Bills Simmons podcast today pulls back the curtain on the inside maneuvers that took place at ESPN over the last few years, including ESPN not seeing cord-cutting coming down the pike; adrian wojnarowski the vertical acquisition; ESPN's inability to get tech/the internet. Lotta 30 for 30 and Grantland discussion. Sounds like Simmons and another guy at ESPN were plotting to leave and start their own competing content company. ESPN cannibalized Grantland resources for 538 and The Undefeated. Nate Silver/538 was originally supposed to join ESPN as part of Grantland. Simmons sounds like he was a passive-aggressive tool his last year at ESPN; but denies he spiked and then poached Grantland on his way out. Covering his ass by claiming to have emailed everyone at Grantland encouragement to keep Grantland going. Riiiiight. That's why the Ringer is staffed/run mostly by ex-Grantlanders.

https://soundcloud.com/the-bill-simmons ... tis-ep-237

How the fuck could ESPN NOT see cord-cutting coming? I mean I would get seeing it coming, and realizing there's little you can do about it, then just leaning into your live sports (the contracts for which are making the cord-cutting hurt the most) and hoping to come out green on the other side...but to be like "oh shit!" at the proposition of people not wanting to pay for something they're forced to? Come on.

I think it was not a 'not seeing it coming' but more of a 'I'm Keith Hernandez' type thinking. ESPN thought it was too big to fail.

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Bill Simmons has become such a bitter crank. Fuck that guy.

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Dunno but Simmons & crew relate a story of the 2014 World Cup and ESPN experiencing declining viewership in 2014 and peeps inside ESPN initially attributing the decline in ratings/viewers/"subs" (subscribers) to "World Cup fatigue".

Not long after someone else inside ESPN dug into the numbers and discovered cord-cutting to be the cause of ESPN's decline in viewers/subscribers/revenue..... 2014. Seems late but apparently Bristol can be an impenetrable bubble.

Apparently, "subs" wasn't even common parlance in Bristol until then and then suddenly it was the only thing anyone was talking about.

Oh ok, so more of a "psssh, people can't be unsubscribing from ESPN, can they? No, of course not" blinders issue. Still, corporate bluster preventing you from seeing such a huge threat to your revenue? Yeesh.

They couldn't even see the danger of the BTN when they were told of it by the Big Ten.

They thought they were unstoppable.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

News keeps getting worse for them

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/disney ... 2017-08-09

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Agreed, I started to really hate them 15 years ago, they were good for scores or a game even highlight or two. They started shooting commercials with these nerds like they were the talent.

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Highlights (internet)
Analysis (The Networks - MLB, NFL etc)


That's about 90% of what they do. Thank god for 30 for 30 and live games.

It's a no-brainer for Disney to launch their own service. They have a library of about 75 years of content. If they offered up a monthly subscription service with everything they ever produced, I think it would be a must-have for any family with kids. Theirs decades of movies, cartoons, and tv shows for them to offer up.

ESPN is fucked though. I don't think I would sign up for a monthly service just so I can watch a "game of the week" every once in awhile.

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If these cats are doing a similar thing to The Network then I'd sign up during college football season and then cancel once it's over.

For me it's all about what sports they televise. My sports viewing is approximately 60% hockey, 25% Nascar, 5% cycling, 5% MLB, and 5% everything else. So clearly, I don't watch ESPN at all.

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Lay off that whiskey and let that cocaine be.

I haven't had ESPN at home for about 4 years, but I had WatchESPN until this spring because I pay my parents' cable internet bill. Their building changed how the free TV portion is masterbilled, and so now i don't have it any more. And I really don't miss it.

I wish I could get MLB Network on my $25 Sling Blue package, but I get the NFL Network and CSN Chicago+alternates and I'm not going to pay an extra $25 for Sling Orange as well just to get ESPN.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

Their left wing slant ain't helping .

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

Just another article on this topic.

https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles ... ew-reality

It's going to be really interesting when the next round of TV contracts come up. There is going to be a major rollback and the effects of that will be fascinating!! Leagues have had crazy revenue from TV deals and from creating their own cable channels which have results in salary caps explosions. Things will change.

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Lay off that whiskey and let that cocaine be.

I read through their SEC filing. It is staggering how much that unit is down. It is crumbling so quickly even with the cost cutting, down 23% in segment profit. It is literally what happened with newspapers.

Most have felt that sports programming is the only legit live programming left because people want to watch in real time. But the distribution of said programming is changing.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

ESPN can't really cut costs much either with the next round of contracts as the tech is now easily there for the leagues to provide the content directly. They have to overpay or lose them.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

What talent ?

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

Dead on. It will be interesting to see what the Cubs come up with when they build their own network. But I think the leagues will eventually go direct unless as you say, the networks keep overpaying. Look at that crazy deal the Dodgers got, like $250m per year.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

I meant the sports leagues. Every major league can make a lot of money charging customers direct if ESPN threatens to walk away.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Agree. The talking heads there are in a lot of trouble .

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

As long as Linda Cohn stays employed.

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

Leagues would never make anywhere near the money they get from ESPN and others by cutting out the middle man. Not enough people care about sports.

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They are. The good ones probably leave. There aren't many.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

They said the same things when they started their own networks.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Which has been a total disaster for the company that paid it. Almost no one in Southern Cal is able to watch the Dodgers now.

https://dodgersway.com/2017/03/14/dodge ... -the-game/

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But when they created their own networks they were bundled in with cable packages so people did not have a choice. Once given the choice the overwhelming majority will not pay for the leagues compared to those willing to pay more than what they currently pay through cable.

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Lay off that whiskey and let that cocaine be.

NFL Sunday Ticket was a massive success. Mlb.tv is too. Mlb.tv even has local blackouts.

Why wouldn't people pay for all the games?

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

If people had a choice in the channels they got, this would be a disaster to. Instead people are just dumping cable. The bubble is bursting.

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