Quote:
Originally Posted by HemiEd
No doubt, but you can look at that two ways. Iowa is good at wrestling because they like it and have been successful at it, and success breeds further success.
I think that also holds true with KU BB, and of course gaining traction with Mizzou football and......um ladies softball?
But really, I think CBS is a bigger factor, or at least as big in College BB as ESPN. I don't think too many events rival "March Madness."
"Despite CBS' contract to carry the tournament until 2013, the NCAA had the option of ending the agreement after the 2010 championship. This led to speculation that ESPN would snag the rights to future tournament games[14] However, on April 22, 2010, the NCAA signed a 14-year agreement with CBS and Turner Broadcasting System worth more than $10.8 billion, allowing CBS to continue airing the entire regional finals through the national championship, with CBS and Turner splitting coverage of earlier rounds in the now 68-team field. After 2015, the regional finals, Final Four and national championship will alternate between CBS and TBS."
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And really, that new deal led to the first time you could watch every tourney game on TV right? I'm not saying basketball is going to suddenly jump football in revenue because a) its not, b) its not and c) this is a football crazy country but there is still a ton of room for basketball revenue to grow. Live sports programming draws eyeballs consistently and your production cost for it is really just the rights fees. With more channels expanding to broadcasting live sports and the fact that it takes megabucks to get a good football game it really wouldn't surprise me to see some explosive growth in basketball coverage as time goes on and more coverage means more revenue.