Apple Buying ESPN Is Inevitable

WhosYourDawggy said:
Yup. for people who don't know ... when you had basic cable, ESPN was by far the most expensive part of your package. If you were paying a couple hundred bucks, $10-$20 of that was going to ESPN. And you paid that even if you never watched the channel a single time. Well, by 2027, the 100 million household number will be down to about 30 million. That's a 70% reduction.

There will be an inflection point where ESPN will be better off offering all their product on a streaming channel (e.g,. Netflix, Prime, etc. ). They can't do that now because it will cannibalize what cable revenue they have left. Look at it this way ... I pay $80 for YTTV and the only thing I watch on it are ESPN and RedZone. When ESPN finally says I can get all ESPN games and channels on the ESPN+ streaming package for, say, $30 a month, I'm done with YTTV. I save $600 a year. Candidly, I don't care about the money and I'll likely keep it and get both. But a lot of people will drop YTTV and get just ESPN.
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This assumes ESPN wants to be in the DTC game. There are still plenty of streaming services that ESPN could use to get their product out. ESPN, if spun off from Disney, would own the distribution rights. Diamond Sports has shown everyone that trying to build your own DTC service is not the way to go. The best set up would be reduced fees from the cable/streaming services in order to get the ability to also have a DTC option. In the Diamond Sports Group attempt at that, only AT&T was willing to agree to that deal, everyone else said to pound sand and the reason I've heard is because DSG still wanted full fees while also standing up their own competing service. It drove DSG to bankruptcy and a forfeiture of some of their broadcast rights. Even with ESPN already having the + streaming service, it's terrible and not something that enough people would purchase as a standalone product. ESPN made most of their money from people that actually never watched their channel because of the setup like you pointed out.
 
WhosYourDawggy said:
While the woke aspect is a problem, that's not their main problem. ESPN was simply built on a model that no longer works. That's a way bigger problem than them being woke.
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That was the writer being colorful but I do think it has hurt them for non-sporting event ratings. I'll watch the college stuff but everything else is almost painful.

I actually don't think the ESPN model is broken as they are still profitable and honestly could be made even more profitable with the right team running it but the problem is ESPN will never make the revenue it used to so for the most part it is flat or declining. That is why Disney is interested in unloading it because it is a big expense but doesn't do much for the stock price due to a lack of growth opportunity. It isn't necessarily because it doesn't make money but more of it isn't going to grow revenue and because of that media legacy companies like ESPN and ABC are more than likely up to be unloaded by Disney at some point.

It makes a ton of sense for Apple because one they have the money, they need content and the investment in ESPN would be minor compared to the dollars they are spending to develop entertainment content and with ESPN they can sell ads. I would argue it makes a lot of sense for Amazon as well since they spent a billion dollars+ on Lord of The Rings content. At least you know ESPN will make money and will drive streaming subscriptions.
 
Wild Turkey said:
That was the writer being colorful but I do think it has hurt them for non-sporting event ratings. I'll watch the college stuff but everything else is almost painful.

I actually don't think the ESPN model is broken as they are still profitable and honestly could be made even more profitable with the right team running it but the problem is ESPN will never make the revenue it used to so for the most part it is flat or declining. That is why Disney is interested in unloading it because it is a big expense but doesn't do much for the stock price due to a lack of growth opportunity. It isn't necessarily because it doesn't make money but more of it isn't going to grow revenue and because of that media legacy companies like ESPN and ABC are more than likely up to be unloaded by Disney at some point.

It makes a ton of sense for Apple because one they have the money, they need content and the investment in ESPN would be minor compared to the dollars they are spending to develop entertainment content and with ESPN they can sell ads. I would argue it makes a lot of sense for Amazon as well since they spent a billion dollars+ on Lord of The Rings content. At least you know ESPN will make money and will drive streaming subscriptions.
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The problem seems to me that unless they leave ESPN out on its own - on YTTV, on cable, on other streaming platforms - it won't work. People like ESPN because you can get it everywhere. If you have to have an Apple sub to get it, forget about it. So, it won't be like Apple is going to add this to its inventory like a movie. ESPN as a separate unit will have to make sense for them to buy it.
 
WhosYourDawggy said:
The problem seems to me that unless they leave ESPN out on its own - on YTTV, on cable, on other streaming platforms - it won't work. People like ESPN because you can get it everywhere. If you have to have an Apple sub to get it, forget about it. So, it won't be like Apple is going to add this to its inventory like a movie. ESPN as a separate unit will have to make sense for them to buy it.
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If they are smart which those guys have been proven to be then they will grab about 3 games a week to stream and will keep the rest of the inventory as it is and keep that revenue.

That will be plenty to grab the steaming subscriptions they will need. The truth is there is a massive amount of inventory they have under contract so it won’t be hard to add Apppe into the mix.

Personally I would use the opportunity to expand into LIVE TV anyway and attempt to make myself a one stop shop.
 
WhosYourDawggy said:
The problem seems to me that unless they leave ESPN out on its own - on YTTV, on cable, on other streaming platforms - it won't work. People like ESPN because you can get it everywhere. If you have to have an Apple sub to get it, forget about it. So, it won't be like Apple is going to add this to its inventory like a movie. ESPN as a separate unit will have to make sense for them to buy it.
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Apple allows their exclusive games to be on MLB.TV as well as the MLS games to exist on mutiple places while also having the streaming rights so I wouldn't expect much different from the full ESPN lineup.
 
fordman84 said:
Apple allows their exclusive games to be on MLB.TV as well as the MLS games to exist on mutiple places while also having the streaming rights so I wouldn't expect much different from the full ESPN lineup.
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Bingo

The exception is they pay to stream the others where they they will be paid to let others stream. You think about how much they spend to produce entertainment content its almost a no-brainer for both Apple or Prime.
 
Wild Turkey said:
If they are smart which those guys have been proven to be then they will grab about 3 games a week to stream and will keep the rest of the inventory as it is and keep that revenue.

That will be plenty to grab the steaming subscriptions they will need. The truth is there is a massive amount of inventory they have under contract so it won’t be hard to add Apppe into the mix.

Personally I would use the opportunity to expand into LIVE TV anyway and attempt to make myself a one stop shop.
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Apples model isn't to try to get everything onto branded platforms, they are happy to just take royalties. I could see them doing the same. They have the content contracts and then farm them out individually to different channels and services. I could see them staying on traditional cable, streaming services, and their own platform.
 
fordman84 said:
Apples model isn't to try to get everything onto branded platforms, they are happy to just take royalties. I could see them doing the same. They have the content contracts and then farm them out individually to different channels and services. I could see them staying on traditional cable, streaming services, and their own platform.
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They would have to or they will do serious damage to college football and that will be a cash cow for them. We aren't even talking the NFL rights ESPN owns that they would be purchasing plus the gambling partnerships now. Can you imagine being able to watch CFB on your phone and placing bets while watching the pre-game shows? There will be an app for that.
 
fordman84 said:
Apples model isn't to try to get everything onto branded platforms, they are happy to just take royalties. I could see them doing the same. They have the content contracts and then farm them out individually to different channels and services. I could see them staying on traditional cable, streaming services, and their own platform.
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will this finally kill the longhorn network? or is it dead now?

247sports.com

Tarp's Take: A&M was ultimately the bigger winner with LHN

.
247sports.com 247sports.com
 
Wild Turkey said:
They would have to or they will do serious damage to college football and that will be a cash cow for them. We aren't even talking the NFL rights ESPN owns that they would be purchasing plus the gambling partnerships now. Can you imagine being able to watch CFB on your phone and placing bets while watching the pre-game shows? There will be an app for that.
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I would think they just create something like an Apple One+ that includes a new streamer for sports. They would have music, TV, games, and sports that you could get for $30/month with a family subscription.
 
huskers1217 said:
will this finally kill the longhorn network? or is it dead now?

247sports.com

Tarp's Take: A&M was ultimately the bigger winner with LHN

.
247sports.com 247sports.com
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Honestly don't even know what is on the LHN anymore. But I could see each of the conference channels that Apple owns still being an app/channel. The more you can keep the many, many products that ESPN has the rights to separate the more bespoke the product feels. You just need a container of sorts to house them all, and Apple would be perfect for that.
 
fordman84 said:
Honestly don't even know what is on the LHN anymore. But I could see each of the conference channels that Apple owns still being an app/channel. The more you can keep the many, many products that ESPN has the rights to separate the more bespoke the product feels. You just need a container of sorts to house them all, and Apple would be perfect for that.
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people were all worried about what LHN would have.. and in the end it wasn't much outside all the other sports it showed.
 
Thiefery said:
people were all worried about what LHN would have.. and in the end it wasn't much outside all the other sports it showed.
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I think people more worried about what Jexas was trying to do with the LHN, specifically televising the HS games of their top recruits. If it was just for airing a lesser football game and then non-football sports then no one would have cared. Dodds trying to put prep/HS games on there was what ticked most, read that is "me", off. :)
 
huskers1217 said:
only on bears games..... @beardown07 is determined not to see the Bears score at all this year
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I bought the Youtube shit, and I have to admit, the idea of streaming the games unnerves me a bit. Shit better not be glitchy or inconsistent. The few times that my satellite glitched over the years during games was not a pretty site. I think I'd be more composed in a house fire. lulz
 
beardown07 said:
I bought the Youtube shit, and I have to admit, the idea of streaming the games unnerves me a bit. Shit better not be glitchy or inconsistent. The few times that my satellite glitched over the years during games was not a pretty site. I think I'd be more composed in a house fire. lulz
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YouTube TV worked great for me last season for college ball
 
beardown07 said:
I bought the Youtube shit, and I have to admit, the idea of streaming the games unnerves me a bit. Shit better not be glitchy or inconsistent. The few times that my satellite glitched over the years during games was not a pretty site. I think I'd be more composed in a house fire. lulz
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I stream HULU Live for everything and it's rare that I have issues.

If it is a huge game with lots of people streaming in your area trying to watch the same game there can be issues due to the volume but it's rare. What I have found for games like the Iron Bowl or The Super Bowl it is best not to change the channel during the event as sometimes trying to come back can be an issue.

With cable and satellite, I've had similar issues during storms and such so its really no bigger issue for streaming.
 
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