NBC Moving Some ND Home Games to Versus

[Whiskeyjack]

Article can be found here.

 

[Rhode Irish]

Iznotgoodformeee

 

[Riddickulous]

Bullshit.

"If we move Notre Dame football to this obscure channel, it'll force more ND fans to purchase this channel."

 

[Buster Bluth]

EFFFFFFFFFFFF THAAAAATT.

 

[AdmiralBackhand]

It has more to do with ND fans hounding cable providers to subscribe, sounds like.

Glad I have this channel. In HD, too.

 

[Sherm Sticky]

Stupid

 

[Rhode Irish]

Although, I do have to say that it is somewhat flattering that they think ND football is the type of programming that can help them establish a following for their NBCSports channel.

If NBC decides it is going to commit to building the channel into a ESPN competitor, I could see that ultimately happening. It definitely won't happen overnight, but there does seems to be an appetite for sports and a desire among sports fans for a true alternative to ESPN that could coalesce and make NBCSports a very successful venture in the longterm. It is going to take a significant commitment (financially and editorially) from Comcast, though.

I just hope ND football isn't going to part of a misguided, mismanaged and halfassed attempt. If they're going to do this, do it right or leave ND football out of it.

 

[IrishLax]

Makes great sense for NBC/Comcast... really sucks for Notre Dame. We are getting used here to make them more $$$.

I cannot believe this is allowable under the contract we signed with NBC. Must not have had the foresight to say only the NBC main channel.

 

[Rhode Irish]

Makes great sense for NBC/Comcast... really sucks for Notre Dame. We are getting used here to make them more $$$.

I cannot believe this is allowable under the contract we signed with NBC. Must not have had the foresight to say only the NBC main channel.

You would have thought they would have had that foresight. This channel may be new, but it isn't like there was only one NBC property when they did the deal. I have to believe that there was more to this than a unilateral decision by Comcast people. I think Jack Swarbrick is a tremendously savvy guy, and if he could have gotten anything out of this for ND I'm sure he did.

Is this channel going to be a subscription channel, though? I've never heard of anyone that pays for cable/satellite not getting Versus/NBCSports. If there are cable providers out there not providing it, NBC has to commit to picking up some of the costs of getting it into as many homes as ESPN if they want the network to be successful.

 

[BeauBenken]

How long does our contract with them last?

Here's what I don't wanna hear:

<object style="height: 390px; width: 640px"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/H-Q7b-vHY3Q?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/H-Q7b-vHY3Q?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="390"></object>

 

[Pops Freshenmeyer]

According to the interwebs, the contract runs out in 2015.

The silver lining here is that Versus/NBC Sports is going to be airing a lot of old ND games.

 

[Veer option]

I have Versus through Comcast, so I dont really care, but IMO Notre Dame games should always be on NBC.

What else would NBC show which will draw as high of ratings as a Notre Dame game?

 

[BeauBenken]

I do get VS as is though so I don't think I'm too worried about this. Maybe people should just do what the article suggests and call up their cable provider (and bitch) if they don't get the channel...

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Although, I do have to say that it is somewhat flattering that they think ND football is the type of programming that can help them establish a following for their NBCSports channel.

Rakes of Mallow (via Twitter) agrees with you:

Notre Dame is so irrelevant a billion-dollar company is trying to use them as leverage for market penetration

 

[Rack Em]

**** this noise.

I'm with Lax on this. We're just a pawn.

I'm from rural Missouri and our cable provided won't have enough demand to add Versus to their subscription list. I'll be at school in Chicago for the next 4 years, but this sucks for those who will miss games because of low(er) demand.

Shenanigans.

 

[magogian]

In some ways, doesn't this make ND's deal with NBC somewhat worse than if ND did not have an exclusive deal with a network? What I mean is that most major college programs seem to have all their home games broadcast on a particular network for their region. While you may not always get an FSU home game in Cal. on a network, you will always have the FSU home games on a local network if you live in the region. But, now, with this crap by NBC there will be at least one or two home games a year that NO ONE can get regardless of where they live unless they pay extra for that channel (or a package that includes it). Seems like a crappy deal to me, and I say that as someone who has Versus.

 

[WhoDeyIrish]

I hope this doesn't happen this season. I just downgraded my Directv package and currently don't have VS. I don't want to have to get it again but I guess I will have to. This is very stupid in my opinion.

 

[mick2]

this is probably mutually beneficial, by airing games on Vs/nbcsports(nbcs answer to espn) we are helping them establish a piece of the market, while at the same time building a defacto ND network!

The foresight was there no doubt about it and i am sure swarbrick and co were for it!

trickle an ND game here and there. Build the Network, trickle in more games. and pretty soon VS is in every home just like espn and its the exclusive home of ND Football!

Tv is the future of college football folks. gotta have our piece of the pie

 

[ColinKSU]

I don't even get Versus on my cable system. WTF!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!

Urge...To kill...RISING.

 

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

Thank you season tickets god.

 

[GoldenIsThyFame]

I think this is a test drive for the future ND Network. The results of this test will be the bargaining chip for a new contract. If ND games on Versus moves the meter like they hope then it only increase ND's negotiation power.

 

[Rhode Irish]

I get where people are coming from here, but I have to make a couple quick points here:

1. We are only talking about one game a year, maybe two.

2. People freak whenever their sports are taken off of broadcast an put on cable. I lived in New England when the Red Sox games went off of a local broadcast station to be shown exclusively on NESN, and people flipped their ****. When the NFL Network started broadcasting Thursday Night Football, people freaked.

Honestly, I've never met a person in real life that didn't have cable, but whenever a sports game is going to be shown exclusively on cable people come out of the woodwork and have a collective meltdown. This isn't the 1960's. If you want to watch something in particular on TV and you don't have cable, you have no one to blame but yourself.

3. Depending on the conversations between Swarbrick and NBC Universal/Comcast that we are not privy to, this type of arrangement could pay dividends down the road. If ND establishes an early partnership with a network that wants to rival ESPN, and that network succeeds, that would be a major benefit to ND down the road. Yes, this will suck one Saturday a year for the 38 of you that do not have cable, but it may not be a bad thing for ND in the big picture.

My initial, visceral reaction was: "WTF!!!" But the more I think about it, the more I think this has potential to be a good thing for Notre Dame going forward. It isn't a slamdunk, but the upside is there to make a one-Saturday sacrifice worth it.

 

[AvesEvo]

This sucks IMO. I think of Versus as a second class sports network; certainly not the place for the best team in the entire universe. And two, I don't have Versus in HD!

 

[IrishLax]

If the NBC Sports channel becomes equivalent to ESPN (which it very well might between Notre Dame football and the Olympics) this is a total non-issue. My problem is that you have this uncertainty which is going to make people antsy... and you have to know that ESPN will be 100% gunning to bring Notre Dame down now as, for the first time ever, we are truly not only competition to ABC but the ESPN monopoly on sports... which is worth a hell of a lot of money.

But again, the flip side of that coin is that we might have an ESPN level channel that is actually pro Notre Dame in a couple years. That's pretty awesome. You could have "NBC game day" at Notre Dame.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

3. Depending on the conversations between Swarbrick and NBC Universal/Comcast that we are not privy to, this type of arrangement could pay dividends down the road. If ND establishes an early partnership with a network that wants to rival ESPN, and that network succeeds, that would be a major benefit to ND down the road. Yes, this will suck one Saturday a year for the 38 of you that do not have cable, but it may not be a bad thing for ND in the big picture.

Perhaps I'm just being paranoid, but ESPN has close to a de facto monopoly on CFB right now. ND, while not part its monopoly, has remained largely neutral from the war for broadcasting rights. If we take this step and ally ourselves with a network that is explicitly competitive with The Worldwide Leader, I wonder if ESPN will become antagonistic towards us.

Edit: Lax beat me to it.

Don't get me wrong; I'm all for anything that hurts ESPN. Just something to think about.

 

[AvesEvo]

I don't suppose that this wold mean less commercials?

 

[kmoose]

Makes great sense for NBC/Comcast... really sucks for Notre Dame. We are getting used here to make them more $$$

**** this noise.

I'm with Lax on this. We're just a pawn.

Ok, guys....... let's not start sounding like multimillionaire athletes whose "kids aren't going to have a good Christmas."

Every ND home game will still be televised. And the radio feed is always available on und.com.

 

[mick2]

Perhaps I'm just being paranoid, but ESPN has close to a de facto monopoly on CFB right now. ND, while not part its monopoly, has remained largely neutral from the war for broadcasting rights. If we take this step and ally ourselves with a network that is explicitly competitive with The Worldwide Leader, I wonder if ESPN will become antagonistic towards us.

Edit: Lax beat me to it.

Don't get me wrong; I'm all for anything that hurts ESPN. Just something to think about.

as if there not already antagonistic towards ND? come on now!

 

[magogian]

I get where people are coming from here, but I have to make a couple quick points here:

1. We are only talking about one game a year, maybe two.

2. People freak whenever their sports are taken off of broadcast an put on cable. I lived in New England when the Red Sox games went off of a local broadcast station to be shown exclusively on NESN, and people flipped their ****. When the NFL Network started broadcasting Thursday Night Football, people freaked.

Honestly, I've never met a person in real life that didn't have cable, but whenever a sports game is going to be shown exclusively on cable people come out of the woodwork and have a collective meltdown. This isn't the 1960's. If you want to watch something in particular on TV and you don't have cable, you have no one to blame but yourself.

3. Depending on the conversations between Swarbrick and NBC Universal/Comcast that we are not privy to, this type of arrangement could pay dividends down the road. If ND establishes an early partnership with a network that wants to rival ESPN, and that network succeeds, that would be a major benefit to ND down the road. Yes, this will suck one Saturday a year for the 38 of you that do not have cable, but it may not be a bad thing for ND in the big picture.

My initial, visceral reaction was: "WTF!!!" But the more I think about it, the more I think this has potential to be a good thing for Notre Dame going forward. It isn't a slamdunk, but the upside is there to make a one-Saturday sacrifice worth it.

I don't believe you are accounting for the relevant facts. I suspect that most people have cable. The first problem is that versus is not even carried by the local cable company for many people. Second, even when you can get versus, you usually have to buy one of the more expensive cable packages to get it.

 

[Rhode Irish]

Lax, Whiskey: definitely had the same thought. I think it would have been comforting if they had won their bid for the rights to Pac12 football. As it is now, ESPN has no reason to promote us. The only difference going forward would be that we would be aligned with a network in direct competition with ESPN, rather than indirect competition. I think ESPN might have some good reasons to hold off on declaring war on ND, including the fact ND's contract with NBC is up in a few years and ESPN could want to get involved to drive the price up on their competitor, or to steal their marquee draw. By that time, ND will have a better idea of whether the NBCSports channel is a legit competitor or if they need to take their national following to another outlet.