league wide streaming package?
Posted by phillysportsfan
league wide streaming package?
Posted by: phillysportsfan (---.hsd1.md.comcast.net)
Date: February 12, 2012 02:56PM
[www.philly.com]
Most of this is about basketball but if you skip down to the end to the "On the Horizon" paragraph the league talks about doing a league wide streaming package for all sports similar to what the Horizon league does: [www.horizonleague.org]
The whole article just sounds like a lot of empty talk as Harris as been referring to this plan for a few years now so I guess I will believe when I see it
On the Horizon
Plenty of people who follow the Ivy League acknowledge the financial expenditure involved in putting a national television package together. Often times, their next question is this: What about a leaguewide online streaming network?
The Horizon League is renowned among mid-major conferences for its broad (and free-of-charge) online streaming package. Lots of games from lots of sports are available online for fans to watch from anywhere.
Whether the broadcasts are free or not, there's still a a considerable financial cost to set the productions up. There is both a physical capital expenditure - cameras, replay equipment, etc. - and a human capital expenditure. Not every team in the Ivy League has made that investment yet.
"We want to move in that direction," Harris told me. "We have schools that have invested different amounts to date. All our schools are doing some form of streaming and we are definitely moving in that direction - the question is the timetable and when we will have an Ivy League network online."
Harris added that any leaguewide streaming setup will include all sports, not just the big ones.
"We know we have to start with a few sports, basketball or football, but we think it has to be all sports," she said. "We think digital streaming has the ability to reach more people internationally. Our base is overseas as well in the U.S. It’s the wave of the future, and it’s where people are used to getting our content."
The international fan base in the Ivy League is not something you might initially think of as a factor, but it is definitely there. There are plenty of students and alumni from many countries in Asia and Europe, and their numbers are increasing across every Ancient Eight campus.
Harris told me that "everyone’s willing and ready to move forward" to put together a leaguewide streaming package. "The question is the pace and how do we implement it."
And there, as Harris pointed out, is where the devil resides.
"We just need to figure out what the cost is going to be to do it the way we want to do it," she said. "Are all eight willing to make that level of investment, and what is that level? We’re still trying to figure that out. It’s an equipment investment and a personnel investment."
Price put it this way:
That’s a fundamental change to the way we do business. It’s a significant cost, it adds significant needs for staffing, it adds significant changes in job responsibilities for people who already work there. It’s not something that can be done on the cheap if it’s done right.
I spend a lot of time thinking about how we get from here to there, and as of now I don’t know how we get from here to there at this point.
Bilsky said that the expense of creating a leaguewide streaming package "would have to be matched by revenue which would be generated ourselves," whether through sponsorship or subscriptions.
"It’s the Ivy League, so it’s not going to come from the presidents," he said. "I think the initial investment would have to come through the individual schools, and every school’s way of doing business is different. In our case, we raised the money to buy the equipment and do this."
As far as finding sponsors goes, there are plenty of major companies out there with Ivy League alumni in their board rooms. But Bilsky said he doubts any deals will be made based on loyalty to alma maters.
"Even though we have Ivy League alumni who are CEOs at major companies, usually these decisions are made by their marketing folks," he said. "They will look at it as a pure business decision and say how many subscribers do you have, how many people are looking in... But I think that if we’re on the ground floor of this, the future for the Ivy League is phenomenal."
Most of this is about basketball but if you skip down to the end to the "On the Horizon" paragraph the league talks about doing a league wide streaming package for all sports similar to what the Horizon league does: [www.horizonleague.org]
The whole article just sounds like a lot of empty talk as Harris as been referring to this plan for a few years now so I guess I will believe when I see it
Re: league wide streaming package?
Posted by: Kyle Rose (---.c3-0.smr-ubr2.sbo-smr.ma.static.cable.rcn.com)
Date: February 12, 2012 04:23PM
Re: league wide streaming package?
Posted by: Robb (---.ks.ks.cox.net)
Date: February 12, 2012 05:02PM
What is the market for an all-Ivy package? I consider myself a pretty big hockey fan - Cornell first, obviously - but even I have no interest in streaming a Brown-Dartmouth game. The number of people who are interested in all of the games is not equal to the number of people who are interested in any of the games.
That said, if the service had better quality than Redcast at an equivalent price, I wouldn't complain about having to browse past all those other games to get to Cornell's.
That said, if the service had better quality than Redcast at an equivalent price, I wouldn't complain about having to browse past all those other games to get to Cornell's.
Re: league wide streaming package?
Posted by: upprdeck (---.syrcny.east.verizon.net)
Date: February 12, 2012 05:09PM
even the only cornell fan might still have interest in games between other opponents especially as the year comes to an end..you cant make money on this type of stuff, but you would think you could do it at a cost that it could be sponsered in a way to make it viable.
the more sports you try and cover the more money it loses..
unless they get creative and get students to do the brunt of the work, perhaps as part of some kind of course work in broadcasting/video/network type courses.. reduce the labor cost and the hardware costs are probably doable
the more sports you try and cover the more money it loses..
unless they get creative and get students to do the brunt of the work, perhaps as part of some kind of course work in broadcasting/video/network type courses.. reduce the labor cost and the hardware costs are probably doable
Re: league wide streaming package?
Posted by: ugarte (---.dyn.optonline.net)
Date: February 12, 2012 09:55PM
The existence of free streaming is probably a great marketing tool, particularly for a conference that recruits nationally like the Ivies.
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Re: league wide streaming package?
Posted by: jkahn (---.hsd1.il.comcast.net)
Date: February 12, 2012 10:48PM
It would get us our road games at Ivy opponents.Robb
What is the market for an all-Ivy package? I consider myself a pretty big hockey fan - Cornell first, obviously - but even I have no interest in streaming a Brown-Dartmouth game. The number of people who are interested in all of the games is not equal to the number of people who are interested in any of the games.
That said, if the service had better quality than Redcast at an equivalent price, I wouldn't complain about having to browse past all those other games to get to Cornell's.
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Re: league wide streaming package?
Posted by: Trotsky (---.dc.dc.cox.net)
Date: February 13, 2012 07:03AM
This is true of any package.Robb
The number of people who are interested in all of the games is not equal to the number of people who are interested in any of the games.
My only worry is perverse effects, e.g. the presence of a league package actually endangered getting a particular game (the league holds all the rights but then "directs your attention" to a particular event).
But as long as this just meant putting an Ivy wrapper around existing streaming resources, it could only help, insofar as it affected hockey at all. More games and schools = a better bargaining position, and more unhappy customers might lead to a slightly better level of technical competence and support.
Re: league wide streaming package?
Posted by: Scersk '97 (---.cmdnnj.fios.verizon.net)
Date: February 13, 2012 10:52AM
jkahn
It would get us our road games at Ivy opponents.Robb
What is the market for an all-Ivy package? I consider myself a pretty big hockey fan - Cornell first, obviously - but even I have no interest in streaming a Brown-Dartmouth game. The number of people who are interested in all of the games is not equal to the number of people who are interested in any of the games.
That said, if the service had better quality than Redcast at an equivalent price, I wouldn't complain about having to browse past all those other games to get to Cornell's.
Which would seem to be the chief benefit of any collective streaming package. One wonders (1) why the ECAC(HL) hasn't gone this direction already, and (2) why we have never seen "reciprocal" arrangements negotiated through which teams would share feeds for home and aways.
Of course, another part of me wonders how much a schedule fully available via internet streaming would decimate the already dwindling Traveling Faithful, turning the ECAC(HL) into another boring-ass WZHA.
PS Good on the pep band for road tripping to Clarkson and SLU this next weekend. Great trip: I suggest the Canton movie theater and anatomically correct snowmen on the village green.
Re: league wide streaming package?
Posted by: Jim Hyla (---.arthritishealthdoctors.com)
Date: February 13, 2012 01:23PM
I doubt people would stop going to away games just because of better streaming. Most go because it's such a different experience live versus video, and as you implied, it's easy enough to get to many of them, unlike WCHA.Scersk '97
jkahn
It would get us our road games at Ivy opponents.Robb
What is the market for an all-Ivy package? I consider myself a pretty big hockey fan - Cornell first, obviously - but even I have no interest in streaming a Brown-Dartmouth game. The number of people who are interested in all of the games is not equal to the number of people who are interested in any of the games.
That said, if the service had better quality than Redcast at an equivalent price, I wouldn't complain about having to browse past all those other games to get to Cornell's.
Which would seem to be the chief benefit of any collective streaming package. One wonders (1) why the ECAC(HL) hasn't gone this direction already, and (2) why we have never seen "reciprocal" arrangements negotiated through which teams would share feeds for home and aways.
Of course, another part of me wonders how much a schedule fully available via internet streaming would decimate the already dwindling Traveling Faithful, turning the ECAC(HL) into another boring-ass WZHA.
PS Good on the pep band for road tripping to Clarkson and SLU this next weekend. Great trip: I suggest the Canton movie theater and anatomically correct snowmen on the village green.
___________________________
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Cornell lawyers stopped the candy throwing. Jan/2005
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Cornell lawyers stopped the candy throwing. Jan/2005
Re: league wide streaming package?
Posted by: Chris '03 (38.104.240.---)
Date: February 13, 2012 01:37PM
Scersk '97
Of course, another part of me wonders how much a schedule fully available via internet streaming would decimate the already dwindling Traveling Faithful, turning the ECAC(HL) into another boring-ass WZHA.
I think decimate is a strong word there. I'm sure some people would choose to stream rather than travel. I also think that a robust streaming package would allow alumni the better opportunity to keep up with the team and increase the chance they feel connected enough to travel when the team comes to their relative neighborhood.
As for helping attendance of travelling fans, move the Friday start times back again! The games shouldn't start before 7:30 on Fridays.
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Re: league wide streaming package?
Posted by: Scersk '97 (---.cmdnnj.fios.verizon.net)
Date: February 13, 2012 03:54PM
Chris '03
As for helping attendance of travelling fans, move the Friday start times back again! The games shouldn't start before 7:30 on Fridays.
I know, I know! This has been bugging me for years, having grown up accustomed to the earlier (later) practice.
Otherwise, I agree with Jim's and your rebuttals to my griping. I am sure that a "robust streaming package" (think about it) would be, ultimately, a positive thing.
Re: league wide streaming package?
Posted by: KeithK (---.external.lmco.com)
Date: February 13, 2012 07:30PM
I think decimate is a perfect word for it. Using it's original meaning anyway. I can see losing 10% of the traveling fans to streaming.Chris '03
Scersk '97
Of course, another part of me wonders how much a schedule fully available via internet streaming would decimate the already dwindling Traveling Faithful, turning the ECAC(HL) into another boring-ass WZHA.
I think decimate is a strong word there. I'm sure some people would choose to stream rather than travel. I also think that a robust streaming package would allow alumni the better opportunity to keep up with the team and increase the chance they feel connected enough to travel when the team comes to their relative neighborhood.
Re: league wide streaming package?
Posted by: billhoward (---.hsia.citycenter.com)
Date: February 14, 2012 01:19AM
If the original meaning of decimate (as KeithK notes) means to reduce by a a tenth (not to one-tenth) then, yes, it could happen to fan participation. If you love the sport, you have to be there. I recall the last time I saw Cornell win a national title in person (that was a long time ago) and you just can't replicate it on TV or webcast. I wouldn't give up the experience of being in Boston and almost seeing Cornell take down Syracuse.
One package for all Ivy sports is a good idea. For hockey, the Ivy schools could at least swap rights, and figure out about Clarkson-Union later. I'd rather see it underwritten, and free. Once a year when it's threatening to rain or snow, I decide to stay home and watch the webcast.
One package for all Ivy sports is a good idea. For hockey, the Ivy schools could at least swap rights, and figure out about Clarkson-Union later. I'd rather see it underwritten, and free. Once a year when it's threatening to rain or snow, I decide to stay home and watch the webcast.
Re: league wide streaming package?
Posted by: cbuckser (134.186.175.---)
Date: February 14, 2012 12:12PM
Scersk '97
One wonders (1) why the ECAC(HL) hasn't gone this direction already, and (2) why we have never seen "reciprocal" arrangements negotiated through which teams would share feeds for home and aways.
In several prior seasons, Jeremy Hartigan attempted to reach reciprocity agreements. With one limited exception (a game at Princeton for which the webcast was marred by technical difficulties), he was unsuccessful. I figure the other schools didn't want to lose the revenue stream.
Re: league wide streaming package?
Posted by: KeithK (---.external.lmco.com)
Date: February 14, 2012 01:18PM
From wiki: [en.wikipedia.org]billhoward
If the original meaning of decimate (as KeithK notes) means to reduce by a a tenth (not to one-tenth) then, yes, it could happen to fan participation.
Decimation (Latin: decimatio; decem = "ten" was a form of military discipline used by officers in the Roman Army to punish mutinous or cowardly soldiers. The word decimation is derived from Latin meaning "removal of a tenth"
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