CONFERENCE USA TV CONTRACT UPDATE PODCAST

G5 blog Original Content

With the Conference USA TV contract set to expire this season, we take a closer look at some of the issues the conference will have to contend with as they seek to resign their television contract. Here is the link for today's podcast:CONFERENCE USA C USA PODCAST     link)

Here is the story in print.


CBS might be losing interest in Conference USA

Conference USA recently announced their television programming for the 2015-2016 season. The tv deal is very similar to the one last year as both Fox and CBS have agreed to air essentially the same amount of content as the previous season.  It is interesting to note however, that CBS is broadcasting a minimum of 4 less games this year than they did in 2013. This trend continues the  CBS pullback from Conference USA.

CBS Sports also made news this week when they announced  a deal with the MAC conference to sublease  MAC Conference games from ESPN.MAC and CBS(click to read story) With this announcement CBS seems to be saying two things: 1. The MAC is an attractive property for themright now. 2. CBS continues to find ways to put more G5 conference product on their network( AAC and MAC) while reducing their Conference USA content.

The MAC/CBS partnership raises the interesting question about what this partnership means for Conference USA and their ongoing contract negotiations  with CBS. It seems highly possible that with CBS  reducing their   Conference USA content over the last two years, and by picking up more MAC and AAC programing that they are  sending a clear message to Conference USA,  a message that they are not as interested in the product as they used to be.

FOX still finds value in Conference USA

There is good news however, for Conference USA, in that the amount of programming that Fox network wants from Conference USA continues  to be consistent with the two previous years. In fact Fox Sports is actually showing more Conference USA games this year than in 2013. In 2013 for example, Conf USA announced that Fox Sports would be covering approximately 50 games. In their 2015 presser,  Conf USA announced that Fox would be covering nearly 60 games during the 2015-2016 football season( some of the extra games however, are games that Fox is obligated to carry because of other contracts with different College Football leagues)

The downside of Fox Sports for Conference USA is that the network continues to underperform relative to ESPN. Couple this with the fact that ESPN is in over 9 million more homes than Fox Sports and you have a  network struggling to find its identity with the  public.

This underperforming reality is highlighted in the excellent article dealing with the ratings woes of Fox Sports, written by Matt Zemek. In the article Zemek speculates that the weak ratings of Fox could have far more significant ramifications than just losing to ESPN, it could cost the network its Big Ten partnership.   Zemek points out that  the Big Ten may take their business to ESPN where they know they will get better ratings. He also writes that the disappointing numbers the Big East drew on Fox this season, in spite of having an outstanding year.(Big East sent 6 teams to the NCAA tournment this year) could lead Big Ten Commish Jim Delaney  to " wants no part" of these low numbers for his conference.(Fox Sports low TV viewership)

Any potential Big Ten/Fox Sports drama could actually spell opportunity for Conference USA. If Fox Sports is honestly worried about the Big Ten taking their business elsewhere, it could motivate  the beleaguered network to not only keep Conference USA as a partner but also  offer a nice raise for doing so. One word of caution however on any raise Conference USA might receive from Fox. With the Big East 500 million dollar contract not creating ratings numbers like the execs at Fox had hoped for, it might spook the bean counters enough to make low ball offers to Conference USA. If this happens, look for some unhappy Conference USA AD's and Presidents. It is already rumored that ODU is not happy with the current Conference USA tv deal that puts them on national television far fewer times than schools like Marshall and La Tech.

Final Thoughts

As I wrote many months ago, the next tv contract Conference USA signs  will be the most important  in its history. Conf USA can boast some very solid football programs like Marshall, La Tech, Rice, UAB and Southern Miss. These schools make up a good corp of schools  and one that should allow the conference  to sell its self as a collection of gritty competitors. Conference USA though must also convince its next tv  partner that newly acquired Sun Belt teams, WKU and North Texas are worth the price tag of a new contract.( here I am referring specifically to the lack of fan support both schools have  and in the case of North Texas, an under performing sports department)

One of  the biggest hurdles Conference USA faces in its contract negotiations however is that it has two new FBS schools, Charlotte and ODU to contend with. It is also now looking like UAB football is at least two years away from competing on the gridiron.( it is also unclear if UAB will have to spend a year at the FCS level before moving back to the FBS) While UNC Charlotte and ODU both have tremendous upside, it remains to be seen if Fox Sports finds enough value in these two schools as well as having enough patience for  UAB to return to football to give Conference USA a healthy dollar amount for their product. Couple this with the fact that Conference USA is a one bid basketball school and things look uncertain for the conference going forward.

In short, Conference USA finds itself at a real crossroads. In many ways the conference has an unknown value and this might be cause for alarm within the Conference USA head quarters in Dallas. With a shakey relationship with ESPN( it seems unlikely ESPN will bid for Conference USA given the lawsuit that was settled a few years ago) and a Fox Sports network on the downward curve, there are more questions than answers heading into the new tv contract season. Couple this with  an NBC Sports channel that only seems interested in College Football if Notre Dame is part of the equation, and you have for some nervous times for Conference USA and its fans.  Conference USA Commish Britton Banowsky has at times , proven he is more than capable of steering the Conference USA ship to calm waters. He will need to do so again this time around with the new tv contract if the conference hopes to stay competitive among the G5. Stay tuned.