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University Athletics: The Scary Future

One day in the near future, [Andrew] Zimbalist says everyone will wake up and realize what is obvious: There is an excess of college football on TV, a surfeit of networks to show it and even more obscure networks launching.

The market could become oversaturated and the multitude of games would attract smaller, niche audiences that won’t command as much in advertising dollars. Rights fees would either plateau or peak and fall.

“College athletics would have to adjust to that reality,” Zimbalist said.

They would have to scale back, not to pre-’84 levels, a drastic and likely impossible turn away from commercialism.

Margaret Soltan, August 27, 2012 8:15AM
Posted in: sport

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2 Responses to “University Athletics: The Scary Future”

  1. Stephen Karlson Says:

    There are stirrings in the Mid-American Conference, where the Tuesday – Thursday evening games don’t draw the kind of incidental business to bars and restaurants that Saturday games do, and the television coverage shows banks of empty seats.

    With the pros now scheduling Thursday night games beginning in September, expect the Mid-American to look more carefully at the alleged benefits of weeknight television exposure.

  2. Dave Stone Says:

    The article’s pretty good, but I thought this particular passage was predicting what’s already come to pass. There’s already a glut of football and basketball, and no one pays much attention to schools outside the power conferences. No one watches Ohio University now, and people will continue to watch Ohio State even if there are a bunch of other games on TV.

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