The Looming Crisis of Broadcast Revenue

The money is drying up, y'all

North Texas made the jump to the AAC for a few reasons but the main one was money. CUSA was not getting the kind of love from the networks that anyone was comfortable with, and the league was forced to find “creative” solutions to the problem. That deal with BeIN Sports? That was two also-ran concerns trying to make a move to come up in the world. BeIN was hoping the support from CUSA fans would mean they would be moved to subscribe to their cable provider at the Have BeIN tier. Instead people mostly complained and didn’t watch. The last rating number I have for a CUSA game on the channel essentially said dozens of people were watching.

Photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash

Beyond that, there is little evidence that anyone wants to watch CUSA sports beyond some diehards. And there simply aren’t many diehards to support a going concern. For example, back when some FIU fans were complaining about lack of coverage, a former sports editor for the Miami paper explained that the paper tried, but the coverage wasn’t moving subscriptions, nor getting clicks. Looking at attendance, it was clear they weren’t a big story to the people of Miami. So they stopped sending a beat reporter out. Facts are facts.

Now, the thinking among former CUSA programs and indeed at North Texas, was that with the proper media push, people would in fact, care very much about these programs. That idea put into a phrase is “If you show it, people will fall in love with it.”

I was more likely to believe that when I was younger. When you are 20, anything is possible. I have seen a lot more life since that time and while I try to hedge against being the full-on embodiment of a 30+ year-old cynic, I can’t help but acknowledge that for every surprise, there are a thousand things that simply are what they are.

The Situation