If everything goes as planned this fall — a big if — the sports calendar will be more crowded than it’s ever been.
There is a possibility that NFL games will run alongside college football games, NBA and NHL playoff games, the World Series, golf and tennis majors, Triple Crown races and more.
The situation sounds great for U.S. sports fans, who will get to choose among so many big sports events.
But for sports networks, the situation already is causing some angst. Such a robust sports market gives ad buyers all the leverage. If the rate for any one of the big events is too high, advertisers can move on to another.
Overall sports TV viewership should hit record highs with so many big events. But with all these events competing with each other, TV ratings for individual sports may not be as high.
Then there are issues around TV production, which is going to be stretched thin during all these events — both with behind-the-scenes work and on-air commentators.
“Holy smokes, the volume is going to kill us,” said Ken Aagaard, a longtime CBS executive who now is working for a remote production company called BitFire. “Two months ago, we talked about this as a possibility. We were really, really concerned about everything hitting at the same time.”
Aagaard said the size and scope of having so many sporting events taking place at the same time makes him the most nervous.
“This is my 52nd year in the business,” he said. “I see this as the biggest challenge I’ve ever seen in our business. Being able to produce all this content in such a short period of time while everything else is going on.
“People think that nothing’s happening right now. People aren’t working; nothing’s going on. But it’s almost the reverse as we start to open this up.”
Despite those nerves, Aagaard said he is optimistic that the TV production community will rise to the challenge.
“That’s what we do,” he said. “That’s what we’re proud of doing. We’re the most flexible of any industry anywhere.”
Part of the problem comes from the uncertainty of not knowing exactly when each of the sports will be played. Just last week, the Ivy League moved its fall sports schedule to the spring.
“Every one of those kinds of decisions has huge ramifications on the broadcasters,” Aagaard said. “That’s really what keeps us up.”
