Revenue for Fox Sports 1

[marquette]

It seems to me that the CBS and NBC sports networks are dead. Fox Sports 1 had better have a longer shelf life.

Just my opinion, but I'd like to think I am a pretty reasonable guy; Fox Sports has way more going for it than either of those channels.

CBS Sports airs nothing but 2nd tier leagues, with the exception of the NLL, on both the collegiate and professional level. Their best programming is the A10 and Mountain West sports, and the National Lacrosse League. Aside from that they have Conference USA, the Big West, the Patriot League, the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (whatever that entails, didn't even realize that was a conference), beach volleyball, action sports (snowboarding, wake boarding, etc), and the lower leagues of Football (Arena League), Basketball (NBDL), and Hockey (AHL). Nothing that really screams "Must see tv" unless you are a hardcore CUSA, MWC, or NLL fan. It is currently in 100 million homes nationwide, but without quality programming that distribution doesn't mean much. That number may also be high as I've seen articles as recently as December claiming it is in 48 million homes.

NBC Sports is a little better off as far as top tier sports are concerned.NBC Sports is currently in 80 million homes, decent coverage but not overwhelming. They have the rights to NHL games and the playoffs, Major League Soccer, and college hockey. They also carry some college sports (looks like some of the A10 stuff, and the CAA), Triple Crown Horse Racing, and Formula 1 racing. Hockey is a major sport, and MLS has its niche. However, most of their programming lacks dedicated fans in large numbers. There are advantages to niche sports, hell Spike tv built their brand on UFC and was able to get into 90+ million homes, but that's not where the big money is.

When Fox Sports 1 and 2 launch they will already be in 87 and 43 million homes respectively. They will hopefully both be in around 90-95 million within 5-10 years. They already have a quality niche sport in the UFC, which provides loads of content on a nearly weekly basis year round. It has roughly 1-2 million hard core fans who will watch no matter what, and a few million more casual fans who can be enticed with a big name fight. Major League Baseball is a large draw, that really goes without saying. As one of the Big 4 sports it will probably be the main driver of interest in the early going (I know hockey is also one of the big 4, but it is by a wide margin the least popular). NASCAR has a strong following and will be another strong draw in the early going. UEFA soccer is very niche, but there are some fans in the US who will watch so long as our adopted teams are in it. Then you have a plethora of college sports. The PAC 12 are all large state schools with large alumni fanbases and dedicated supporters. They have some decent quality sports teams, so that helps too. The Big 12 is similar, if a little lower quality, big schools, decent sports. Conference USA stuff will mostly be filler at this point. All their best teams are moving on, it seems. The Big 10 football championship should be a huge draw, especially with their expansion into more markets. Finally, Big East basketball. We have some of the best basketball in the country (I'd say 3rd behind B1G and ACC. You can argue for the Pac 12 and SEC as well, but the SEC is really a football conference with a couple good hoops teams). All of our schools have large followings and alumni bases. In Wisconsin Marquette is second behind UW, but we have a large following even among people who never attended. I think we can catch up to UW in popularity with a few more highly successful years.

Overall, I'd say FS1 has some huge advantages from distribution, to high level sports. They may even be able to poach some of the other sports channels talent (I'm thinking NHL or MLS, possibly NLL if it continues to grow in popularity. I'm thinking FS1 and 2 may even put CBS Sports out of business, and definitely cut into NBC Sports market share. The key will be getting the channel on the dial close to ESPN, that way people don't have to look for it. I think it can be done. He in Wisconsin Fox Sports Wisconsin and Time Warner Cable Sports are both right next to ESPN 1 and 2, I would love to see FS1 and 2 replace them there. Would be nice if they threw and NFL game on there to boost ratings/awareness, but I don't see that happening unless the channel gets in 100 million plus homes.

[Jet915]

It seems to me that the CBS and NBC sports networks are dead. Fox Sports 1 had better have a longer shelf life.

Can't even compare them. Fox has so much real content while NBC has caa, ivy league although they are getting UEFA. CBS has a-10 and I dont know what else.

[BillEsq]

NBC sports is far from dead. NHL and MLS the Tour, Indy, plus all Olympic sports. (no not in big boy category but far from dead)

CBS well has PBR.... i mean seriously people Bullriding YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAW!!!!!!!!!!!

[bmorex]

If I'm betting on the success of the 3 channels (FOX, NBC, CBS), I'm going:

1. FS1
2. NBCSN
3. CBSSN

And I don't really think it's for debate.

[yorost]

In Wisconsin Marquette is second behind UW, but we have a large following even among people who never attended. I think we can catch up to UW in popularity with a few more highly successful years.

No way that happens. Marquette wasn't as popular in the 80's, when Wisconsin had little to lean on but hockey among a disintegrating athletic department and Marquette's championship was still pretty fresh.. You don't unseat a state's flagship university. Marquette will always be a step behind the Badgers in Wisconsin. Milwaukee metro might be another story, but it's still a tough competition for Marquette.

[DumpsterFireA10]

CBS loses. They have the A-10.

[marquette]

No way that happens. Marquette wasn't as popular in the 80's, when Wisconsin had little to lean on but hockey among a disintegrating athletic department and Marquette's championship was still pretty fresh.. You don't unseat a state's flagship university. Marquette will always be a step behind the Badgers in Wisconsin. Milwaukee metro might be another story, but it's still a tough competition for Marquette.

A guy can dream.

[WhatYouPayForSports]

Hey, folks, Dave from What You Pay For Sports here. Just wanted to stop in and say thanks for check out my new site. I hope some of y'all have found it informative.

I also wanted to chime in on a few comments I've seen posted here:

This article completely ignores advertising revenue Fox will be raking in plenty of extra cash(potentially enough for the NBA contract mentioned in the article) if they have good ratings.

The main reason I made no mention of ad revenue was to show that Fox Sports 1/2 wouldn't even need ad revenue to cover the costs of their rights contracts. The ad revenue could cover production and promotion costs, and anything left would be profit. (We also don't know how much ad revenue these channels will bring in yet, as they don't exist. ESPN brought in $3.3 billion in ad revenue in 2012, but extrapolating from that might be a bridge too far.)

They may even be able to poach some of the other sports channels talent (I'm thinking NHL or MLS, possibly NLL if it continues to grow in popularity.)

Fox Sports 1 won't get the NHL, as NBC has that league locked up through the 2020-21 season. MLS' TV contracts expire in 2014, though, and given that Fox has the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, I could see them swooping in to take MLS back, one way or another. They will also try to keep the UEFA Champions League away from ESPN and BeINSport, though that might cost a bit.

I don't see Fox making a serious run at the NBA, though. The current NBA contracts with ESPN and Turner, which expire in 2016, are worth $960 million a year. Next set of contracts could reach $1.6 billion per year, and FS1's subscriber fees probably won't be enough to cover that by then. Besides, they've got MLB, NASCAR, & UFC to cover, and with the Big East, Big 12, Pac-12, and C-USA on board, they won't have any shortage of basketball to show.

As for the NLL, c'mon, CBSSN has to show SOMETHING. Besides, Fox has the US rights to the Australian Football League, which is FAR more awesome and fantastic overnight programming to boot.

If I'm betting on the success of the 3 channels (FOX, NBC, CBS), I'm going:

1. FS1
2. NBCSN
3. CBSSN

Agreed. There's a really good analysis by Morgan Wick here that explains how and why ESPN actually helped Fox along the way in order to keep NBCSN owners Comcast from ever being able to create a network that devalues ESPN. NBCSN will be stuck as the hockey-soccer-cycling-F1-Olympics channel for a few years, but that's enough to keep it going for a while.

But CBSSN? Aside from a few mid-major conferences like the Mountain West and C-USA, what have they got? Arena Football? Indoor Lacrosse? D-League hoops? Have they struck a deal with the new NASL yet? When do they start showing a pro Ultimate Frisbee game of the week?

Lately, I have wondered what would happen in someone created a sports channel, made up a bunch of sports leagues (and games) from scratch, then treated them like a really big deal. I've only wondered this because CBSSN comes pretty darn close.

[admin]

WhatYouPayForSports - Thanks for the insight.. I look forward to more of your input and knowledgeable participation here.

[glen]

Fox should show something NFL related on FS1 when they begin the channel to immediately draw viewers. I'd also like to see some promos for Big East games during NFL games on Fox.