Big XII scheduling on TNT, HBO/Max vs ESPN+ moving forward...

[Klubber]

Is dumping ESPN+ out of the Disney Bundle in favor of HBO/Max the right play for maximizing ISU/Big XII viewing at this point?

Do we know yet if ESPN+ will still show any worthwhile (ISU) content this Fall and beyond?

 

[DesertClone1]

Is dumping ESPN+ out of the Disney Bundle in favor of HBO/Max the right play for maximizing ISU/Big XII viewing at this point?

Do we know yet if ESPN+ will still show any worthwhile (ISU) content this Fall and beyond?

I would imagine a lot of the non-con basketball and the women’s team will mostly be on +.

 

[1UNI2ISU]

All non-revenues, a good number of MBB games and probably at least one football game are still going to be on ESPN+.

ESPN isn't going to sublicense so much that it hurts subscriptions and it sounds like the Peacock games are being sublicensed from the FOX package.

 

[NorthCyd]

I'm going to have to subscribe to everything to watch ISU.

 

[ISUCyclones2015]

This whole thing was part of a settlement between Warner Bros/Discovery, ESPN, and the NBA.

TNT/TBS/Max got 13 football games and 15 men's basketball games and free use of NBA highlights, ESPN got Inside the NBA, and the NBA stopped getting sued by Warner Bros.

 

[cybychoice]

So basically 1 football game a week/basketball game a week will likely be on TNT or TBS, that’s actually a really good thing for the conference as those channels are included in every satellite package as well as YouTube tv, Hulu live and I believe sling which are the main channel streamers

 

[cyfan92]

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/06/09/warner-bros-discovery-to-split-into-two-public-companies-by-next-year.html

We'll see how this changes things moving forward. Sounds like sports are heading to the Global Networks (TBD named) versus the streaming service company. I wonder if they license to HBO until new contracts come up, given that Global Networks will own 20% of the growth movie and tv business

 

[Clonehomer]

So basically 1 football game a week/basketball game a week will likely be on TNT or TBS, that’s actually a really good thing for the conference as those channels are included in every satellite package as well as YouTube tv, Hulu live and I believe sling which are the main channel streamers

Good for the conference, bad for fans / consumers. Spreading the games around ties consumers to streaming packages and things like the ESPN standalone service aren’t really an option. So Big12 fans will pay $90 / month to watch Big12, while SEC fans will pay $30 / month to watch the SEC.

Gotta hope that someone like Amazon or Apple come along next time and ask for exclusive rights to all games. But I fear it’ll just be another piecemeal contract and we’ll need to add an AppleTV sub to watch a single game a week on top of the streaming package.

 

[cybychoice]

Good for the conference, bad for fans / consumers. Spreading the games around ties consumers to streaming packages and things like the ESPN standalone service aren’t really an option. So Big12 fans will pay $90 / month to watch Big12, while SEC fans will pay $30 / month to watch the SEC.

Gotta hope that someone like Amazon or Apple come along next time and ask for exclusive rights to all games. But I fear it’ll just be another piecemeal contract and we’ll need to add an AppleTV sub to watch a single game a week on top of the streaming package.

A standalone stream contract would kill the conferences value. Need OTA for eyeballs. Just look at the difference at viewership of NBC, Fox, CBS, ABC vs ESPN. TNT/TBS are included in most satellite packages as well as most large streaming packages. You can even put TNT/TBS in the multi game viewer on YouTube tv. Streaming service only is only good for one entity, the streamer.

 

[HFCS]

A standalone stream contract would kill the conferences value. Need OTA for eyeballs. Just look at the difference at viewership of NBC, Fox, CBS, ABC vs ESPN. TNT/TBS are included in most satellite packages as well as most large streaming packages. You can even put TNT/TBS in the multi game viewer on YouTube tv. Streaming service only is only good for one entity, the streamer.

Pac tried it or was looking at it, that should say enough.

 

[Raiders70]

A standalone stream contract would kill the conferences value. Need OTA for eyeballs. Just look at the difference at viewership of NBC, Fox, CBS, ABC vs ESPN. TNT/TBS are included in most satellite packages as well as most large streaming packages. You can even put TNT/TBS in the multi game viewer on YouTube tv. Streaming service only is only good for one entity, the streamer.

Except fewer and fewer people want to pay for a full streaming service. Once football season was over you basically needed only ESPN and OTA for Big 12 basketball last season. Now you will have to probably get Hulu live tv or YTlive or you will miss a lot of games. Will reluctantly do it myself but I am guessing lots of people will not. Basically will need full streaming or multiple standalone apps for 7 months compared to four at this point to have access to all the Big 12 games.

 

[Clonehomer]

A standalone stream contract would kill the conferences value. Need OTA for eyeballs. Just look at the difference at viewership of NBC, Fox, CBS, ABC vs ESPN. TNT/TBS are included in most satellite packages as well as most large streaming packages. You can even put TNT/TBS in the multi game viewer on YouTube tv. Streaming service only is only good for one entity, the streamer.

I guess I’m just waiting on when that tipping point comes that streaming packages end up costing so much that most people will drop them. Outside of sports, what’s on the channels these days? Most new shows worth watching are released on standalone services. If you’re not into sports, why do you subscribe these days?

So instead of $90 / month ($1080 / year) can the conference make more by offering a $300 / year Big12 streaming package? Maybe not right now. But in 2030, how many households will still have a streaming package with the rate it’s dropping?

 

[theshadow]

2024-25 Big 12 MBB (conference only)
ESPN+: 78
ESPN2: 27
ESPN: 25
CBS SN: 16
ESPNU: 8
CBS: 6

We know that for 2025-26 Fox/FS1 is coming on board, TNT is getting 15 MBB games (likely from the ESPN+ group), and NBC/Peacock is getting...something.

Also, the number of league games is dropping from 160 to 144.

2024 Big 12 FB (conference only)
Fox: 21
ESPN: 16
FS1: 13
ESPN2: 12
ESPN+: 8
ABC: 1
ESPNU: 1

We know that for 2025 TNT is getting 10 conference games. The prevailing thought is that TNT will take all of the games that would otherwise have been on ESPN+.

 

[Clonehomer]

2024-25 Big 12 MBB (conference only)
ESPN+: 78
ESPN2: 27
ESPN: 25
CBS SN: 16
ESPNU: 8
CBS: 6

We know that for 2025-26 Fox/FS1 is coming on board, TNT is getting 15 MBB games (likely from the ESPN+ group), and NBC/Peacock is getting...something.

Also, the number of league games is dropping from 160 to 144.

2024 Big 12 FB (conference only)
Fox: 21
ESPN: 16
FS1: 13
ESPN2: 12
ESPN+: 8
ABC: 1
ESPNU: 1

We know that for 2025 TNT is getting 10 conference games. The prevailing thought is that TNT will take all of the games that would otherwise have been on ESPN+.

I don’t see ESPN dropping games from ESPN+ completely. They’ll have just enough to force people to subscribe. They’ll focus on the fanbases that will have the greatest number of subscribers. I’d guess we’re going to see a mix of ESPN2 and ESPN+ games. But this is just a pessimistic view and not based on any facts.

 

[1UNI2ISU]

2024-25 Big 12 MBB (conference only)
ESPN+: 78
ESPN2: 27
ESPN: 25
CBS SN: 16
ESPNU: 8
CBS: 6

We know that for 2025-26 Fox/FS1 is coming on board, TNT is getting 15 MBB games (likely from the ESPN+ group), and NBC/Peacock is getting...something.

Also, the number of league games is dropping from 160 to 144.

2024 Big 12 FB (conference only)
Fox: 21
ESPN: 16
FS1: 13
ESPN2: 12
ESPN+: 8
ABC: 1
ESPNU: 1

We know that for 2025 TNT is getting 10 conference games. The prevailing thought is that TNT will take all of the games that would otherwise have been on ESPN+.

Basketball-wise, FOX is getting 'up to 44 men's and women's games' but that's also where the Peacock sublicense is coming from, so probably 30ish games on FOX/FS1 and 15ish on Peacock.

There will also still be a large presence on ESPN+ obviously.

 

[heitclone]

Is dumping ESPN+ out of the Disney Bundle in favor of HBO/Max the right play for maximizing ISU/Big XII viewing at this point?

Do we know yet if ESPN+ will still show any worthwhile (ISU) content this Fall and beyond?

Not yet, you can get every game this year with hulu live and ESPN+. From a sports perspective, you'd be paying for hbo/max for no reason at all as it woud all also be on TNT which is on hulu live.

 

[fanaticagain]

Not yet, you can get every game this year with hulu live and ESPN+. From a sports perspective, you'd be paying for hbo/max for no reason at all as it woud all also be on TNT which is on hulu live.

This. Too many people don't realize that the whole "streaming on HBO Max" thing is a moot point if you have TNT on a live TV provider.

 

[Klubber]

Not yet, you can get every game this year with hulu live and ESPN+. From a sports perspective, you'd be paying for hbo/max for no reason at all as it woud all also be on TNT which is on hulu live.

Right. But wouldn't the TNT content be available for on demand streaming via the HBO/MAX App like ESPN+ has for their Big XII games? That can be convenient if you have a conflict and can't watch in real time, or want to replay a certain game.

I guess with HULU Live, its DVR would allow for recording the game though.