As this drags on, at what point do think the ESPN offer is not viable? I get that the lowball is there as a way to provide themselves a “fuck it at this price why not” out, but we are approaching the need to potentially have to fully rethink the value of live sports in general. What segments and matchups are going to continue to have value and more interesting how do you leverage that value as we see a shift in how media ad revenue is generated.
Does the WAC10 have value to ESPN that is greater than cementing the final iteration of the near term outlook of what CFB is going to be? 5 years from now is there going to be enough value there to offset the risk of the current big 3 walking away and forming their own division at the cost of potentially both the B12 and WAC10.
I ask this because at some point a split is coming in CFB and when that happens the more conferences are willing to play ball with the networks on how the leftovers are treated, ie are they completely ignored like DivII, relegated to a limited cutoff like the FCS or treated as a token player like the G5. The value of those games in the mid and longterm is going to hinge not on the NCAA but the power 3 or 4 that split off.
At what point by keeping the lowball offer on the table does ESPN risk the potential value of both the B12 and WAC10. If the WAC10 gets to hang out in zombie mode, does the B12 without Texas and OU get to split off with the other 3? Is it worth it to add the B12 and the flyover territory to the pool vs the expected payout?
By not finishing one of them off both are likely at risk, and how does that risk transfer over to ESPN. This is also why I think there might be some truth to a back door FOX deal just to potentially screw ESPN by leaving them with a huge inventory of brands that all of a sudden lose a ton of value if the B12 and WAC10 get left behind.