Mountain West considers leaving TV in FB

[Laker]

The Mountain West doesn't want to have to play mid week.

http://footballscoop.com/news/fbs-conference-considering-leaving-tv-completely-go-completely-online/

[catamount man]

Ballsy move if they pull it off but I can certainly understand why. Before much longer, the P5s will control the entire television market with G5/FCS/D2/D3/NAIA all taking the streaming route. GO CATS!!!

[GodHelpTheBears]

The Mountain West has been at the vanguard before - anyone remember The Mtn.?

(Of course not, that's why I mentioned it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MountainWest_Sports_Network)

Since most of their members are in an unusual time zone (Mountain or Hawaiian), they have to contort their schedule to accommodate TV. They have a good collection of members for a G5 - flagships and schools with good-sized attendance figures for mid-major teams like Air Force, Boise State, Colorado State and San Diego State. They're a good canary candidate.

[FCS_pwns_FBS]

The real issue here IMO is that Boise, SDSU, Air Force, and Colorado state are propping up the value of the TV rights while teams averaging half what they do in attendance get an equal share of the money.

[GodHelpTheBears]

The real issue here IMO is that Boise, SDSU, Air Force, and Colorado state are propping up the value of the TV rights while teams averaging half what they do in attendance get an equal share of the money.

This is how you kill the only mid-major football conference west of the Mississippi River. Then again, if they're putting everything online anyway, and they have no chance of ever getting into the CFP, why are they all packaged together?

[ASU33]

Those Tuesday and Wednesday night games are absolutely brutal on attendance and game atmosphere for those G5 programs. I've been to games at Troy and South Alabama that were these Wednesday night games and there was maybe 2,000 people in the stands. It felt more like a Spring game or scrimmage than a late season game.

[walliver]

ESPN is running out of money and isn't going to pay out big bucks for G5 weekend games. With the widespread availability of high speed internet as well as much TV-compatible devices (Roku, AppleTV, AmazonTV) streaming is the wave of the future for all nut the top games. A well-done streaming broadcast can be of equal quality to a highly compressed cable, satellite or broadcast signal.

To be honest, I can't think of the last time I watched a MWC vs MWC game. In fact, the only G5 vs G5 game I tend to watch is App State and Georgia Southern.

[clenz]

Not as doom and gloom as people think.

A well constructed conference streaming service, even if it costs a nominal fee, that is widely available on things like Roku, AppleTV, Mobile, Xbox, PlayStation, etc... with teams hooking into local TV broadcasts to do games on TV.

The MVC/MVFC is a prime example of how it can be done well.

The MVC (and MVFC) has a deal with ESPN3. Every game is produced by local broadcast teams contracted with the schools. They are then sent to ESPN to be broadcast on ESPN3...or any other station boradcasting the game (local or regional).

The issue with the ESPN deal is the ESPN3 access is tied to cable log ins, and not everyone offers it. Many schools also have just bad options to stream through their website. Creating a conference streaming service for something like 15-20 per year that does what ESPN3 does would be a perfect option for FCS/G5 conferences.

[GodHelpTheBears]

Not as doom and gloom as people think.

A well constructed conference streaming service, even if it costs a nominal fee, that is widely available on things like Roku, AppleTV, Mobile, Xbox, PlayStation, etc... with teams hooking into local TV broadcasts to do games on TV.

The MVC/MVFC is a prime example of how it can be done well.

The MVC (and MVFC) has a deal with ESPN3. Every game is produced by local broadcast teams contracted with the schools. They are then sent to ESPN to be broadcast on ESPN3...or any other station boradcasting the game (local or regional).

The issue with the ESPN deal is the ESPN3 access is tied to cable log ins, and not everyone offers it. Many schools also have just bad options to stream through their website. Creating a conference streaming service for something like 15-20 per year that does what ESPN3 does would be a perfect option for FCS/G5 conferences.

The hardest Missouri State game for me to watch this year will be against...UM-C. The SEC network. I don't get it and I don't want to pay whatever Sling charges to get it.

(Granted, I'll be in Chicago that weekend, I could go undercover at a UM-C bar to watch but I don't want to see my guys lose by 50+ to those guys. Not THOSE guys.)

Even our trip to UND will be graciously covered by WatchBigSky, with no fees charged.