Tier 3, Tier 3 Tier 3, that’s all we hear about. The ACC sold their Tier 3 rights to ESPN and the Big 12 didn’t. Therefore the Big 12 can make a gazillion dollars while the ACC makes zilch. It’s hard to distinguish what is fact and what’s fiction. The details of such complicated deals are debated back and forth on message boards. You’re never quite sure what to think.
I know it left me wondering how this all worked.
I found this article from the Chicago Tribune that seems to explain things pretty well. It discusses the third tier proposal for new Big 12 school West Virginia.
I would say the Chicago Tribune is more reliable than your average twitter account, blog, or message board. Oops this is blog! Oh well I’m sourcing the Tribune. Some of the notes were rather interesting. First from the West Virginia AD Oliver Luck…
“Really, they are most of your TV properties — probably 11 of the 12 football games that you have and a majority of your men’s basketball games and your premier women’s games,” Luck said of Tier 1 and Tier 2 media rights.
So just about all of your revenue generating games are not on Tier 3. Umm… ok.
“Third-tier covers pretty much everything else. The easiest way to understand it is Tier 3 covers everything beyond the first- and second-tier.”
This makes sense but what does it include? I thought it was just TV? From the Tribune article…
“That includes television rights to all other WVU sports, as well as a few football and basketball games. All radio rights, pre-game and/or coaches’ shows, online productions and website content could also be included. The company would be buying the rights to sell sponsorships and advertising in those productions in exchange for guaranteed rights fees to WVU.”
Well I guess the ACC is out of luck because they sold their 3rd tier rights to ESPN.
“In March, N.C. State announced it had signed a 10-year multimedia rights agreement with Wolfpack Sports Properties, LLC, a newly formed joint venture of Capitol Broadcasting Company and Learfield Sports. According to N.C. State, that deal guarantees the Wolfpack “a minimum of nearly $49 million” over 10 years.”
You mean NC State gets 5 Million dollars a year in third tier rights?
Now I don’t know how much West Virginia will get, but I’ve read estimates anywhere from 2-8 Million. The Charleston Daily says West Virginia can expect at least as much NC State. That’s a possibility, but it hardly suggests that the Mountaineer’s deal will be double or triple the Wolfpack’s. Assuming everyone stays put (which is completely another debate) it doesn’t seem that the ACC is getting quite the shaft on third tier revenue as some reports are making it seem. Will the ACC still trail the Big 4? I think so, but not every school will depending on their own individual third tier deal. Frankly in most school’s cases 1 football game, a handful of basketball games, and olympic sport viewing isn’t going to be worth 10 million dollars.
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