“The amount of time we spend thinking about market size, it pales
in comparison to the amount of time we think about rivalries. In college sports, it’s the rivalries. It’s the traditions. It’s
the brands that really aggregate audience.”-Burke Magnus, ESPN’s president of programming and original content, Aug. 29.
The Worldwide Leader just walked away from a share of the B1G.
Okay, but now, "rivalries" and "brands" are two different things! Paterno-Sandusky U and Nebraska had zero rivalries with B1G schools, but they were huge name brands. Each walked away from national rivalries, PSU with Pittsburgh, Nebraska with Oklahoma. Brand name schools can create new rivalries with new schools. Doesn't PSU have something of a rivalry with Ohio State? Nebraska does not have a new rivalry, they are unrivaled you might say (but probably shouldn't), but Nebraska's brand is also about what Texas Instruments' is now. "It's the rivalries", stupid? Burke, I will give you the rivalry that is the mother-of-all rivalries: Harvard-Yale. Let me know when ESPN telecasts "The Game." There is also institutional "fit". PSU and Nebraska were very similar to many of those in the conference that they joined. Cultural (code for academics) "fit" is also important.
...we asked him what he would do if he ran a college conference. ...Take off your TV exec hat, in other words, put on your conference prez hat. Okay Burke, shoot:
He offered seven ideas he would pursue if he was in the commissioner’s seat.
Stabilizing membership
Communication is key here. Magnus would work to ensure that every school realizes that they have a shared purpose.
That's pretty anodyne but it is surprisingly "key." The B1G was taken by surprise by Notre Dame's alignment with the ACC; The ACC was ambushed by Maryland's defection to the B1G, the Big XII had both legs cut off but is still walking somehow, and the PAC may well have been fatally wounded by the decisions of USC and UCLA to join the B1G.
Focus on rivalries
People are focusing too much on market size, Magnus said. But market size does not resonate as much in college sports as it does in the pros.
Would you rather, for example, have a game between two Alabama schools ( Auburn and Alabama) or schools from two of the three largest media markets (Rutgers and Northwestern)?
Extreme examples, but yeah. Another one, Rutgers and Maryland. Additions made solely to add the TV markets of NYC and D.C. Others, USC-Indiana, UCLA-Minnesota anyone? Absurd. Meanwhile, we just lost, in addition to those mentioned above and below, Bedlam, Oklahoma-Okie State, played every single year since 1910. Look it pains me but my back pains me and there isn't a damn thing I or Burke Magnus can do about either. Schools are not going to focus on rivalries, they're going to chase the buck. Get over it, Burke.
Rework the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament
Magnus: “I’d be thinking about the next iteration of what the men’s basketball tournament might look like. As good as that is, I think it could be even better.”
Don't bore us with specifics, now.
Make more money from women’s sports
Conferences can do more to monetize women’s sports, Magnus said. “[It] is right around the corner, if not here already.”
Make sponsorship more national
College football, in particular, is the second most popular TV sport in the country behind the NFL. Magnus said that the sponsorship around those games should better reflect that popularity.
“Sales and sponsorship at the conference level still tends to be more regional in nature than it is national brands,” he said. “National brands may be missing the boat on that, which is another big revenue source.”
Figure out NIL
Magnus didn’t outline concrete ideas on how name, image and likeness should develop. But he did say that conferences and colleges need to straighten out some of the issues associated with it.
Half-Baked Burke. My take: he has half of a good idea on rivalries. The Egg Bowl has become a compelling fixture but the Apple Bowl, the Civil War, the Holy War, among others, go un-broadcast except regionally and unknown to everyone but partisans of those schools, like Harvard-Yale.
