University of Oklahoma close finalizing deal for their own sports network
by Jordan Esco on Jan 3, 2012 3:09 PM CST
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PrintCable customers in Austin, Texas, don’t have access to their hometown University of Texas’ Longhorn Network.
But starting next fall, those Texas subscribers will be able to see plenty of the Longhorns’ bitter rival through hours of University of Oklahoma-branded programming, thanks to a deal that’s close to being signed with Fox Sports.
According to a report in the Sports Business Journal, the University of Oklahoma and Fox Sports are working to finalize an agreement that would give the Sooners their own brand sports television network.
It's similarly structured to the Longhorn Network in that it will feature OU's third-tier TV rights, including at least one live football game, several men’s and women’s basketball games and Olympic sports. Where it's not similar is in the 24-hour broadcast and of course in the total dollars (which have yet to be disclosed) or expected length of the deal.
The obvious major advantage between the two bitter rivals' networks is that Oklahoma's will be immediately available via Fox Sports regional networks cable distribution where as the Texas Network is still available in a very small number of homes (comparatively speaking) and reportedly no closer to making a deal to change that fact.
OU’s deal with Fox alleviates the pressure that comes with starting a new network from scratch, which would entail everything from building out studios and hiring talent to negotiating with cable and satellite carriers and setting up a sales staff. One of the Sooners’ primary objectives in striking a deal with Fox was to launch their branded content on a partner that offered complete distribution from day one, sources said.
I'll leave it up to our resident expert, Redhawk, to expound more on the details of the report but my uneducated brain tells me this looks to be a pretty good deal overall for OU.
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Very good deal from a distribution stand point
It’s OU programming and sports on the Fox Sports Networks, Fox Sports OK, and Fox Sports SW in OK, AR, LA, and TX including Austin. (outside of that check with your cable/Sat provider’s sports package that includes the Fox Regional Channels). It will carry it’s own brand somewhere during the programming.
This deal is very similar to the deal Florida Gators did with the Sunshine Network.
Great Deal for OU. Crappy deal for the Big 12 Conference, if you think like I do that a Conference Network would be better.
Makes me glad we have DirecTV....
they ironed out the deal where I am not stuck with just Fox Sports Houston, but also get Fox Sports SW and Fox SportsOK
I'm a Sooner Born and a Sooner Bred, and when I die I'll be a Sooner Dead!!!
A Crappy Conference Gets a Crappy Deal
I agree that we’d be better off with a conference network…but we’d also be better off in a better conference.
The horses left the barn on the possibility of a conference network when UT created the LHN and Nebbish and CU bolted.
There is no "i" in Teamocil. At least not where you'd think.
by GreenNGoldSooner on Jan 4, 2012 10:25 AM CST up reply actions
Whoops...I meant to write...
I agree that the Big XII would be better off with a conference network…but OU would be better off in a better conference.
There is no "i" in Teamocil. At least not where you'd think.
by GreenNGoldSooner on Jan 4, 2012 10:26 AM CST up reply actions
I agree on all points
but I had hope that if OU led the other dwarfs vs UT, we could still get a conference network done, and a deal of some sort could have been made. I thought the LHN could have been the back-bone of an ESPN channel done as a local affiliate.
With UT and OU now with their own deals, a conference network is dead
BAM
How bout them apples you long(w)horn punks!!
Football, in its purest form, remains a physical fight. As in any fight, if you don't want to fight, it's impossible to win." Bud Wilkinson
way to miss the point...
entirely. The LHN has nothing to do with OU, and OU’s deal with Fox has nothing – absolutely not an effin’ thing – to do with Texas. Nice move Sooners, and good on you for securing a revenue stream and looking out for the interests of your university, in part by marketing your third tier. It’s safe to say that none of us in the Longhorn blogosphere have even the smallest problem with that.
An obtuse whorn who would have though that?
by OU JJ on Jan 4, 2012 9:12 AM CST via mobile up reply actions
Third tier networking rights...
and the ability for schools to market them to secure revenue streams. From what I understand (read: what I’ve read up to this point), Castiglione has been in negotiations for a long time with Fox for just this scenario to occur, and, in my eyes, there’s not a thing wrong with that. Your point seems to be to kneejerk with some tired insult whenever you see my posts, i.e. with “whorn”, “texass” etc. I don’t troll on here. I post my thoughts about football, and with Texas, that invariably involves OU. So while it would be misguided to expect objectivity from a Sooner fan on a Sooner fan site, I do expect some class.
No I understand the network.
I don’t why you choose to be excited about being obtuse or called on whorn on a rival site. Clearly fun was being pokes that no one is getting the lhn, while whatever small potatoes you feel this is with fox, people will actually have access quickly…
by OU JJ on Jan 4, 2012 1:51 PM CST via mobile up reply actions
point taken.
Also, I wouldn’t characterize the deal as small potatoes, in fact I think it’s the perfect middle ground, even if it is for less money. Less of a gamble than LHN, more exposure. It’ll be around four hours a day, which is more than enough. And no prizes for guessing which branch of OU athletics will likely dominate the programming. LHN = 24 hours a day, with football only being a portion of that. I’m not really interested in watching Longhorn volleyball. So it’s the same concept, but optimized with immediate benefits, with the only knock being that the deal is worth less, pennywise.
Honestly the basketball teams will get the greater exposure I would bet.
With then increased secondary like baseball. Typically OU only has 1 ppv per year. Then 1 third tier (such as versus) or non ESPN/abc. The way I understand it wouldnt be an extra charge to have the programming to the subscriber.
by OU JJ on Jan 4, 2012 3:30 PM CST via mobile up reply actions
Right
Which is why DeLoss should’ve been pursuing this route all along. If and only if the LHN gets picked up by the majors, and is then included in bundled cable packages rather than as an individual option like the Fox Soccer Channel is with AT&T cable [using my cable as an example], will it meet the standard of success that most Longhorn posters have set. Right now, the OU deal is the superior deal, because of the no added charge.
hard to take offense..
from you, you’ve been so dead wrong about pretty much everything OU-related in the very recent past. What happened to that sweet Pac-16 profile pic you jazzed up, btw?
yeah.
so I’ll let you in on a little secret, fo’ free. you were already able to watch “[y]OUR team on TV.” So who missed the point?
ZING.
Wowsville, you really scored a point there. But as long as a helmet for retards can translate your BS into something intelligible, I’m all for it. You can mail me one from your significant other’s personal supply. In the meantime, you can keep harpin’ on about how the LHN has stalled and how us poor lil’ Longhorn fans had to miss a game earlier this season. I’ll try to talk about the topic at hand, the Sooner network. With someone else, hopefully.
Question
Will I have to pay to subscribe or do I automatically get it if I have other regional stations for Fox Sports?
Idk.... But I get a bunch of stuff that I don't care about
With my sports fox package…
by OU JJ on Jan 3, 2012 5:35 PM CST via mobile up reply actions
different cable and Satellite providers carry different things
The sooner network is not a NEW channel…it will just be carried on Fox Sports Oklahoma or Fox Sports SW. Like the Texas Rangers Network is now.
So I assume this means we won't have to watch anymore games on PPV...
Right?
"Gentlemen we must all hang together, or assuredly we will all hang separately."
Benjamin Franklin
by leatherneck1061 on Jan 4, 2012 10:29 AM CST reply actions
that will probably be the game that they show
the one game a year that is usually a ppv
"I feel sorry for peple who don't drink, when they wake up in the morning thats as good as they are gonna feel all day long." Frank Sinatra
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