Anything and everything about Liberty Flames football. Your comments on games, recruiting and the direction of the program as we move into new era.

Moderators: jcmanson, Sly Fox, BuryYourDuke, Class of 20Something

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By BlueBlood
Posts
#578112
I was really hoping that the SU game would be picked up for an ESPN cable broadcast.

Also, kind of disappointed that the games are behind the ESPN+ paywall this year. Last year they were free on ESPN3. I already have +, so it’s no biggie for me personally. However, it is limiting the number of folks who have the ability to watch our games.
By JK37
Registration Days Posts
#578127
BlueBlood wrote:I was really hoping that the SU game would be picked up for an ESPN cable broadcast.

Also, kind of disappointed that the games are behind the ESPN+ paywall this year. Last year they were free on ESPN3. I already have +, so it’s no biggie for me personally. However, it is limiting the number of folks who have the ability to watch our games.
I don’t think it’s limiting at all.

If one has cable, they pay anywhere from $7 to $10 for ESPN alone. Why should they receive other content for free? $4.99/month for ESPN+ is a STEAL!
User avatar
By BlueBlood
Posts
#578128
JK37 wrote: I don’t think it’s limiting at all.

If one has cable, they pay anywhere from $7 to $10 for ESPN alone. Why should they receive other content for free? $4.99/month for ESPN+ is a STEAL!
I just meant that you have a smaller potential audience. ESPN3 content is free to everyone that gets ESPN. That is a far bigger group of people than those of use who subscribe to ESPN+.

I agree that ESPN+ is a steal at current pricing.
User avatar
By jinxy
Registration Days Posts
#578131
Because everything else espn has done the last 5 years has blown up. Espn plus is doing ok....for now. Blueblood is right in that its a bad move for liberty because it will be a smaller audience. If we had a more established fan base it wouldnt be as big a deal but were trying to build one at the fbs level. I dont know how much control we have over that.

Espn has no choice but to try to make it work because they have been hemorrhaging subscribers for a miriad of reasons from cord cutting to politics to just poor content and losing a ton of their top talent. They are desperately trying to remake themselves.
By JK37
Registration Days Posts
#578134
jinxy wrote: its a bad move for liberty because it will be a smaller audience.
I disagree that it’s a bad move for Liberty. It won’t be a smaller audience to any significant level. There is more to this than just audience.

The greatest sector of audience lost with be already-fans of Liberty who refuse to pay. So what?
User avatar
By jbock13
Registration Days Posts
#578136
JK37 wrote:
BlueBlood wrote:I was really hoping that the SU game would be picked up for an ESPN cable broadcast.

Also, kind of disappointed that the games are behind the ESPN+ paywall this year. Last year they were free on ESPN3. I already have +, so it’s no biggie for me personally. However, it is limiting the number of folks who have the ability to watch our games.
I don’t think it’s limiting at all.

If one has cable, they pay anywhere from $7 to $10 for ESPN alone. Why should they receive other content for free? $4.99/month for ESPN+ is a STEAL!
It used to be free. It’s not like we’re paying to develop content. You’re getting the same free content, and they’re charging for it.
User avatar
By SumItUp
Registration Days Posts
#578137
Nothing is free. ESPN3 was never free. It was an additional offering ONLY for ESPN subscribers of a paid television/satellite/other service. ESPN+ is a standalone product. You do not have to have a TV service to get ESPN+. ESPN is building their model to reach directly to their viewers as the previous Cable/Satellite subscription model continues to see a decline in customers.
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By BlueBlood
Posts
#578144
SumItUp wrote:Nothing is free. ESPN3 was never free. It was an additional offering ONLY for ESPN subscribers of a paid television/satellite/other service. ESPN+ is a standalone product. You do not have to have a TV service to get ESPN+. ESPN is building their model to reach directly to their viewers as the previous Cable/Satellite subscription model continues to see a decline in customers.
I'm actually a big fan of ESPN+. Like I said above, at its current pricing, I think its a steal. There is a lot of content there. I do fear that they are just getting us addicted and then will jack the price soon, but that's for another debate.

My only disappointment was that last year our games were available to 80-90 Million ESPN-subscribing households. This year, they will be available only to the 2+ Million ESPN+ subscribers. Its not the end of the world, but has certainly limited the number of people who have access to view the games.

Edit: Oh yeah, take that back - still disappointed that the SU game wasn't picked up for broadcast on one of the ESPN cable channels. I really thought it had a strong chance of being picked up (understood that it might have come with a funky time or date change).
Last edited by BlueBlood on May 31st, 2019, 9:39 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
By thepostman
Registration Days Posts
#578148
I love ESPN+, especially as a cord cutter. It has provided live sports for a small annual fee and the content appears to be growing.
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By TH Spangler
Registration Days Posts
#578149
thepostman wrote:I love ESPN+, especially as a cord cutter. It has provided live sports for a small annual fee and the content appears to be growing.
It's a great deal for LU fans ..... tons of games all sports for $5 per month.
User avatar
By alabama24
Registration Days Posts
#578150
SumItUp wrote:ESPN3 was never free. It was an additional offering ONLY for ESPN subscribers of a paid television/satellite/other service.
You are wrong on this point. ESPN3 (and its predecessor ESPN360) was completely free at one point... At least to those with either a .edu or .mil email address. Our first foray into "cord cutting" was the completely free Hulu and ESPN3. We watched on our laptops.

I don't see ESPN+ as being a huge disadvantage to us, but OF COURSE the market is MUCH smaller. ESPN subscriptions > ESPN+ subscriptions, and it isn't even close.

However: Disney has several things here at play in the near future which might even things up a bit:

1. They just acquired near full control of HULU
2. They have already launched ESPN+
3. They are soon to launch DISNEY+

It has already been said by disney execs that they plan to bundle these by the fall.
User avatar
By thepostman
Registration Days Posts
#578153
TH Spangler wrote:
thepostman wrote:I love ESPN+, especially as a cord cutter. It has provided live sports for a small annual fee and the content appears to be growing.
It's a great deal for LU fans ..... tons of games all sports for $5 per month.
Yeah, it is a no brainer for me with all the LU sports on there.
User avatar
By alabama24
Registration Days Posts
#578168
FWIW - I was an ESPN+ Subscriber until my credit card was stolen (with $5000 in purchases picked up at BestBuy in Cali). I plan to sign up again in the fall, but don't see a reason to over the summer.
User avatar
By SumItUp
Registration Days Posts
#578173
alabama24 wrote:FWIW - I was an ESPN+ Subscriber until my credit card was stolen (with $5000 in purchases picked up at BestBuy in Cali). I plan to sign up again in the fall, but don't see a reason to over the summer.
Another benefit - month to month with no contracts
By JK37
Registration Days Posts
#578183
Is lost POTENTIAL audience really that big a loss? How many people really flipped on ESPN3 with NOTHING to watch, and then stopped on LU sports?

Forgive me, but I’m betting not many.
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By SumItUp
Registration Days Posts
#578186
JK37, I agree. We moved to YouTubeTV and ESPN+ in our house and access both apps through the AppleTV. I go to the ESPN app and search plus to see what is available and coming up before I go to the YouTube app and check live TV. Since the accounts are linked, I also get the premium content (ESPN, 2, U, SEC, etc...). Previously, I only went to ESPN3 when I was looking for Liberty content. It's anecdotal, but I think the ESPN+ usage could be higher. How many traditional ESPN viewers think ESPN3 is a channel on their cable/satellite box?
User avatar
By BlueBlood
Posts
#578189
I would think that those who are really invested in Liberty will pay the $5/mo and watch.

You might lose some folks who love Liberty, but aren't huge sports fans. They might watch it if its free, but aren't going out and buying a sports streaming package. (these are the folks who are paying for my ESPN and I'm paying for their shopping networks, travel channels, etc.)

You'll lose a couple people like my parents (Penn State grads who will watch their grandkids school out of casual interst if its on network/cable/free-streaming). They loved watching the NCAA tournament games.

I think you also lose the curious non-LU football fan who has ESPN, but not ESPN+ - The person who isn't invested, but if they see a close Syracuse/Liberty score, they might click the "watch" icon on the ESPN scoreboard.
User avatar
By LU 57
Posts
#578242
I subscribed to ESPN+ back in the fall primarily to watch LU basketball games and agree that it is well worth the $5 per month. However, the app for the firestick can be very glitchy. For example I thought I was going to lose it over the buffering during the baseball regionals last night. At first I thought it was my connection but all other streaming apps were working perfectly. I have an Ethernet connection into the firestick from my FIOS router (940/880 mbps). This does not happen a lot but often at very inopportune moments.

Fortunately, whatever was wrong was finally worked out by the 10 pm first pitch. Great win!!

Anyway, I too would have loved to see one of the main ESPN networks pick up the Syracuse game but I guess I do not really care that much since I will be at the game.
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