Quote:
Originally Posted by I. J. Reilly
I've seen statements like that made elsewhere too, and I just don't understand it at all. In every other industry the thought of fewer suppliers would terrify a company. It's a pretty hard and fast equation that fewer suppliers means more expensive inventory; how does that not apply to this situation?
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It seems counterintuitive to me, too. I think it's more to do with the fact that other networks are now aggressively competing with ESPN. NBC is trying to get their sports network going, Fox is putting games on FX. There are suddenly a bunch of cable channels that want content and football is one of the biggest things on TV.
In other words, NBC seems to be targeting the Big East. Maybe rather than try to outbid ESPN for multiple conferences - let's say the Big East and maybe the ACC or someone else down the road, they'd rather have the Big East expand so they have more content for their networks. And Fox/ESPN together definitely paid more once the Pac 12 expanded.