Let's be the first...

[ragtimejoe1]

Come on WYO Athletic Department, let's be the first college to make a deal with Netflix. I couldn't find exact amounts, but I've seen estimates that the cost to stream a movie for Netflix is somewhere around 5 cents. The biggest cost is licensing.

If we invested in the cameras, web connections, etc., maybe we could stream it through Netflix. Once we had the infrastructure, we could have our own WYO sports channel. We could show all sports. No need for commentators, just link the radio guys in or even the PA--it would like being live at the game.

No sporting events going on? No worries about content, just don't stream. Maybe we could sell our own advertisement or something as well.

There has to be a way to take advantage of the changing technology.

 

[BJC]

THIS! :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb:

 

[OrediggerPoke]

Except for the whole problem with existing MWC media agreements for football and basketball...

But yes, it would be sweet to have a Wyo sports channel to feature other sports such as wrestling, volleyball and football/basketball games not otherwise picked up.

 

[BJC]

Sorry for my lack of knowledge-----although it hasn't stopped me yet.

Isn't there a MWC app that streams these events that aren't owned by espn etc? ...put that app on netflix ....if not...why doesn't it? Smaller conferences have this.

 

[ragtimejoe1]

Except for the whole problem with existing MWC media agreements for football and basketball...

But yes, it would be sweet to have a Wyo sports channel to feature other sports such as wrestling, volleyball and football/basketball games not otherwise picked up.

This would be for games that aren't under contract and aren't being offered elsewhere. If I remember correctly, we had the opportunity to market those as we saw fit hence ended up with some on Root.

I'm sure we aren't making much if anything off of Root; I would rather have our own Netflix channel.

 

[ragtimejoe1]

Sorry for my lack of knowledge-----although it hasn't stopped me yet.

Isn't there a MWC app that streams these events that aren't owned by espn etc? ...put that app on netflix ....if not...why doesn't it? Smaller conferences have this.

I'm not sure, but if so, great idea.

 

[joshvanklomp]

As a newcomer to the program, where are most games streamed if not carried anywhere on ESPN? Is it a cable channel only, or can it be streamed online?

 

[ragtimejoe1]

As a newcomer to the program, where are most games streamed if not carried anywhere on ESPN? Is it a cable channel only, or can it be streamed online?

This year all but 2 home games were picked up by ESPN (ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU/ESPN3).

Thus, we would only be able to stream the MT and Fl. Atlantic games assuming they don't get picked up by Root.

 

[Cornpoke]

I think it's a fantastic idea. Wyoming needs to find unique ways to set itself apart from everyone else. It's ideas like this that we need coming from our Athletic dept. Unfortunately it rarely happens. We are always one step behind any kind of innovation and exposure for our programs.

 

[BackHarlowRoad]

Netflix doesn't stream anything live though, do they? We'd have to convince Netflix to change the way they do things.

 

[Bryoming]

Netflix doesn't stream anything live though, do they? We'd have to convince Netflix to change the way they do things.

I had the same thought. I think the better solution would be to add a channel on roku, chromecast, PlayStation, etc. This way there would be access to live and recorded content. It would be a good idea to license archived content to Netflix, though.

 

[Cornpoke]

Netflix doesn't stream anything live though, do they? We'd have to convince Netflix to change the way they do things.

Don't think about what is.... think about what could be. Let's be the first live show on Netflix. Now that's innovation!

 

[ragtimejoe1]

I would definitely rather be on Netflix or Hulu just because of access to more devices. However, anything to get more POKE action would be good. The opportunity to strike with Netflix might be good right now. Netflix is trying to do things to continue to expand. Breaking into live sporting events would be revolutionary for them as well. They could create a whole sports segment and have Universities pay them to offer the channel. In return, Universities could sell their own advertisement or whatever.

The Professional Bull Riders has a deal through CSTV (CBS Sports). They charge about $10 a month. Some of their events are live and others are archived and available on demand. Even that wouldn't be a terrible option (though I would prefer Netflix). Since we average about 20K just football attendance, surely there would be another 20K or so that would pay $10/month for Football, Bball, and other UW activities. That would be a little over 2 mill in revenue.

Heck, you could even use your channel to stream conferences for academics, or industry (oil and gas), safety trainings, whatever. Charge an access fee and put that money back into academic scholarships.

I'm not a multimedia guru or advertising guru or anything like that--I just have a sense we are missing the boat. The AA is being renovated; it couldn't be that much more to install cameras in strategic locations for streaming. You would already have bball, volleyball, wrestling, or any other event streamed live. Maybe even graduations or whatever.

 

[Bryoming]

If we asked for half a cent per subscriber to have our content available live and archived on Netflix it would amount to roughly $1.5M. Not too shabby.

 

[hithere]

Netflix doesn't stream anything live though, do they? We'd have to convince Netflix to change the way they do things.

The key would be right now. Right now they don't stream live sports. But the MW could be a toe in the water similar to how The MTN was for DirecTV.

Here's a link: http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/02/08/are-you-ready-to-stream-live-sports-on-netflix.aspx

Also, watchespn added some conference specific channels recently to Roku and Apple TV; another small step that I hope Craig Thompson and the AD's are looking into. http://variety.com/2014/digital/new...annels-on-apple-tv-roku-exclusive-1201122302/

 

[BeaverPoke]

Lol this is hillarious.

People will be in line to buy a subscription to watch Wyo athletics! I mean why wouldn't they? Why watch the SEC on CBS or the Pac12 on ESPN or the Big10 on ABC when you can watch WYOMING ON NETFLIX!
Haha

 

[ragtimejoe1]

Lol this is hillarious.

People will be in line to buy a subscription to watch Wyo athletics! I mean why wouldn't they? Why watch the SEC on CBS or the Pac12 on ESPN or the Big10 on ABC when you can watch WYOMING ON NETFLIX!
Haha

You think small. It is about getting your product to your customers. You aren't trying to take over the CFB viewing audience. Since you fail to even know that difference, it is likely senseless to even start to talk about recruiting advantages and such.

 

[hithere]

Lol this is hillarious.

People will be in line to buy a subscription to watch Wyo athletics! I mean why wouldn't they? Why watch the SEC on CBS or the Pac12 on ESPN or the Big10 on ABC when you can watch WYOMING ON NETFLIX!
Haha

What's causing the lulz, friend? The mistaken assumption that any carriage of Wyoming (Mountain West) athletics on a streaming platform would be competition for SEC, Pac12 or Big 10 network broadcasts? Because yes, that is kind of funny.

What I intended to provoke thought on with my post was the notion that a smaller conference could have a dedicated channel on a streaming network associated with ESPN and/or Netflix. My point is that any and all options out there for the consumer are better for the consumer. I don't always want to watch a Texas vs. NMSU game on the LHN, but I would like to watch Wyoming play... anyone. Having more MW games available to watch, to me, is a good thing.

From the article linked, some conferences with their own channels on watchespn:

The conference channels at launch are: ACC, America East, Atlantic Sun, Big South, Big West, Horizon, Mid-American, Metro Atlantic Athletic, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Southern, Sun Belt, Southland, and a channel that combines historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) that are part of the Mid-Eastern Athletic, Southwestern Athletic and Central Intercollegiate Athletic conferences.

 

[TheCup]

The entity making the biggest bet on this is pro wrestling's WWE. They just launched their WWE Network, which is a 24-hr network that streams over the web, and also offers a couple thousand hours of archived content. It's just like turning on ESPN, except it's delivered over the internet to phones, tablets, playstations, Xbox, Roku, etc. I'm a pro wrestling fan so I'm a subscriber, and it's a fascinating product.

For 9.99/month, I get all of WWE's pay perviews, and the on demand archives includes every pay per view going back 30 years, plus all kinds of archived content. If UW could navigate the rights, it's not hard to imagine a dedicated streaming UW network along these lines that would show the third tier games not picked up by ESPN or Root, archived games, historical games, etc.

But here's the rub, and why this is a stupid idea. There are probably only about 5,000 households in the state that include what I would call hardcore fans. There are just fewer than 5,000 football season ticket holders. I am told there are just more than half that number who hold basketball season tickets. So even if you converted 100% of your season ticket holders, and somehow got them to pay 9.99/mo, you'd still only make about $600,000 a year. That doesn't get anywhere near to covering your costs.

The problem, as always in Wyoming, is scale. We just don't have enough fans, and demographics and geography say we never will.

 

[ragtimejoe1]

The number of subscribers is the problem. I'm assuming we could at least match home attendance.

Where I disagree with you, Cup, is that there could be lots of folks who don't buy season tickets but would purchase this product. In fact, I would imagine we would get more non-season ticket holders because these would be fans who are unable to attend.

The question is how many...