The impending sports bubble is here and some of the biggest sports entities of our time are facing its wrath. The Pac-12 is currently still in negotiations with various media companies -- reportedly testing the waters with Ion -- for their its television home. Unfortunately, it has struggled to find a permanent home.
The bubble has arisen because it is getting more and more expensive for TV networks to keep the rights to major sports entities that draw big ratings, major attention, and millions in ad dollars like the NFL, the SEC, the Big Ten, and even the MLB, NHL, and NBA. As cable subscribers leave the cord and media companies develop more intimate relationships with their consumers, it is becoming more difficult to keep a bunch of sports properties under one roof. It was just too expensive.
And unfortunately for conferences like the PAC-12, it's hard to even find a home at all because media companies want to save any coins they have to keep their high-attaining assets that are becoming more expensive to own rights to.
Because of this shift, many unknown networks are beginning to rise as potential new homes for live sports. Ion Television was even rumored at some point to be in talks with the PAC-12 for rights, a report that was later disputed. One place sports properties should consider if their old partners don't want them anymore is Reelz Channel. Believe it or not, I honestly just suggested the Reelz Channel.
The network acquired On Patrol Live out of the ashes in July of 2022. The show originally aired on A&E and was known as Live PD. But it was canceled due to the nation's uproar about police abusing power after video of George Floyd's death was released. Once the national water cooler talk about police violence settled down, Reelz started airing a new version of the show, and its ratings shot up a reported 274%.
It is the 19th highest-rated cable network year-to-year among the key demo adults 25-54, according to IndieWire. Just last year, it ranked #51. The rise in rankings shows the force and power On Patrol Live has on television. As one of the highest-rated shows on TV, imagine the exposure a college conference or sports league could get by marketing itself during the broadcast.
The network, which leans into crime programming, has also recently widened its distribution. A live linear feed of the network is not only available through cable television but it will live on Peacock. Big Ten fans who will be relying on Peacock for the bulk of their games next season will instantly also be exposed to Reelz.
Fans of other sports such as the Premier League, the NFL, Notre Dame football, Olympic sports, PGA Golf, and other leagues which NBC owns the rights will also be more inclined to watch Reelz if it has sports programming airing on the network which will keep users on the Peacock app even longer. Ironically, if more people are watching Reelz on Peacock, it could raise the question of a potential fee that Reelz charges Peacock to stay on the app - a throwback of the cable bundle in internet format.
Speaking of the cable side, having live sports will probably help Reelz stay on the bundle as cable carriers attempt to get rid of as many channels as possible and move subscribers from the cord to streaming. Most networks on the bundle that are still able to exist there are only able to do so because they are tied to the owner of a more lucrative cable network like ESPN, Fox News, the broadcast networks, or TNT.
It is hard for independently owned networks like Reelz, owned by Hubbard Broadcasting, to stay widely distributed unless they allow the cable company to carry them without a fee. With live sports, they would be able to stay on the bundle and might be able to request a retransmission fee.
Finally, Reelz has experience airing sports and live events already. They air Major League Wrestling every week for one hour. The network used to be the home of TMZ Sports before it moved to Fox Sports. They've aired pageants in the past and their parent company has had relationships with sports teams and leagues through their radio division. Leagues and/or conferences that partnered with Reelz wouldn't be starting a relationship with a company that has absolutely no idea what it is doing.
There are still two major weaknesses Reelz faces. The biggest issue is that their Friday and Saturday nights are booked all year. This is when On Patrol Live airs live on Reelz. The network would be crazy to move the time slot of their highest-rated programming unless it was getting the opportunity to air a prime-time NFL game. With the way sports is structured today though, there are many other day parts and nights in prime time that a league could easily takeover on Reelz.
The other big problem is name recognition. Not many people know what Reelz is. They may have watched it by accident through their smart TV, on YouTube, or even on the bundle because it had a movie or rerun they recognized or was airing a documentary about a dead celebrity they wanted to watch. The likelihood that viewers have heard of the channel is slim to none. The good thing about having an unrecognizable channel is that sports fans will always figure out a way to find it.
At one point, ESPN and TNT were unrecognizable. FS1 used to be the SPEED channel. TruTV used to be Court TV and never aired sports programming. It may be difficult to find, but once a sports fan is determined to watch their team by any means necessary, they'll find a way to find that channel.
If I was a sports league that wasn't as desirable as the NFL or the Big Ten, I would keep some presence on the major sports networks of the world like ESPN, Fox, NBC, Turner, etc. while also spreading my real estate to a company that needs me and would cater to me and has a decent amount of distribution like Reelz. Give it a shot. See what happens.
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