Conference USA Commissioner Judy MacLeod yesterday said that the conference's football and basketball TV profile "will kick up a notch" in '16-17, according to Harry Minium of the Norfolk VIRGINIAN-PILOT. However, the TV money will not increase, and she acknowledged that "remains a vexing problem for C-USA and other mid-major leagues." C-USA "appears likely to earn" about $6M per year through deals "set to be signed later this month." MacLeod said, "Right now, the television market is horrible. ESPN eliminated 300 jobs and Fox Sports is doing away with a lot of its regional staffs. The way people consume content is rapidly changing. We have young people who work in our office who don’t have cable or DirecTV. The pool of money that’s there is going to the big guys. The Big Ten and the SEC are must-see TV.” She added, "We’ll have three or four television partners and a couple of other digital partners as well. I wish there was more money, but we’re going to try to make that up in other areas.” MacLeod said that C-USA "will hire a marketing director to begin hawking sponsorships, a job that previously had been handled mostly by TV networks." Minium notes C-USA is "expected to sign broadcast agreements" with Fox Sports, CBS Sports Network and the American Sports Network. It was reported last week that ESPN "is also negotiating with C-USA" (Norfolk VIRGINIAN-PILOT, 5/3).
RIGHTS COULD DRAW FAR LESS: In this week's SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, John Ourand cites sources as saying that C-USA is "expected to see its annual rights fee drop" from $7M annually to around $1M per year. The drop comes after the school "replaced bigger college brands like Central Florida, Houston and Memphis with smaller ones like Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee State and Western Kentucky" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 5/2 issue).
