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Sports networks ranked by estimated value

hokiehead

Discussing music so others might think I'm human
Club Member
foxsports link

1. ESPN $6.61 x 94.5 million homes = $7.5 billion
2. NFL Network $1.31 x 73.6 million homes = $1.16 billion
3. FS1 .99 x 91.2 million homes = $1.08 billion
4. ESPN2 .83 x 94.5 million hiomes = $941.2 million
5. SEC Network .66 x 69.1 million homes = $547.3 million
6. Golf Channel .35 x 79.4 million homes = $332.2 million
7. NBC Sports Network .30 x 83.1 million homes = $299 million
8. Big Ten Network .39 x 62 million homes = $290.2 million
9. MLB Network .26 x 71.3 million homes = $222.5 million
10. FS2 .28 x 64 million homes = $215 million
11. NBA TV .29 x 57.2 million homes = $199 million
12. ESPNU .22 x 74.9 million homes = $198 million
13. CBS Sports Network .26 x 61 million homes = $190.3 million
14. NHL Network .32 x 37.4 million homes = $143.6 million
15. Pac 12 Network .39 x 12.3 million homes = $57.6 million

first observation is that even though ESPN has lost some luster, if you through those figures in a Pareto chart, ESPN still reigns supreme.

There just isn't enough demand among Pac 12 fans to create substantial revenue. The Pac 12 has trumpeted that it's "available in" 90 million homes. But the number who actually pay for it, per SNL Kagan numbers, is just 12.3 million. If those numbers are accurate, it helps to explain why the conference only paid out $1 million extra to each school for the network last year and projects to pay the same amount this year.

Pac fans bitch about low distro of the P12 network, but this conference network thing is a sore spot for us ACC guys -- and a constant source of criticism against our commish.

figure y'all might appreciate the absence of one Longhorn Network from the list.

Edit: debated which forum to put this on and initially decided Junction's Pub, but upon scanning topics, it seems more conventional to put "sports topics that have some relevance to college football" over here.
 
Waiting for someone to say that the numbers aren't as bad as they appear because the Pac-12 doesn't share revenue with a broadcaster. Rolling my eyes in advance. Even with sharing revenue, no way SEC or Big 10 get less net revenue that the Pac-12.

Not getting on DirecTV has killed potential revenue. Scott could have signed a bad 5 year deal and now would be renegotiating the contract.

I like what he did bringing CU and Utah to the Pac-12, but if the merger doesn't result in the network getting on DirecTV this year, due to (i) his lack of leadership regarding how bad Pac-12 officiating is, (ii) the fact he couldn't get the Pac-12 BBall Championship game on a broadcast channel - it was on FS1, and (iii) people in Egypt and China having better access to the network than the average American, I think Pac-12 schools should seriously consider replacing him with a person who knows how to get the important issues accomplished. I can appreciate what he has done this far, but it looks like he has peaked.
 
Maybe the Golf Channel should buy the P12N. Problem solved.
 
The PAC-12 Network should just give the cable and satellite companies the bird and follow HBO NOW's example. Make the full broadcast experience available to all via Apple TV, Roku, Playstation, xbox, web browser, etc. without a cable subscription. It is the future. Show some bold leadership and embrace streaming now.
 
foxsports link
first observation is that even though ESPN has lost some luster, if you through those figures in a Pareto chart, ESPN still reigns supreme.

How about you just view those figures.... and skip the pareto chart you enginerd! You don't have to Pareto those figures to see how dominant ESPiN is! That's a classic and made only funnier that your handle is HokieHead. Digital High Five on that one 0101
 
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Whether or not Scott & DTV come to terms, I can see the P-12 network gaining some steam over time. There was lots of representation in bowl games, basketball, etc; including high draft picks in the nfl. Since the B-12 has only a streaming network, might be the reason they weren't on the list?
 
The PAC-12 Network should just give the cable and satellite companies the bird and follow HBO NOW's example. Make the full broadcast experience available to all via Apple TV, Roku, Playstation, xbox, web browser, etc. without a cable subscription. It is the future. Show some bold leadership and embrace streaming now.

The problem with that is that then the games are not available at ANY bars.
 
The problem with that is that then the games are not available at ANY bars.

That's one problem.

The other problem is an assumption that ROKU or Netflix or P12N would sell over-the-top at an affordable rate like $5.99. The economics might look more like a PPV boxing match with 80-$100 per game or more.
 
The problem with that is that then the games are not available at ANY bars.

Compared to the first year of the Pac-12, it seems to me that more and more bars are purchasing cable for that reason. I think Fox and Hound and BWW in Highlands ranch have it. Obviously outside of the footprint is another story.
 
The PAC-12 Network should just give the cable and satellite companies the bird and follow HBO NOW's example. Make the full broadcast experience available to all via Apple TV, Roku, Playstation, xbox, web browser, etc. without a cable subscription. It is the future. Show some bold leadership and embrace streaming now.

Wrong model...HBO is not deserting the carriers they are looking for an augmentation to get to the cable cutters.

How much will people pay and how many will pay? Not much and not many is the answer.
 
Wrong model...HBO is not deserting the carriers they are looking for an augmentation to get to the cable cutters.

How much will people pay and how many will pay? Not much and not many is the answer.

It's absolutely the right model. The cable companies most certainly view HBO's moves as giving them the finger. It is the beginning of the end of their business models. The transition to a la carte and smaller streaming packages is going to be far swifter than most people think. You're going to see many more networks offering a full experience w/o the cable companies over the next two years. Once ESPN takes the plunge, everyone will follow suit. Traditional 100+ channel bundles will be a thing of the past. That will suit me just fine since there are only a dozen or so that I watch regularly. I'll be thrilled to not have to subsidize Lifetime or Disney or MTV.

The Pac-12 can continue to make their content available to cable subscribers, but they should not be dependent upon them to deliver the full network experience to cord cutters and those who live outside the Pac-12 footprint.

I freely admit I'm pulling these numbers out of my ass, but I'm going to speculate anyway. Hundreds of thousands of people fill Pac-12 stadiums every week. I think the majority of those people who are willing to shell out money for tickets would certainly be willing to shell out $8 a month for the Pac-12 network. Many more live in areas that can't get the Pac-12 Network from their cable provider. Most of those people already own a game console or streaming box. A $39 Roku Streaming Stick is no big deal for people to pick up if necessary. That goes for sports bars, as well.

So let's say that the Pac-12 requires a yearly subscription so that people can't sign up just for football season. Let's say it's $96 per year, which works out to $8 per month. Let's conservatively say they get 350,000 streaming subscribers. These would be four types of subscribers:

1. People who are currently cord cutters and would love to see their Pac-12 teams, but don't want to shell out $100/month for cable.
2. People who cancel their cable/satellite subscriptions because they're fine with Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, etc as long as they can still get their Pac-12 fix.
3. People who downgrade to a cheaper basic cable package because they're only on the more expensive plan and/or paying for the regional sports network package in order to get the Pac-12.
4. People/sports bars who can't get the Pac-12 through their provider and don't want to switch to Dish for whatever reason. (I used to be a Dish subscriber. Loved it for years but I cancelled when they wanted to charge me a boatload to come out and repair or replace their defective equipment that I was leasing. I'll never go back.)

350,000 x $96 per year = $33,600,000. They'd also get 100% of the advertising revenue. These numbers I've pulled out of my ass certainly sound like a solid business plan to me.
 
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Clay Travis' monkey math was off by 2x for the P12N. oops.

He also confuses 'value' of a network with 'revenue' of a network. The value comes from essentially the sum of all future revenues minus all future expenses. On top of that, the P12N doesn't share profits like BTN (50%) and SECN (never seen the sharing agreement, butI doubt ESPN is giving them more than 50% since they have to move over content from their regular ESPN CFB contracts to populate SECN with programming that doesn't suck).
 
350,000 x $96 per year = $33,600,000. They'd also get 100% of the advertising revenue. These numbers I've pulled out of my ass certainly sound like a solid business plan to me.

So the problem offering direct streaming is that it violates the agreement the P12N has with it's cable and satellite partners. They are paying the P12N extra money to essentially keep their customers from cutting the cord. If the P12N offers a la carte via the internet, the cable companies will not pay big $$$ to put P12N into EVERY household in market. So given that P12N revenue is ~105 million now, then a la carte direct over the internet subscriptions would have to total more than that. I would expect the cable companies would then put the P12N in the sports package which has like 10% (or fewer) subscribers compared to basic cable.
 
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