ESPN Losing Subscribers

bwang123 · Nov 29, 2015

lockedoutlogic said:
The focus on gambling and it's ugly little sister..."fantasy"...is what has brought a lot of the quality of sports down...my opinion.

Why is quality of sports down because of fantasy? Do you think the players are betting on opposing players and turning in bad performances to help players stats that are on their fantasy team? Why wouldn't the opposite be true and players play better because they have themselves on their own team. Maybe you worded that incorrectly and meant the "quality of sports broadcasting (coverage) is down". You could make a case for that.

Fantasy sports is a big factor that has helped grow the NFL. People now have more interest two terrible teams play because they have players on their fantasy team involved.

Josh Hendy · Nov 29, 2015

Well ... there was thst incident last season where a player said that he missed a meaningless tackle because he had the other player on his fantasy team. Then it seemed like the league said "oh don't worry he was really joking" then told the player, "Right? You were only joking. RIGHT? Thank you for clarifying that."

Not exactly the Black Sox but it makes you think.

lockedoutlogic · Nov 29, 2015

bwang123 said:
Why is quality of sports down because of fantasy? Do you think the players are betting on opposing players and turning in bad performances to help players stats that are on their fantasy team? Why wouldn't the opposite be true and players play better because they have themselves on their own team. Maybe you worded that incorrectly and meant the "quality of sports broadcasting (coverage) is down". You could make a case for that.

Fantasy sports is a big factor that has helped grow the NFL. People now have more interest two terrible teams play because they have players on their fantasy team involved.

Let me clarify...

Fantasy has brought the quality of the FANS down.

I wish i had a nickel for everytime
I talk to a 20-something fan that has not a damn clue how the game they're following works...they don't play it, they don't understand it...it's all a lazy way to try and hussle and make two bits.

It's indicative of a easy, lazy, lack of patience society of entitlement...JUST MY OPINION.

I'm glad i grew up in an environment where I didn't even know of sports gambling till i was an adult...

It was just about who played and who could do it/who pull it off...and what you learned trying.
I always saw it as part of the human condition.

lockedoutlogic · Nov 30, 2015

I think this article does a good job of showing where disney is at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/30/b...cts-investors-in-midst-of-espn-woes.html?_r=0

bwang123 · Nov 30, 2015

lockedoutlogic said:
Let me clarify...

Fantasy has brought the quality of the FANS down.

I think the opposite has happened. Fans overall know more about individual players and football in general because of fantasy football. You might be referring to fringe fans who just play fantasy sports because everyone is playing. It's similar to when people fill out Final Four brackets but know zero about any of the teams but can suddenly tell you why Gonzaga is going to make it to the Final 4.

kamik86 · Nov 30, 2015

I don't watch much for sports but it seems like most people that still have cable (I haven't had it for years... pretty much have never paid for cable actually) have it for sports. Maybe some are realizing that sports are not worth having it for.

Between netflix, amazon, and hulu I can watch everything I want to.

umichigan10 · Nov 30, 2015

lockedoutlogic said:
Let me clarify...

Fantasy has brought the quality of the FANS down.

I wish i had a nickel for everytime
I talk to a 20-something fan that has not a damn clue how the game they're following works...they don't play it, they don't understand it...it's all a lazy way to try and hussle and make two bits.

It's indicative of a easy, lazy, lack of patience society of entitlement...JUST MY OPINION.

I'm glad i grew up in an environment where I didn't even know of sports gambling till i was an adult...

It was just about who played and who could do it/who pull it off...and what you learned trying.
I always saw it as part of the human condition.

Actually I think it has brought quality of play down.

NFL has changed rules and made it such an offensive game. Why? TV ratings and fantasy football.

I love playing fantasy but there's no doubt that it's diluting the quality of the game on and off the field

Whatsthegoodword · Nov 30, 2015

lockedoutlogic said:
Lol...

It's not just about "tightening" their belts....

Disney will extract that lost free money any were they can get it...

Guess who's gonna pay?

Who's gonna pay? As it should be: folks that want to watch sports. I'm a sports fan, but I go to a fraction of the number of MLB & NBA games I used to because of the price of tickets. Likewise, I'm not going to pay a rate much higher than today for televised sports. I have plenty of other things I can do with my time/money.

This isn't a Disney problem, or an Iger problem. They haven't done anything wrong to cause this, no more than the Acme Buggy Whip Company caused the decline in their sales numbers. Technology continues to evolve...

Whatsthegoodword · Nov 30, 2015

umichigan10 said:
But Monday night used to feature far better matchups. Now it's kinda a red herring child in the TV lineup for the NFL.

Also as a pp said there is limited schedule for flex scheduling but only for Sunday night games. Monday night is locked in all year regardless

That's because NBC paid big $$$ to get first choice on Sunday night. First choice used to go to MNF, but the Mouse (wisely) let NBC have it for the crazy cash they offered.

lockedoutlogic · Nov 30, 2015

Whatsthegoodword said:
Who's gonna pay? As it should be: folks that want to watch sports. I'm a sports fan, but I go to a fraction of the number of MLB & NBA games I used to because of the price of tickets. Likewise, I'm not going to pay a rate much higher than today for televised sports. I have plenty of other things I can do with my time/money.

This isn't a Disney problem, or an Iger problem. They haven't done anything wrong to cause this, no more than the Acme Buggy Whip Company caused the decline in their sales numbers. Technology continues to evolve...

ESPN has ran its quality of programming into the ground for years...it's just tired Schtick.

And who's gonna pay? You are at chef mickeys...

That lost money will come from other segments. As we have already seen in dollars and cents.

Remember you have a CEO with a golden practice already on and chaffing him that just had to buy euro and the Chinese aren't playing nice...

Star Wars toys will make up a lot of that...but not all of it.

Whatsthegoodword · Nov 30, 2015

lockedoutlogic said:
ESPN has ran its quality of programming into the ground for years...it's just tired Schtick.

And who's gonna pay? You are at chef mickeys...

That lost money will come from other segments. As we have already seen in dollars and cents.

Remember you have a CEO with a golden practice already on and chaffing him that just had to buy euro and the Chinese aren't playing nice...

Star Wars toys will make up a lot of that...but not all of it.

I disagree with this on lots of levels. The pricing of ESPN has nothing to do with the pricing at Chef Mickey's. The Mouse will charge the most they can for BOTH products, as they should - but success or failure of one entity has nothing to do with the other. Yes, Star Wars toys will make Disney a mint, but that's there to justify the cash outlay to George Lucas, not the investment in ESPN.

There is still a very nice place for "The Worldwide Leader" in the post-cable television world. I'm sure Disney will find a way to make that cash flow.

rteetz · Nov 30, 2015

lockedoutlogic said:
ESPN has ran its quality of programming into the ground for years...it's just tired Schtick.

When Stephen A. Smith is on for everything including NFL Sunday pregame stuff there is a problem.

lockedoutlogic · Nov 30, 2015

rteetz said:
When Stephen A. Smith is on for everything including NFL Sunday pregame stuff there is a problem.

That was kinda my whole point...

It's the NBA/NFL fantasy channel with token lip service to baseball...

That doesn't scream "people lining up for subscription service" down the road.

Disney would be better to end ESPN and cut a deal with the NFL
Or baseball to run an exclusive network/streaming channel in that case

Redcon1 · Dec 1, 2015

I cut the cord a couple of months ago. Don't miss ESPN and their east coast bias at all. The only thing I miss about sports are watching my local teams being shown on our regional station.

I more than make up for that in saving money and using that for streaming services I really want to watch like Hulu.

Josh Hendy · Dec 1, 2015

Redcon1 said:
I cut the cord a couple of months ago. Don't miss ESPN and their east coast bias at all. The only thing I miss about sports are watching my local teams being shown on our regional station.

I more than make up for that in saving money and using that for streaming services I really want to watch like Hulu.

Have you investigated the possibility of getting games on the local stations with an antenna? Assuming they're broadcast over the airwaves at all.

There are communities of techies out there who share information on antenna designs, antenna reviews, etc.

In my area, the HD picture and sound you can get off the air is far superior than that which comes over cable. The trouble is that many of the local games are only available on cable.

Redcon1 · Dec 1, 2015

I do have an antenna (like in the old days) for the local stations, so I can watch some sports from the networks which includes my local football team. However my baseball and hockey teams are only available on cable unless they're part of the game of the week on the network.

ESPN Losing Subscribers

bwang123

Earning my Beers

Josh Hendy

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lockedoutlogic

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lockedoutlogic

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bwang123

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kamik86

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umichigan10

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Whatsthegoodword

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Whatsthegoodword

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lockedoutlogic

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Whatsthegoodword

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lockedoutlogic

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