The NCAA announced a new television arrangement and a minor expansion of the men’s basketball tournament beginning next season.
Thankfully, talk of massive expansion was shot down. There was talk of an 80 or possibly 96 team field. Instead, the number will be reduced to 68, with play in games for all four brackets rather than just one. Okay, three borderline teams that folks would argue should have made the field will now get in, but whether the field is 48 or 96, which ever teams are the first ones who don’t make the cut will be coming up with arguments why they should have been there. This move to expand to 68 really doesn’t mess up anything other than slightly diluting the NIT field which no one cares about anyway.
The television contract brings good news and perhaps for others some bad news. Every single game will be televised in its entirety. Fans will no longer suffer with all the cut-ins, watching a game they really care about to see Moose Fart State trying to pull the upset over some conference powerhouse half way across the country. The new contract splits the games between CBS and Turner broadcasting that will throw three of its cable networks into the mix, two of which are widely distributed, the third is not one of the longstanding cable staples. The odd man out, of course, is ESPN who broadcasts the lion’s share of nationally televised regular season games on its combination of networks: ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPN-U. Since some of the ESPN crew including Jay Bilas also work for CBS during the tournament, will those announcers and analysts be free to work for the Turner networks in the tournament as often talent with cable contracts are released to work for over-the-air networks but not cable rivals.
Starting next season, all games will be covered on CBS and Turner stations TBS, TNT, and TruTV. Everything in the first two rounds will be split evenly between the four networks. CBS will retain coverage of the regional finals and the final four through 2015. In 2016, regional coverage will be split between CBS and Turner, and the final four will alternate between CBS and TBS. Live steaming will continue to be available for all games. This means those not serviced with cable or a dish service will not be able to watch the final four and a substantial number of games on over-the-air television as this deal takes effect becoming especially difficult once the networks alternate the final four making the final four the most prestigious sports championship not shown on regular television.
The NCAA is the huge winner from a money standpoint as the broadcast rights for the men’s basketball tournament provides the organization with 95% of its incoming revenue, an astonishing huge amount considering football bowls, and the hundreds of regular season games broadcast around the nation. The participating conferences should net an average of $740 million each year, millions for each school according to NCAA President, Jim Isch. The total price tag for this deal, $10.8 billion a figure well in excess of many a state’s budget.
Clearly, the big winner in this deal is the NCAA. Turner wins if they can attract adequate advertising revenue. CBS retains a major piece of one of its most coveted sports portfolio items, but we can only call their stake at best a draw. The big losers are ESPN, who will have even a lesser roll in keeping their coverage of the tournament vital. How much analysis can they supply when highlights released for other networks to air will be carefully allocated by CBS and Turner? What counter programming is available in this time frame, pre-season baseball? The other big losers would be fans who do not have cable or satellite service. They will have less to watch especially when the final four alternates between networks after 2015.
The fans also win big that the field is only being expanded to 68 not 96 games. It’s not just for the sake of the unwieldy bracket sheets that would result, but the way the current tournament plays out over three consecutive weekends provides a great sense of balance and drama without a diluted pool that could make some of the early round match-ups lethal.
We challenge Turner and CBS to continue to work to improve coverage covering the game as completely and accurately as possible resisting the temptation to go gimmick and gizmo crazy.
Thankfully, talk of massive expansion was shot down. There was talk of an 80 or possibly 96 team field. Instead, the number will be reduced to 68, with play in games for all four brackets rather than just one. Okay, three borderline teams that folks would argue should have made the field will now get in, but whether the field is 48 or 96, which ever teams are the first ones who don’t make the cut will be coming up with arguments why they should have been there. This move to expand to 68 really doesn’t mess up anything other than slightly diluting the NIT field which no one cares about anyway.
The television contract brings good news and perhaps for others some bad news. Every single game will be televised in its entirety. Fans will no longer suffer with all the cut-ins, watching a game they really care about to see Moose Fart State trying to pull the upset over some conference powerhouse half way across the country. The new contract splits the games between CBS and Turner broadcasting that will throw three of its cable networks into the mix, two of which are widely distributed, the third is not one of the longstanding cable staples. The odd man out, of course, is ESPN who broadcasts the lion’s share of nationally televised regular season games on its combination of networks: ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPN-U. Since some of the ESPN crew including Jay Bilas also work for CBS during the tournament, will those announcers and analysts be free to work for the Turner networks in the tournament as often talent with cable contracts are released to work for over-the-air networks but not cable rivals.
Starting next season, all games will be covered on CBS and Turner stations TBS, TNT, and TruTV. Everything in the first two rounds will be split evenly between the four networks. CBS will retain coverage of the regional finals and the final four through 2015. In 2016, regional coverage will be split between CBS and Turner, and the final four will alternate between CBS and TBS. Live steaming will continue to be available for all games. This means those not serviced with cable or a dish service will not be able to watch the final four and a substantial number of games on over-the-air television as this deal takes effect becoming especially difficult once the networks alternate the final four making the final four the most prestigious sports championship not shown on regular television.
The NCAA is the huge winner from a money standpoint as the broadcast rights for the men’s basketball tournament provides the organization with 95% of its incoming revenue, an astonishing huge amount considering football bowls, and the hundreds of regular season games broadcast around the nation. The participating conferences should net an average of $740 million each year, millions for each school according to NCAA President, Jim Isch. The total price tag for this deal, $10.8 billion a figure well in excess of many a state’s budget.
Clearly, the big winner in this deal is the NCAA. Turner wins if they can attract adequate advertising revenue. CBS retains a major piece of one of its most coveted sports portfolio items, but we can only call their stake at best a draw. The big losers are ESPN, who will have even a lesser roll in keeping their coverage of the tournament vital. How much analysis can they supply when highlights released for other networks to air will be carefully allocated by CBS and Turner? What counter programming is available in this time frame, pre-season baseball? The other big losers would be fans who do not have cable or satellite service. They will have less to watch especially when the final four alternates between networks after 2015.
The fans also win big that the field is only being expanded to 68 not 96 games. It’s not just for the sake of the unwieldy bracket sheets that would result, but the way the current tournament plays out over three consecutive weekends provides a great sense of balance and drama without a diluted pool that could make some of the early round match-ups lethal.
We challenge Turner and CBS to continue to work to improve coverage covering the game as completely and accurately as possible resisting the temptation to go gimmick and gizmo crazy.
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