FCS Conference Television Contracts

[WestCoastAggie]

I am currently conducting research on Athletic Dept Finances and I have a hypothesis that ESPN is "lowballing" the SWAC & MEAC with their Exclusive TV Deal. The only way I can either prove or disprove this hypothesis would be to see the Contracts that other FCS Conferences have with their prospective TV Networks.

Does anyone know the amounts that the other FCS Conferences are earning from their TV Deals?

And if you don't feel like sharing that info on this thread, please send me a PM or email me the details @ [email protected]

Thanks! xthumbsupx

[Sly Fox]

Suffice it to say not much money is going into league coffers from television contracts at the FCS level.

[lionsrking2]

I am currently conducting research on Athletic Dept Finances and I have a hypothesis that ESPN is "lowballing" the SWAC & MEAC with their Exclusive TV Deal. The only way I can either prove or disprove this hypothesis would be to see the Contracts that other FCS Conferences have with their prospective TV Networks.

Does anyone know the amounts that the other FCS Conferences are earning from their TV Deals?

And if you don't feel like sharing that info on this thread, please send me a PM or email me the details @ [email protected]

Thanks! xthumbsupx

If they're making any money at all, then I doubt seriously they're being "low-balled."

[busybee14]

I am currently conducting research on Athletic Dept Finances and I have a hypothesis that ESPN is "lowballing" the SWAC & MEAC with their Exclusive TV Deal. The only way I can either prove or disprove this hypothesis would be to see the Contracts that other FCS Conferences have with their prospective TV Networks.

Does anyone know the amounts that the other FCS Conferences are earning from their TV Deals?

And if you don't feel like sharing that info on this thread, please send me a PM or email me the details @ [email protected]

Thanks! xthumbsupx
What do you know about our (OVC) contract with national media outlets?

[DFW HOYA]

Which conferences have no league-wide TV deals? Patriot comes to mind, but maybe Pioneer and Great West as well.

The Southland used to have a better TV package but I haven't seen much of it lately.

[darell1976]

Which conferences have no league-wide TV deals? Patriot comes to mind, but maybe Pioneer and Great West as well.

The Southland used to have a better TV package but I haven't seen much of it lately.

UND has the Fighting Sioux Sports Network and teamed up with Fox College Sports last season but I haven't heard how long their contract was or if it needs to be renewed. But there is no GWFC tv package.

[WestCoastAggie]

FCS Conferences with TV Contracts and/or Web Streaming Contracts:

Big Sky
Colonial
Great West
Ivy
Mid-Eastern
Missouri Valley
Northeast
Ohio Valley (Web Streaming)
Patriot (Web Streaming)
Southland
Southern
Southwestern

I am still in the process of gathering data. Thanks to those who have assisted me in my endeavor to understand how these kinds of deals work. As more information is gained, the list will be updated. xnodx

[TexasTerror]

The Southland used to have a better TV package but I haven't seen much of it lately.

The Southland Conference still has the SLC TV Network. It gets coverage throughout the SLC footprint (which is what matters most) and also nationally on Fox College Sports.

The SLC Network was formed after the FSN television window got smaller with the network signing deals with the Pac-10 and the Big 12. The SLC's broadcast windows were getting fewer and fewer. More games are televised in sports not called football under the deal and all of them are also available on SLC Now - via the SLC web site for FREE.

http://www.southland.org/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=90019&SPID=10812&temp_site=NO&DB_OEM_ID=18400&ATCLID=204960972

[Lehigh Football Nation]

You have to differentiate between schools with TV deals and conferences with TV deals. For example, there is no conference-wide Patriot League TV deal, but Lehigh, Colgate, Lafayette and Holy Cross have independent TV contracts.

Also, webcasting adds another dimension. There is a Patriot League "webcasting" deal, which runs from Lafayette's and Lehigh's in-house TV productions to a webcam from the press box. It's not a TV deal, but it is a conference-wide deal.

[TexasTerror]

You have to differentiate between schools with TV deals and conferences with TV deals. For example, there is no conference-wide Patriot League TV deal, but Lehigh, Colgate, Lafayette and Holy Cross have independent TV contracts.

Also, webcasting adds another dimension. There is a Patriot League "webcasting" deal, which runs from Lafayette's and Lehigh's in-house TV productions to a webcam from the press box. It's not a TV deal, but it is a conference-wide deal.

Lamar, McNeese and Nicholls have their own stand-alone TV deals or have had them in the last 2-3 years...

And yep, webcasting does add another dimension. SHSU has BearkatVision!

[Bogus Megapardus]

You have to differentiate between schools with TV deals and conferences with TV deals. For example, there is no conference-wide Patriot League TV deal, but Lehigh, Colgate, Lafayette and Holy Cross have independent TV contracts.

Also, webcasting adds another dimension. There is a Patriot League "webcasting" deal, which runs from Lafayette's and Lehigh's in-house TV productions to a webcam from the press box. It's not a TV deal, but it is a conference-wide deal.

The folks who do broadcasts for Lehigh and Lafayette, in any event (I can't speak for the others) have become pretty good at it. You can watch every Lehigh or Lafayette game (home and away) live (over-the-air and cable) anywhere in the Philadelphia or western New York City metropolitan areas. Their technicians and professional on-air talent are are used for other events as well, including Olympic Games broadcasts. The crew has been bartered out to ESPN and Fox Sports on a number of occasions as a turnkey operation.

Webcasting is really the future, though. Bandwidth available in most populated regions permits high-definition feeds. Many new televisions are "internet ready" and soon they all will be. The distinction between a traditional "broadcast" and a "webcast" will be blurred to the point that branding will be the only way to tell the difference. LFN sells his school short - it's hardly a "webcam" that feeds Lehigh's webcast stream - it's a fully-functional television broadcast studio relaying the same feed that is going to the commercial television station.

Some suggested that saturating New York and Philadelphia (and the Lehigh Valley, of course) with wall-to-wall PL football coverage would negatively impact game attendance. It hasn't. Game attendance both schools has increased and the two continue to lead the league. IMHO FCS schools are doing themselves a disservice if they are not making every effort to start putting together the pieces necessary to produce a consistently high-quality webcast of each of their games.

[lionsrking2]

Lamar, McNeese and Nicholls have their own stand-alone TV deals or have had them in the last 2-3 years...

And yep, webcasting does add another dimension. SHSU has BearkatVision!

We may have something working ourselves...last I heard, our McNeese game may get picked up by the same station that does the Nicholls' games...heard they were also interested in doing our other games on tape delay, but not sure if that will work out or not.

[TexasTerror]

We may have something working ourselves...last I heard, our McNeese game may get picked up by the same station that does the Nicholls' games...heard they were also interested in doing our other games on tape delay, but not sure if that will work out or not.

I think I said it here or on the Lion's Den, but that station (which I do not get on DirecTV) is being very active is pursuing college and/or high school games to air. I'm not sure of the production quality, but someone said it was not too bad when they were doing Nicholls games.

[lionsrking2]

I think I said it here or on the Lion's Den, but that station (which I do not get on DirecTV) is being very active is pursuing college and/or high school games to air. I'm not sure of the production quality, but someone said it was not too bad when they were doing Nicholls games.

Quality is pretty good as far as local TV productions go...it's not quite SLC TV quality (which I think is technically very, very good) but, definitely a solid production...at least what I've seen in the past has been.

[DFW HOYA]

I've been swimming upstream on this subject for years. Years ago, an contact within the PL told me that the chief reason why there was no PL TV package was that Lehigh and Lafayette simply did not want to give up their own networks for league-wide coverage. The Lehigh Valley audience simply did not want to see Bucknell-Fordham or Georgetown-Towson on their TV screens when they could see Lehigh every week instead (granted, this conversation was a few years ago). As a result, regional networks are never going to bid on a league package that doesn't exist.

While the SE2 and Channel 69 packages are good for Leh/Laf, TV coverage is spotty at best (and non-existent at worst) in the rest of the league. Holy Cross coverage on Channel 3 in Worcester has diminished considerably over the years, Colgate gets a game or two on Time Warner cable, but that's about it. Neither Fordham nor Georgetown can secure a local TV deal solely on one team's games and I'm not sure Bucknell could either.

Again, I'm not saying it's not a nice arrangement for the TV sets in Center Valley, but the PL simply has no consistent visibility outside the Lehigh Valley corridor that could provide it some well-deserved attention.

[Sader87]

I've been swimming upstream on this subject for years. Years ago, an contact within the PL told me that the chief reason why there was no PL TV package was that Lehigh and Lafayette simply did not want to give up their own networks for league-wide coverage. The Lehigh Valley audience simply did not want to see Bucknell-Fordham or Georgetown-Towson on their TV screens when they could see Lehigh every week instead (granted, this conversation was a few years ago). As a result, regional networks are never going to bid on a league package that doesn't exist.

While the SE2 and Channel 69 packages are good for Leh/Laf, TV coverage is spotty at best (and non-existent at worst) in the rest of the league. Holy Cross coverage on Channel 3 in Worcester has diminished considerably over the years, Colgate gets a game or two on Time Warner cable, but that's about it. Neither Fordham nor Georgetown can secure a local TV deal solely on one team's games and I'm not sure Bucknell could either.

Again, I'm not saying it's not a nice arrangement for the TV sets in Center Valley, but the PL simply has no consistent visibility outside the Lehigh Valley corridor that could provide it some well-deserved attention.

And therein really lies the heart of the problem with Patriot League football. Outside of the Lehigh Valley, NO ONE cares about it at all. Holy Cross has gone from being featured on the regional ABC Game of the Week a few times in the 80's (prior to the PL) to local access cable a couple times during the season.

[WestCoastAggie]

Once again, thank you all for your input and information. This research is becoming rather interesting. The Web Streaming is a great way to reach out to fans and Alumni interested in watching games in these conferences.

My undergraduate University, NCA&T, is launching their pay service, Aggie Access this fall. But even with these web streams, schools and conferences still have regional and/or national broadcasts (over the air & cable/satellite) still seems to be the best way to get games to the most people at this point.

Also, after looking at the revenue that Conferences bring in, I may have to change my hypothesis about the MEAC being "low-balled" in the financial sense.

Here how the FCS Conferences rank among revenue. (This may be an Article Repost but it's very relevant to this study and discussion)


Here are the 2008 revenue rankings for the FCS member conferences.
Rank Conference 2008 Revenues
1. Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference $ 5,929,689.00
2. Colonial Athletic Association $ 5,323,989.00
3. Southwestern Athletic Conference $ 4,859,155.00
4. Southern Conference $ 4,589,318.00
5. Southland Conference $ 3,642,511.00
6. Big South Conference $ 3,260,046.00
7. Big Sky Conference $ 3,255,085.00
8. Patriot League $ 2,861,333.00
9. Northeast Conference $ 2,040,563.00
10. Colonial Athletic Association Football, Inc. $ 901,515.00
11. Ohio Valley Conference $ 474,485.00
12 Missouri Valley Football Conference $ 393,347.00
13. Great West Conference $ 38,913.00
Pioneer Football League No report found
Ivy League No report found

Source: Form 990, filed with the Internal Revenue Service.

Updated: (1/15/2010): The Colonial Athletic Association filed a separate Form 990 with the IRS under the name of “Colonial Athletic Association Football Inc.” The report lists gross revenues totaling $901,515.

http://www.tspnsports.com/2010/01/14/meac-swac-rank-among-top-3-in-fcs-conference-revenues.htm

What has to be done now is to find out how much money came from their prospective deals, if they indeed have a Television Deal.

[Bogus Megapardus]

I've been swimming upstream on this subject for years. Years ago, an contact within the PL told me that the chief reason why there was no PL TV package was that Lehigh and Lafayette simply did not want to give up their own networks for league-wide coverage. The Lehigh Valley audience simply did not want to see Bucknell-Fordham or Georgetown-Towson on their TV screens when they could see Lehigh every week instead (granted, this conversation was a few years ago). As a result, regional networks are never going to bid on a league package that doesn't exist.

While the SE2 and Channel 69 packages are good for Leh/Laf, TV coverage is spotty at best (and non-existent at worst) in the rest of the league. Holy Cross coverage on Channel 3 in Worcester has diminished considerably over the years, Colgate gets a game or two on Time Warner cable, but that's about it. Neither Fordham nor Georgetown can secure a local TV deal solely on one team's games and I'm not sure Bucknell could either.

Again, I'm not saying it's not a nice arrangement for the TV sets in Center Valley, but the PL simply has no consistent visibility outside the Lehigh Valley corridor that could provide it some well-deserved attention.

Well, the PL certainly has the know-how to do it, but getting LU and LC to give up their every-weekend coverage in favor of a game of the week format would require some pretty broad-based commitments across the northeast, at least for now. Soon enough, though, every game will have the potential to be available in high quality on web-enabled televisions through an ESPN3-like distributor. Versus and CBS College come to mind. I'm certain that a Georgetown-Columbia or Georgetown-Princeton game will attract viewers in D.C., as would a Georgetown vs. anyone they think they have a chance of beating, at this point. If the PL votes to remain non-scholarship, I'd bet it will be with a renewal of the scheduling agreement with the Ancients and a determined effort to broadcast not only those well-attended Harvard-Penn games, but the slightly-less-notable Georgetown-Bucknell clashes as well. If the League chooses what has been referred to here as the "Basketball Option," then I imagine television will go "Basketball Option" as well.

[TexasTerror]

Here how the FCS Conferences rank among revenue. (This may be an Article Repost but it's very relevant to this study and discussion)

Here are the 2008 revenue rankings for the FCS member conferences.
Rank Conference 2008 Revenues
1. Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference $ 5,929,689.00
2. Colonial Athletic Association $ 5,323,989.00
3. Southwestern Athletic Conference $ 4,859,155.00
4. Southern Conference $ 4,589,318.00
5. Southland Conference $ 3,642,511.00
6. Big South Conference $ 3,260,046.00
7. Big Sky Conference $ 3,255,085.00
8. Patriot League $ 2,861,333.00
9. Northeast Conference $ 2,040,563.00
10. Colonial Athletic Association Football, Inc. $ 901,515.00
11. Ohio Valley Conference $ 474,485.00
12 Missouri Valley Football Conference $ 393,347.00
13. Great West Conference $ 38,913.00
Pioneer Football League No report found
Ivy League No report found

Without looking at the PDF - what is this revenue? Revenue that goes right to the league office? Revenue that gets spread out amongst member institutions or what?

[WestCoastAggie]

Without looking at the PDF - what is this revenue? Revenue that goes right to the league office? Revenue that gets spread out amongst member institutions or what?

This is the Gross Revenue that is reported on the Conference's 990 forms filed with the Internal Revenue Service which includes the amounts that are distributed to member institutions.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

So this includes everything - including NCAA B-ball payouts?

[BearsCountry]

So judging by this you should assume what the CAA and MVFC made is the true represntation of what FCS football makes. The top two leagues make 900k and 400k basically. HBCU's do make big bucks off their classic games that is for sure.

[TexasTerror]

So judging by this you should assume what the CAA and MVFC made is the true represntation of what FCS football makes. The top two leagues make 900k and 400k basically. HBCU's do make big bucks off their classic games that is for sure.

I am not sure what to assume...

The conference and NCAA distribution does not match what is supplied by the USA Today (http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/ncaa-finances.htm) database, unless the SWAC office is keeping all the proceeds.

SHSU brought in $543,151 from NCAA/conference distributions in 2008-09 while Southeastern Louisiana had 473,884.00.

On the other hand, the "FCS leader" in the category Arkansas-Pine Bluff brought in $183,888 and Grambling $278,316.

Now, let's look at another conference on the opposite end of the spectrum from the SWAC - the Ohio Valley, who is not doing so hot per the chart.

Eastern Kentucky brought in $695,932 with Eastern Illinois at $923,865.

Again, just examples...but I am just confused on where these revenue figures are coming from, especially in light of the OVC being a big-time bread winner over the SWAC and SLC - two leagues that are seemingly leaps and bounds above them.

[mikebigg]

I am currently conducting research on Athletic Dept Finances and I have a hypothesis that ESPN is "lowballing" the SWAC & MEAC with their Exclusive TV Deal. The only way I can either prove or disprove this hypothesis would be to see the Contracts that other FCS Conferences have with their prospective TV Networks.

Does anyone know the amounts that the other FCS Conferences are earning from their TV Deals?

And if you don't feel like sharing that info on this thread, please send me a PM or email me the details @ [email protected]

Thanks! xthumbsupx

Has anyone answered the question yet? Interesting...

[TexasTerror]

Has anyone answered the question yet? Interesting...

Not yet - but a secondary question to that one, that would also be interesting is..."what are the school distributions from the conference through the league's television deals?"

The SWAC, Pioneer or whomever could have a great TV deal - but if the schools aren't getting a nice cut, especially in light of schools paying membership fees to the league, what good is it anyway? I think some of the revenues out there - whether FBS or FCS - are exaggerated based on the figures USA Today has on that database.

[centexguy]

I don't have the link in front of me but I read that the MAC and Sun Belt make around $1 million a year from their TV contracts. Since those are FBS conferences I'd be surprised that any FCS conference would have a better TV contract but I could be wrong.

[WestCoastAggie]

Big ups to LFN and TT for their help today.

To answer these questions:

1. How much does the Conferences earn from their TV/Webstream Deals?

2. How much does each school receive from their conference deal, if one is in place?

I have to do a few things.

1. Use the USAToday Database and NCAA Financial data and 2. compare the data and connect the dots, kinda.

The 990 information from the Conferences (Thanks www.TSPNSports.com) doesn't detail what money comes from where. But since it's the Gross Revenue for the conference, we have to assume that this includes the TV/Stream revenue.

Once again, thanks for your help.

On a side note, one can look to do a comparison of the Direct Institutional Support. It is fascination how some schools athletic budgets have over 50% of direct institutional support.

[aceinthehole]

AFAIK, although the NEC does have a league wide "TV Deal" for football and basketball, let's be clear they don't make any money from the networks.

ESPN may pay the Big East millions for the RIGHTS to television their games, but the NEC actually BUYS time on regional netowrks to televise games. If we get enough advertising sponsors to cover our costs for production and buy time, we may make a profit.

I have to assume many of the other mid-major conferences and schools work this way. These televised games are more like "infomercials" for the conf/school. Comcast and Fox Sports is not PAYING for for FCS games (for the most part). It just doesn't draw the ratings to make money.

[mikebigg]

Wondering if FCS Division ever gave thought to "pairing" conferences into Bowl games (like SWAC vs MEAC) for the first round and then those winners advancing to the playoffs. For example...The Soutland vs The OVC at a neutral site; Southern vs CAA in a neutral site; etc and then seed the teams via the bid process (as now) for the following rounds. Just a thought!

[Lehigh Football Nation]

Wondering if FCS Division ever gave thought to "pairing" conferences into Bowl games (like SWAC vs MEAC) for the first round and then those winners advancing to the playoffs. For example...The Soutland vs The OVC at a neutral site; Southern vs CAA in a neutral site; etc and then seed the teams via the bid process (as now) for the following rounds. Just a thought!

I'm not opposed to that idea and have proposed a SWAC/MEAC, Patriot/Ivy first round game before, but the problem is that it ends up like being a PIG in the NCAA tournament. If the SWAC team were #1 in the country and the MEAC team were #2, one would be eliminated in the first round. You would, however, have a "D-I HBCU National Champ" and a "D-I Academic Index National Champ" if you did things this way.

The other problem is that it works great for SWAC/MEAC and Patriot/Ivy, but other conferences are not similarly aligned philosophically.

[Bogus Megapardus]

I'm not opposed to that idea and have proposed a SWAC/MEAC, Patriot/Ivy first round game before, but the problem is that it ends up like being a PIG in the NCAA tournament. If the SWAC team were #1 in the country and the MEAC team were #2, one would be eliminated in the first round. You would, however, have a "D-I HBCU National Champ" and a "D-I Academic Index National Champ" if you did things this way.

The other problem is that it works great for SWAC/MEAC and Patriot/Ivy, but other conferences are not similarly aligned philosophically.

As you have written before, LFN, the "IQ Bowl" gets played the day they decide to stop playing the Harvard/Yale Game.

(Nevertheless, how about a game pitting the winner of Harvard/Yale against the winner of Lafayette/Lehigh?)

[mikebigg]

There would be kinks to work out... but the possible elimination of a top seeded team (due to a #1 and #2 playing early) probably wouldn't happen very often, but if it did it would at least make for a well attended (and televised) early round game.

Once the first round is over...(and the "bowl" arrangments/opportunities taken advantage of), go back and start the process similar to now with the bid process. This might be a win/win solution for the schools (bowl game money) while keeping the playoff system. Just a thought!

[CrazyCat]

Replying to the thread question. I believe the Griz and Cat contracts do not make them much money but every game from both teams are televised and as an added bonus, the Bobcat games will be in HD this year.