Companies like Netflix, ESPN, Amazon are taking advantage of their access to people through media. This behavior is spilling over into every aspect of media, but sports is clearly a prime target as it has the potential to earn a lot of money though many channels. It is important to pay attention to this today and understand what the impact is and what you’ll see in this evolving machine. This also lightly addresses college sports which is increasingly becoming more expensive. Colleges are quickly learning, they can rake in the dough. At some point, they may just leave education behind. Who knows!
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Years ago, I thought it made sense for us to have an opportunity to choose the channels we want to watch. I didn’t imagine the on-demand world in this way but more of a channel choice. I built a raspberry pi device and created my own on demand media system. It allowed me to pick the locals and a few others and just pay for those.
Look at how far we have come! We can pay for a bunch of channels, individual channels, and on-demand content.
What I didn’t expect is the equivalent of a-la-carte expensive content that has advertisements. I also didn’t expect 24 hours sports driven by a hungry gambling industry. The insanity of money invested into sports media and players and the ability to create and generate content for consumption and production within hours. https://www.hulu.com/series/manhunt-luigi-mangione-and-the-ceo-murder-a-special-edition-of-2020-2a63c87a-471f-4edd-9af2-4c5f988ce3ef
What we are seeing in media today especially in sports is a literal fleecing of people worldwide.
What I witnessed on Christmas day football on Netflix was a literal money grab mostly from people who should be spending their money on essentials. Netflix on top of everything else showed advertising and turned the football game into a full out Superbowl like spectacle. We are in a situation now that is not sustainable.
Digital Dominance and Platform Preferences
People have overwhelmingly embraced digital platforms for media consumption. In 2024, 86% of U.S. adults get news from digital devices, with 58% preferring digital platforms over traditional media. The breakdown of news platform preferences reveals a stark transition:
| Platform | Preference in 2024 |
|---|---|
| Digital Devices | 58% |
| Television | 32% |
| Radio | 6% |
| 4% |
The Rise of Hybrid Streaming Models
The media industry has evolved beyond simple channel selection into what can be described as a fragmented, multi-model consumption landscape. Streaming platforms now offer:
- Subscription Video on Demand (SVOD)
- Advertising Video on Demand (AVOD)
- Transactional Video on Demand (TVOD)
These hybrid models provide flexibility but also complexity, often resulting in what feels like “a-la-carte expensive content with advertisements”.
Sports Media: A Prime Example of Monetization Pressure
The sports media market exemplifies this trend. By 2024, sports media rights are projected to be worth $60.9 billion, with a particularly interesting shift towards highlights and short-form content. Notably, the value of short form highlights rights is expected to grow by a staggering 70%.
The Advertising and Personalization Dimension
To combat subscription fatigue, platforms are leveraging:
- AI-powered personalization
- Advanced recommendation algorithms
- Targeted advertising strategies
College Sports Revenue Generation Strategies
Colleges are leveraging multiple innovative strategies to maximize revenue from their sports programs:
Media Rights and Broadcasting
Colleges are capitalizing on lucrative media rights deals that are transforming their financial landscape:
- The Power 4 conferences are set to receive over $20 billion in media rights deals over the next five to ten years
- Media rights contracts can be extremely valuable, with the Big 12 securing a $380 million annual deal with ESPN and Fox Sports
Multimedia Rights (MMR) Revenue
Athletic departments are generating significant income through multimedia rights:
- More than $500 million annually is allocated to Division I athletic departments
- Power 5 conference teams receive over $7 million yearly from these agreements
- Approximately 40% of multimedia rights value comes from football-related exposure
Innovative Revenue Streams
Colleges are exploring creative ways to generate additional income:
- Naming Rights: The Big 12 is considering selling its conference name to Allstate for $30-$50 million annually
- Private Equity Investments: Exploring partnerships like a potential $800 million to $1 billion investment from CVC Coastal Partners
Content and Engagement Strategies
Universities are developing sophisticated content creation approaches:
- Employing specialized staff to produce recruit-targeted content
- Utilizing social media platforms to create fan engagement
- Implementing real-time content strategies using advanced technologies like AI
Additional Revenue Sources
Colleges are diversifying their income through:
- Sponsorships and advertising
- Merchandise sales
- Ticket sales
- Fundraising and donations
- Corporate facility sponsorships
Emerging Opportunities
The landscape is rapidly evolving, with new revenue possibilities emerging:
- Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) opportunities for athletes
- Expanded digital content platforms
- Direct-to-consumer content streaming
From where I sit, this is stealing in plain sight. While I am not against colleges making money for students, and having programs for sports, I think we are very close to having people near local schools not able to watch, enjoy or even attend games because they are too expensive. All this bs about how sports are meant to inspire, they should be affordable. If the professional sports industry wants to turn every event into a Broadway show, that’s up to them but the colleges? This is a whole other level of thievery.
While I’ll continue to argue this goes well beyond sports, we can show with ease that sports is the easiest target for vulnerable people and it is cause for concern because they’ve made it easy to siphon money from everyone with high levels of accessibility and a low return to the masses.
News You Can Use
Here is what you may consider. You can still today get live television over the air in High Definition with an OTA or over the air antenna. https://www.channelmaster.com/pages/tv-antenna-recommendation. If you live close enough to your local team, you can pick up the sports on the local channels.
If you can’t get them over the air, there are a number of ways to watch or stream local channels. https://localnow.com/ is an example.
The bottom line is that if you let them these subscription-based providers will take every penny you have for something that was historically no cost. So, for Christmas, most viewers paid to watch a game that was locally available over the air and historically available through local media.
This will be the way ahead because they continue to have record viewership. Don’t be duped into spending all your money on these services. Put up a local antenna and see what you get.
You may be surprised!
Sources:
https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/fact-sheet/news-platform-fact-sheet/
https://athleticdirectoru.com/articles/negotiating-college-sports-multimedia-rights-deals/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradadgate/2024/06/17/college-sports-conference-are-looking-at-new-ways-to-grow-revenue/
https://www.greenfly.com/blog/how-to/real-time-content-college-sports/ https://journals.law.harvard.edu/jsel/2024/06/breaking-the-broadcast-huddle-how-college-football-conferences-bundling-of-broadcast-rights-could-harm-student-athletes/
https://www.marygrovemustangs.com/the-financial-side-of-college-sports-a-closer-look.html
https://athleticdirectoru.com/articles/the-constantly-changing-world-of-media-content-in-college-athletics/
https://www.pwc.com/us/en/industries/tmt/library/sports-outlook-north-america.html
https://www.yellowbrick.co/blog/sports/boost-college-athletics-revenue-effective-strategies
https://studentathletescholars.org/2023/11/14/beyond-the-field-the-social-media-symphony-of-college-athletes/
https://athleticdirectoru.com/articles/next-round-sports-media-rights-deals/
I agree Howie, that we are becoming more and more capitalistic in everything we do, including sports and the media behind it. No longer do players play for a team, but they play only for personal gains, and they are being saluted by joe-Q public, as money is driving every aspect of our political and economic systems. Why do you think Trump won the elections…his lie about the economy was bought by the majority. We only care about paying less taxes to afford more cable streaming. Capitalism will consume itself if left unchecked and we are heading in that direction. What we value is what we put before anything else, including the Almighty. I use to think it was just the young that we leaning this way, but now I am convinced it includes everyone born after WWII. The young are just mimicking the seniors now. An example… how many people pick a degrees because it pays and the work is less stressful. We are having a shortage of general doctors and nurses because the youth are turning away from it. What is ahead we will need a transformation of our society and notwithstanding a revolution, that seems unlikely. G-d help us.