healthy — and for good reason, as the channel commands the largest affiliate fee from distributors. ESPN’s strategy has been to view its linear business and direct-to-consumer ESPN+ service as being on parallel paths.
ESPN+, though, rarely simulcasts events that already are on ESPN’s linear television channels. Some sports coexist on both platforms more frequently than others — generally sports that already have a heavy presence on ESPN+, like the UFC.
“For us, it’s about the whole spectrum,” Magnus said. “It’s the broadcast network at ABC, it’s multiple ESPN branded cable networks. It’s our digital and social. And it’s direct to consumer with ESPN+. We want to be everywhere.”
NBC is much more open to simulcasting sports events on its direct-to-consumer service, Peacock — a trend that some critics have worried will hasten the demise of the cable bundle. Even so, the company’s broadcast channel, NBC, and cable channels, like USA, remain a big part of the company’s strategy.
Cordella said the close interaction between its television channels and streaming service will help it secure rights deals in the future. He used the Big Ten as an example, where 15 football games will be on NBC and nine will be exclusive to Peacock.
“That’s a nice mousetrap that we’ve built,” he said. “Those nine Peacock games will attract a certain audience that will stick around for ‘The Office’ and ‘Yellowstone’ and everything else. Because we’re advertising supported at the 4.99 tier, the ARPU (average revenue per unit) of that will be significant.”
When it comes to its cable offerings, Cordella said USA Network remains profitable and will continue to be a big part of NBC’s sports strategy, “but we look to the future and it’s probably not where we’re going to be” at some point down the road.
Simulcasting sports on Peacock makes sense, Cordella said. He pointed to World Cup games that were simulcast between Telemundo and Peacock. Those simulcast games registered a 50% jump in total audience, he said.
He also pointed to a Premier League game that was exclusive to Peacock last week that averaged 872,000 viewers.
“That’s somewhat equivalent to what USA would typically get,” Cordella said. “We’re starting to see that streaming can match what linear can do. And if you can monetize that audience better on streaming, why wouldn’t you put that content there?”
Silverman - president of programming for NBC Sports and Peacock: “We all have taken notice of the increase in women’s sports viewership. The Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand this summer is a massive project for Fox Sports. We had more women’s basketball on broadcast this past year than ever before. We are getting behind these sports because people want to watch them. It’s for legitimate business purposes.”
Magnus - president of content at ESPN: “A couple of leagues that we have that I’m really excited about: Premier Lacrosse League, the Professional Fighters League and spring football. We think spring football is viable. On the women’s side for ESPN, it’s basketball, volleyball, soccer, lacrosse, softball and more.”
Cordella - president and COO of Fox Sports: “In terms of women’s sports, the Olympics headlines have been around Simone Biles and Mikaela Shiffrin the last two times. They’re the ones in front of our marketing campaign. We’re all interested in the Big Ten with Caitlin Clark being back at Iowa next year.”
