Rose Bowl Question

Because ESPN has a TON of money and they bid higher. ESPN is also going to start charging cable networks more because they have such a huge following, companies like time warner are considering dropping ESPN because of the cost increase but are worried that people will stop buying cable and change to satellite/direct tv.

The first response is right. It is the same reason as Monday Night Football now on ESPN. Although I can't imagine cable companies seriously considering dropping ESPN. ESPN charges much more per customer than other cable channels.

exciting wrote:

Because ESPN has a TON of money and they bid higher.

Given the ownership structure, I doubt that ABC and ESPN are bidding against each other.

espn is in a long process of acquiring every single sporting event that anyone has interest in watching. When that happens which will be very soon, they will hold those games hostage for so much money it will be unbelievable to even the most cynical analysts in the industry. They will eventually break every cable and satellite company and will make everybody just start paying them directly to get the 12 or 14 networks that they will be up to. At that point just the "fanatics" will be willing to pay their exhorbitant rates and the same thing will happen to football and basketball that happened to boxing 20 years ago. Those sports will be missed by a whole generation and soon nobody will care about them.

Mr Mountain wrote:

espn is in a long process of acquiring every single sporting event that anyone has interest in watching. When that happens which will be very soon, they will hold those games hostage for so much money it will be unbelievable to even the most cynical analysts in the industry. They will eventually break every cable and satellite company and will make everybody just start paying them directly to get the 12 or 14 networks that they will be up to. At that point just the "fanatics" will be willing to pay their exhorbitant rates and the same thing will happen to football and basketball that happened to boxing 20 years ago. Those sports will be missed by a whole generation and soon nobody will care about them.

Good, then maybe we'll watch the road race of the week on ABC!

Little Alien wrote:

Why is the Grand Daddy of all bowl games on a cable network and the freaking Out Back bowl on ABC? And where is Keith Jackson? his just ain't right! And how about big Ten football!

Yes - how about the "Big" Ten football?

Good one?

Seruoisly, if running could be marketed correctly it could be popular (again). I the mid 80's I was with my then future wife's extended family. They, a group of sedentary, overweight, cig smoking, non-athletic people, were talking (yap, yap, yap) while I watched a 10K Road Race from Miami.

As the race neared the finish it was very close. Two guys side by side. Gradually, the room became very quiet as they, one by one, took notice of the race.

They ended up cheering for one of the runners(the white American and not the black Kenyan- go figure).

Then, when it was over one particularly "dumb" relatative asked, "Is this the Olympic?".

The point it, they loved it and started asking all kinds of questions.

What if the masses of 10kers started watching the Road Race of the Week?

ABC/ESPN will singlehandedly destroy sports in the US. First they ruin the NBA by pimping a few select players and making it seem like the only thing interesting about basketball is the slam dunk. Now they want everyone to pay extra for every event that matters...as if we don't already pay enough by watching millions of dollars of advertisements each game. Thanks ESPN for taking away my ability to watch the games that count!! You're really cool!! I blame this on the Republicans...only thing that matters is $$$$$$$$$$$

Very good point. I remember when ESPN brought us sports that we didn't usually get to see. Now, they suck.

When I listen to their analysts I want to puke. Plus, they pretend that the BCS is legit. Their knowledge of sports is no more than the average 16 year old girl who thinks baseball is the most populsr sport in the world and that anyone but the US cares about the NFL.

Sports in the USA just sucks, it has been watered down.

I've ranted too long. I'm pissed.

ESPN is just an extended Billy Mays infomercial for the sports they wnat to hype. The most mislabeled program on tv is ESPN News. Most of the time they are just making fun of things they don't like (soccer) and hyping players, games, and sports they like so they ensure selective hero worship continues.

Little Alien wrote:

Why is the Grand Daddy of all bowl games on a cable network and the freaking Out Back bowl on ABC? And where is Keith Jackson? his just ain't right! And how about big Ten football!

1. Cable networks aren't second-class anymore, especially when it comes to airing sports. This ain't the 80s.

2. Keith Jackson retired a few years ago, man. I miss that voice too. At least he went out on top, calling that incredible USC-Texas Rose Bowl.

3. Wow is the Big 10 down. A down year in a down decade, really. Who knows, maybe the extended season when the conference goes to 12 will result in more prepared teams come bowl time. As it stands, all the Big 10 teams besides Iowa and Northwestern look like they started the offseason a month ago. Don't expect Ohio State to reverse that trend either.

Disney probably wanted to raise the bargaining power of ESPN in talks with cable companies. I believe Disney purchases the rights, not either individual station, and can then air the games on whichever of their channels they choose (even toon disney if they wanted)

At least the Big Ten will now have Nebraska to buck them up!

So funny that I just happened to come to the boards just now, and find this thread/question. Funny, because I rhetorically asked the SAME question in a conversation with a friend yesterday. WTF is up with these major bowl games on a 'cable' network like ESPN...rather than on one of the traditional major networks...like ABC. I think broadcasting a Rose Bowl on ESPN subtly erodes the the 'big time' factor/tradition of this traditionally 'big time-est' of the 'big time' bowl games. Of course, having so many now-corporate sponsored bowl games spread over weeks has already done the eroding thing to all the bowl games. At the risk of sounding like a curmudgeon, I do miss those New Years Days of old, when you had something like four or five bowl games on...and at the end of the day you had a national champion. Just kickin' it old school there for a moment. Truthfully, I'd prefer a return to that, over some sort of (probably) equally flawed playoff system. I suppose it's similar to getting the government we deserve--if college football fans continue to do the 'sheeple' thing, blindly going along with whatever money-machine scheme the big conferences want to impose...then things will continue to suck. Good thing I care way more about track and cross country. Happy New Year to all of you runners! And 2010 closed with Geb winning a 10K, so all is right with the world again. Well, sort of. :-)

Cable channels are two notches down from the broadcast network stations and one notch down from the local big market stations. You can determine the importance of any given sporting event by whether it's on broadcast or cable.

People always place way too much emphasis on bowl games. When the Big 10 had a great bowl record last year, it didn't make them a great conference. When the Big 10 (really, Michigan and Michigan State) had a terrible day Saturday, it doesn't make them a terrible conference.

Who seriously doesn't have cable or satellite in this day and age? This isn't the 50's anymore. Monday Night Football is on ESPN as well, guess that must be a second-tier event now too. Oh wait, 17 million people (15.3 rating) somehow managed watched Packers-Vikings last year despite its being broadcast on that dadgum "cable" thingermajig.

i don't have cable