Menu
Sports Media

BLAZERS FANS PAY UP FOR GAME; MOVE LIKELY FOR OTHER TEAMS?

          The Blazers aired last night's Game Two of their
     playoff series against the Jazz on PPV in the Portland area,
     according to Katy Muldoon of the Portland OREGONIAN, who
     wrote that fans could either order the game on BlazerVision
     at a cost of $24.95 or pay $5-7.50 to watch the game at one
     of five "fan sites" that carried the broadcast.  Muldoon
     noted that the Blazers "decide on a game-by-game basis"
     whether to air home games on PPV or to offer them free on
     KGW-NBC.  Blazers Senior VP/Marketing Harry Hutt "knows the
     cable-only situation rankles some fans," but he said the
     suggestion that the move is a "greed play on the part of the
     Blazers is far from true," as the team's No. 1 obligation is
     "to protect the home gate ... to provide a sold-out crowd
     atmosphere."  Hutt: "People get the idea there's an
     obligation on the part of the team to televise a game, but
     there isn't. ... If we said it would be on KGW, we might not
     sell out.  Who knows?"  Hutt also stressed the team's
     "generosity" in providing free BlazerVision to 100 Portland-
     area "long-term care facilities" (Portland OREGONIAN, 5/9). 
     Last night's game was announced as a sellout (THE DAILY).
          NO LONGER FREE TO DO WHAT THEY WANT? MULTICHANNEL NEWS'
     R. Thomas Umstead writes that some industry execs now
     believe that the idea of PPV games "will become commonplace"
     in the future, as networks and teams "may look to move
     games" currently running on basic cable to PPV in order to
     generate revenue.  One MSO Operator: "I don't know if it's a
     pay TV or PPV model, but something has to be done to curtail
     the rising cost of sports.  It can't remain within the basic
     package."  But Comcast SportsNet CEO Jack Williams "ruled
     out any possibility" of offering local games on a PPV basis,
     and FSN Senior VP John Heidtke said, "When you look at a
     regular-season schedule, it would be difficult to go back
     and put games on a PPV basis.  There's also a public
     relations issue when you take back something that you've
     given virtually for free."  But some cable execs feel that
     once digital boxes are in a majority of homes, "viewers will
     not have as many objections to paying for specialized
     programming" (MULTICHANNEL NEWS, 5/8 issue).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2000/05/10/Sports-Media/BLAZERS-FANS-PAY-UP-FOR-GAME-MOVE-LIKELY-FOR-OTHER-TEAMS.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2000/05/10/Sports-Media/BLAZERS-FANS-PAY-UP-FOR-GAME-MOVE-LIKELY-FOR-OTHER-TEAMS.aspx

CLOSE