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Post by kiyoat on Jul 19, 2022 11:00:52 GMT -6
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Post by Yotes on Jul 19, 2022 12:17:28 GMT -6
I'm looking at the NCHC.tv for reference. It seems you pay $115 per year to get access to all games coming from an NCHC venue. Great for those programs who have no other broadcast means, but seems largely pointless for a program like UND where MidcoSN carries their games anyways. The Big Sky used to have a digital network. I believe you could use it to watch most, if not all, games at Big Sky schools for football and basketball, free of charge. Looks like they cut it last year in favor of the ESPN+ route: bigskyconf.com/news/2021/6/9/general-big-sky-conference-reaches-multi-year-multi-platform-rights-agreement-with-espn.aspxI believe we already have effectively all Summit games broadcast on ESPN+. I can't remember any road games in recent years that I couldn't get. It would be my preference to keep things the way they are instead of having to sign up for yet another subscription service if I want to catch these road games. |
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yote18
Senior Member
Posts: 522
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Post by yote18 on Jul 19, 2022 13:26:49 GMT -6
I don’t know if this is the strategy I’d take right now. Do you put in place certain standards for every school to have for broadcasts? MidCo covers a majority of the games for the Dakotas that I assume would be carried under the deal but what about WIU, ORU,DU and UST? Who would do their broadcasts?
I like the idea of having access to all games, but I think now is the time to start capitalizing on our leagues recent successes. We’ve shown the country that a summit team is capable of pulling upsets now we just need to find ways to ensure that the summit brand is being showcased to audiences in ways that doesn’t involve paying for espn+.
I’ll use USD and SDSU WBB/mbb, that’s a intrastate rivalry (and arguably the best and most fierce in the league) which the league should be trying to showcase outside of the traditional market. You could also use the ORU/SDSU recent rivalry.
TLDR: I’d rather see the league trying to reach new audiences and grow the brand. A league specific streaming platform doesn’t do that imo. You gotta win the branding game to win the long term.
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Post by kiyoat on Jul 19, 2022 14:40:12 GMT -6
^^^ all good points. I agree that I personally don't need any more subscriptions unless it gives me something substantially better than what I have now.
When I cut the cord and left cable I was paying $40/month for HULU live (including ESPN) and $5/month for ESPN+. Now I'm paying $65 for Hulu live/ $7 for ESPN+. In August ESPN+ goes up to $10/month and in December Hulu live goes up to $70. So over the course of just a few years I went from $540/year to $960/year total for essentially the same product. And I still have to watch ads on Hulu. I'll be interested in seeing what other options there are out there to watch MVFC and Summit sports. What are folks paying for MidCo these days?
I AM thankful that our University provides high-quality free broadcast streams for home games. I use the hell out of that service.
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Post by nodak651 on Sept 28, 2022 11:52:00 GMT -6
Anyone have any idea on when we can expect an update about this?
I just thought about it because the NCHC's new commissioner stated, at their media day, that they looked into ESPN+ and Flo recently, and they opted to stay with NCHC.tv. I'm guessing they didnt make any changes because keeping things in house produces the most revenue (and because Flo sucks regardless). Not sure what ESPN was telling them, but they probably gave a low ball offer.
I bring this up because there are a lot of similarities between the NCHC and the Summit League that are relevent to the topic of this thread.
No matter the sport, ESPN+ obviously provides the greatest steaming exposure. However, Fenton has stated multiple times that he wants to improve allegiance/pride (for lack of a better word) that fans of Summit League teams feel towards the league, and that he thinks league-owned streaming platforms can help to accomplish that. He feels strongly that this worked for for the NCHC, as fans of the leagues teams generally have a lot of pride in regard to the conference and they are also "fans" of the league itself, in a way. I could see him wanting to solidify and strengthen the Summit brand by investing in something like Summit.TV, because the league is currently pretty fractured as fans of most schools dont really feel like they have a strong (or any) connection to the league - theres a lack of unity and it hurts the leagues image, and this is partly why it has been a revolving door with so many schools bolting, or looking to bolt, over the course of its history. By improving the standing of the league to fans of the leagues schools, by creating a sense of unity, the league would be on much stronger footing when looking to broaden its reach with potential TV partners.
I think that's Fenton's mind set at least. I'm not sure what I think is the best direction for the league to take, but I think Summit.TV would generate significantly more revenue than any other option would at this time. I think the broadcast quality would be at least as good as anything the league would have on ESPN (I mean look at WIU football broadcasts - ESPN isn't going to guarantee quality broadcasts). NCHC.TV pays out 80% of the revenue back to league schools, as well (based on fan allegiance which is selected when purchasing a subseiption), so there is legit money to be made, and this can also help to incentivise investment in production quality, or the revenue can also be reinvested to back into basketball or other sports programs, which would help to strengthen the leagues competitiveness. That revenue split could also be tinkered with, and the league could invest, say, 50% of the profits, to improve the production quality at schools like WIU that do not have TV partners.
My question to you guys is how much revenue do you think the league, or more specifically, USD would need to generate in order to make passing up increased exposure from a league wide espn+ deal worth while? For example, UND made about 360k last year from NCHC, and I think With your basketball and volleyball success, USD could probably be in the same ballpark or better. Would that be worth it to you? I'm asking this with the assumption that Summit.TV would not preclude the league from having conference tournament or normal league games on national TV - those games would just be blacked out on Summit.TV (which is how it works when NCHC games are on CBSSN. Additionally, if the league had their own streaming network, they wouldn't be locked into a deal with ESPN where they only broadcast the championship game on ESPN2 or something - they could choose to do so, but they could also have the opportunity to work with Fox or CBSSN to increase the quantity or dates of televised games, for example.
For me personally, I like the Summit.TV concept, and I also like NCHC.TV, but it would suck having to pay for two separate streaming services to watch home games at UND, and three really, if we include espn+ for football.
I think this works for NCHC because even though hockey is much more niche, it has very passionate fans which are willing to spend the 20-30 bucks a month to watch the games. However, I'm not sure if that model would work as well in the Summit League - USD, SDSU, NDSU would all do fine, but I'd be skeptical about if schools like UND, WIU, Omaha, Denver, UST, or ORU would be able to drive enough subscriptions (and at a high enough price point) to make something like this worthwhile for olympic sports alone (without sports like hockey or football being included).
Sorry for the long post. A.D.D. and being burnt out at work are a bad combo.
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Post by Yotes on Oct 1, 2022 9:24:10 GMT -6
There seems to be a new Summit League app, curiously featuring fan rewards points. Has anyone else seen this?
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Post by oldhare on Oct 3, 2022 9:10:30 GMT -6
There seems to be a new Summit League app, curiously featuring fan rewards points. Has anyone else seen this? I think going to Summit website will find it. thesummitleague@rewards-message.com |
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Post by kiyoat on Oct 3, 2022 10:16:39 GMT -6
I'm mostly interested in how a digital network (if they do that) would affect access to watching games. Right now we do have it good in terms of coverage, with MidCoSN doing a pro job, especially on BB games. And of course we are spoiled as Yote fans to have free streaming of home games in many sports. It's nice when those broadcasts get picked up by ESPN+ or ESPN3, too.
However, Premium streaming of non-covered home games from Denver, SDSU, NDSU and UND is a problem for both Summit fan access and national exposure. Those subscription-based streams have been around for a while, and I'm sure they make those programs some money. Will be interesting to see if a digital network would make it easier for an average Coyote fan to see more conference games in Basketball, Volleyball, Softball, etc. Also, would that make it more or less likely for games to get picked up by ESPN? What about MidCo?
Would be nice if there would be an update from the conference as to where things are going.
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Post by GoYotes on Oct 25, 2022 10:11:04 GMT -6
Per the goyotes.com articles linked below, all USD home basketball games will be steamed on Midco Sports Plus. For all home games not broadcast by Midco Sports, they will stream the goyotes.com stream. Perhaps this is a precursor to all Summit League games being streamed on Midco Sports Plus. MBBWBB |
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Post by Yote 53 on Oct 25, 2022 10:57:35 GMT -6
What about ESPN+? Are games not going to be on ESPN+? What about Miss State, BYU, Air Force?
Bad move. The rest of the country has ESPN+ so the conference will fade into obscurity from national perspective. Not that it was on the top of people's minds but this makes it even harder to rise in the mid-major ranks.
I'm not paying for yet another streaming service. Most people are getting tapped out on that anymore.
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Post by kiyoat on Oct 25, 2022 10:58:50 GMT -6
Per the goyotes.com articles linked below, all USD home basketball games will be steamed on Midco Sports Plus. For all home games not broadcast by Midco Sports, they will stream the goyotes.com stream. Perhaps this is a precursor to all Summit League games being streamed on Midco Sports Plus. MBBWBBHmm. I'm all for having all Summit games under one subscription-based service, but it seems like this year will be LESS desirable. For Yotes fans, we used to have ALL home games on a free stream, and All away games from ORU/ KC/ WIU/ UST/ Omaha on free streams. The away games at Denver/ NDSU/ UND/ SDSU were behind paywalls unless they were picked up by Midco (and ESPN+)... which are both fee-based subscriptions, too. So now to access the same, I'll need to pay $10/month (increased this year) for ESPN+, plus $6/ month for a Midco+ subscription, and even then some games will stay behind the Denver/NDSU/SDSU/UND paywall. The only added benefit of adding a Midco+ subscription will be if some games involving the three participant schools (USD/SDSU/UND) are on Midco+ but not Midco/ESPN+? yay. I may have to wait until one subscription gives me more broad Summit access. We'll see. |
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Post by kiyoat on Oct 25, 2022 11:10:51 GMT -6
After reading the article, I don't think that MidCo+ is "locking out" any programming for now. So all home games should either be on TV (both Midco and ESPN+ and Midco+) or provided with a free stream (also available from Midco+). So nothing will change for me, since I have an ESPN+ subscription. Maybe adding Midco+ would unlock some programming for Jacks and F-Hawk home games?
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Post by Yotes on Oct 25, 2022 11:18:07 GMT -6
Home games broadcast on either Midco or MidcoSN2 for last year and this coming year (excluding the non D1 games): 2021-22: 9/13 womens, 7/14 mens. 2022-23: 8/13 womens, 6/12 mens. 2021 WBB news release2021 MBB news releaseIt seems to me that Midco is broadcasting effectively the same number of home games for USD, when you account for there being 2 fewer games this season, and then if you would prefer to have their production of the games instead of the goyotes.com stream you can pay for Midco+ I'm failing to see any negative connotations here. |
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Post by kiyoat on Oct 25, 2022 11:19:20 GMT -6
What about ESPN+? Are games not going to be on ESPN+? What about Miss State, BYU, Air Force? "Midco will provide its live game production to its streaming platform, Midco Sports Plus, as well as to ESPN3/+ for national coverage." "For all non-televised home games this season, the free GoYotes.com live stream will also be available on the Midco Sports Plus app." So in both cases, Midco+ is just supplementing the coverage. Not locking it out from ESPN+ or from the free GoYotes streams. At least for now. I think if a subscription-based Summit network was established, it still wouldn't prevent televised content from going to ESPN+, it would just change the model of free/subscription-based streaming provided by the individual schools. Instead of Denver/NDSU/UND/SDSU getting subscription money from their own individual services, all schools would get money from a shared fee-based stream. |
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Post by nodak651 on Nov 8, 2022 12:09:50 GMT -6
What about ESPN+? Are games not going to be on ESPN+? What about Miss State, BYU, Air Force? "Midco will provide its live game production to its streaming platform, Midco Sports Plus, as well as to ESPN3/+ for national coverage." "For all non-televised home games this season, the free GoYotes.com live stream will also be available on the Midco Sports Plus app." So in both cases, Midco+ is just supplementing the coverage. Not locking it out from ESPN+ or from the free GoYotes streams. At least for now. I think if a subscription-based Summit network was established, it still wouldn't prevent televised content from going to ESPN+, it would just change the model of free/subscription-based streaming provided by the individual schools. Instead of Denver/NDSU/UND/SDSU getting subscription money from their own individual services, all schools would get money from a shared fee-based stream. I have midco+. Allows me to watch games that I otherwise wouldn't have access to on ESPN3 (3 needs tv provider and I don't have streaming or cable tv) |
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