Comments on: The James Harden Revolution Will Not Be Televised

By: ASU-USC: The Story of the Stat Sheet - by Echo from the Buttes

ASU-USC: The Story of the Stat Sheet - by Echo from the Buttes — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 12:02:21 +0000

[...] it’s best this game wasn’t on television. The Sun Devils will get a chance at a road split when they face UCLA on national TV Saturday [...]

By: Mark Attico

Mark Attico — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 19:37:38 +0000

They partner with CSTV/CBS for their audio/video streaming service, I believe. The problem is that many other colleges also contract with the company and offer audio and video content online for free. I remember when we played Vanderbilt last year in baseball, many of the Vandy fans showed up on ASU message boards, steamed that they normally get free audio and video of their baseball games, free of charge, but were prohibited from watching the game online because ASU wouldn’t allow it.

Now of course, different schools may negotiate different contracts in terms of what will be provided online, and for what cost. However, it is certainly a debatable point whether or not you make more in subscription fees to offset the cost of building your program by allowing the maximum number of fans and alumni to watch or listen to games by not charging for it.

By: Russell

Russell — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 16:16:12 +0000

Its an unfortunate situation, but the post and comments also explain the reason. The FSN AZ schedule of games is predetermined contractually. There is sometimes an opportunity to shift the TV games, but it depends on the terms of the contract, the teams involved, and the network. Yes, WSU vs. OSU is an awful game, but by being part of the Pac-10 contract, they are guaranteed a certain number of TV appearances, and FSN AZ is obligated to fulfill their end of the deal.

On the web site, ovdevil is correct in that ASU partners with another company for streaming content online, and they cannot simply make the event free. That too would need to be approved by the partner, but why would they do that, since this game will be in high demand and will generate revenue for them,

By: ovdevil

ovdevil — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 16:11:38 +0000

ASU has nothing to do with the price,that come from the for-profit service that is steaming the game.Hopefully in the future ASU will be able to do this on there own.

By: ScribeDevil01

ScribeDevil01 — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 15:47:03 +0000

This is an interesting marketing problem. ASU is only assured of two more winning months (i.e., months with James Harden and Jeff Pendergraph on the roster) during which to create goodwill with a fan base that for the first time in a decade truly believes in the direction of the program.

By offering up the game free, they’d likely draw far more eyeballs than by charging even $7. If the game is extra memorable (thanks to a dramatic finish or a big game from James), that’s a branding experience that could help convert casual fans into die-hards.

A loss of a handful of $7 receipts now could result in future season ticket sales to fans that have never crossed over from casual, football-first Sun Devil to hardcore hoops head.