Flo Sports

[Kuiper]

The NEWMAC has now officially joined the Landmark in signing with Flo Sports for a paywall stream of all of its games. 

https://newmacsports.com/tournaments/?id=39

Westwood, MA (February 28, 2024) – The NEWMAC and FloSports, a global independent sports media company and streaming platform, today announced a historic five-year media rights agreement under which FloSports will become the exclusive media partner of the NEWMAC beginning in the 2024-2025 academic year. By providing the NEWMAC with a national platform and additional resources, the agreement will enhance the NEWMAC's standing as a preeminent NCAA Division III conference.

"As a conference, our mission is to be at the forefront of the evolving landscape of college athletics to create the best possible experience for our student-athletes," said Patrick B. Summers, NEWMAC Executive Director. "Our partnership with FloSports enables the NEWMAC to continue building on our success as a conference by providing our student-athletes and institutional brands with increased exposure and a national platform."

Under the terms of the agreement, FloSports will distribute more than 1,100 regular season and postseason NEWMAC events live and on-demand across 17 sports, with member institutions having the option to post full games free of charge on their institutional platforms 72 hours after each contest. FloSports investment into the conference will enhance overall production quality and media operations of member schools throughout the term of the contract. FloSports will also leverage the nationally and internationally recognized brands of the NEWMAC member institutions by producing original content and social media programming throughout the conference over the five-year term.

"This partnership will allow the NEWMAC to continue to elevate its brand and highlight our most valuable asset – our student-athletes. We are proud to be a leader among athletic conferences, and our NEWMAC Presidents Council is unanimous in its belief that this is the right path forward for the NEWMAC," added Stephen Spinelli Jr., President of Babson College and Chair of the NEWMAC Presidents Council.

With 90 percent of the revenue from the agreement going back to the NEWMAC member institutions, the agreement will enable the implementation of improved broadcast production standards and continued equity in production quality between corresponding men's and women's sports.

I don't think this will be the last conference to sign up with Flo Sports.  With Landmark and now NEWMAC, it's pretty clear that their plan is to sign up as many conferences as possible so that the value proposition for D3 fans will shift in favor of subscribing.  See the statement below from Flo Sports:

"We are committed to providing the comprehensive destination that NCAA Division III conferences, schools, student-athletes, and fans deserve, and are proud to make an investment in the NEWMAC to serve this mission," said Mike Levy, Senior Vice President, Global Rights Acquisition & Partnerships at FloSports. "We remain steadfast in our belief that there is significant value to be unearthed at the Division III level, and the NEWMAC's combination of athletic excellence and nationally recognized member institutions makes the conference a significant addition to our platform."

Ironically, I don't think this move will be a good one for D3 sports' argument for avoiding employer status in the eyes of the NLRB and the law.  Any new revenue streams are going to make D3 look closer and closer to D1, even if the amount of money is minuscule in the overall picture.  Plus, a media partner is going to impose requirements and restrictions on students that add to the argument that colleges are exercising control over the students-athletes for purposes of determining whether they are employees.

[Ron Boerger]

When news of this broke earlier this month, D3hoops' Ryan Scott did a very in-depth dive into the Flo-nomenon(tm):

https://d3hoops.com/columns/around-the-nation/2023-24/d3-go-with-the-flo

[Kuiper]

The SCIAC has announced it has signed an agreement to broadcast all games on Flo Sports.  They did negotiate to give free access after three days on the school's individual platforms (which may mean it depends upon the individual school as to whether it is provided), but otherwise their games will now all be behind a paywall.

LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif. - June 5, 2024 - The Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a multi-year media rights agreement with FloSports, a global sports media company, making it the exclusive digital platform for the SCIACtv Network beginning with the 2024-25 academic year.

"The SCIAC and its nine member institutions are thrilled to begin a partnership with FloSports," SCIAC Commissioner Jenn Dubow said. "This agreement provides opportunities to enhance our conference and institutional efforts to provide a quality streaming experience for our student-athletes, alumni, family and fans. FloSports has demonstrated a significant and sincere commitment to providing funding and exposure for small-school college sports in a collaborative way that can help each of our institutions' unique approach and goals to streaming and athletics communications. This is a direction DIII is headed as a whole and the SCIAC will continue to position itself as a leading conference while ensuring we maintain a primary focus on our student-athlete experience in all endeavors."

The SCIAC becomes the third Division III conference partnering with FloSports after the Landmark Conference announced an agreement in July 2023. It is home to three national championships in the 2023-2024 season, including two from California Lutheran for Women's Soccer and Men's Volleyball along with Pomona Pitzer for Men's Cross Country.

Over the length of the five-year partnership FloSports will stream all live and on-demand SCIAC events, including the conference's 21 championships. The SCIAC and FloSports have developed a shared vision for enhancing broadcast production standards and athletics communication efforts across all nine member institutions, with FloSports providing annual investment in the conference and each member.

On-demand access will last for a period of 72 hours following each contest, after which video will be archived on the SCIACtv Network and member institutions will be able to provide access free-of-charge through their institutional platforms. FloSports will also leverage the local, national and international brands of SCIAC member institutions by producing original content and social media programming.

[Gray Fox]

Does that mean I will need to wait three days to watch for free?  Some of the current broadcasts are very bad.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

This appears to be a near identical deal to what the Landmark and NEWMAC have, which means it comes with some minimum requirements for broadcasts that increase over the five years.  I agree, some of the SCIAC schools will have to step up more than others.

I also wonder what pressure Flo is getting from their current partners.  I know there was a lot of complaint about the mid-major D1 baseball coverage.  The schools are responsible for that, of course, but the customers complain to Flo.  I'm not sure how that affects things.

I know there's a review period after two or three years, where either side can back out of the deal.  We'll have to wait to see how the conferences and Flo feel about this arrangement.

I'm not a huge fan of this arrangement, but I appreciate why conferences do it and, ultimately, monetization is going to have to happen, so we can chalk this up to the learning process as we figure it out.

[Gray Fox]

This is info I was just sent by Oxy Women's Basketball:

Hi , if you are referring to watching our games online

Occidental Women's Basketball
they will no longer be free, no

You'd have to subscribe to FloSports.  You can get a monthly or annual subscription.  The subscription will give you access to everything on FloSports, not just SCIAC competition

[NEPAFAN]

This is info I was just sent by Oxy Women's Basketball:

Hi , if you are referring to watching our games online

Occidental Women's Basketball
they will no longer be free, no

You'd have to subscribe to FloSports.  You can get a monthly or annual subscription.  The subscription will give you access to everything on FloSports, not just SCIAC competition

Yes, but you should be able to review the gamesd 72 hours after completion on the school's site. At least that is the landmark model.

[Kuiper]

This is info I was just sent by Oxy Women's Basketball:

Hi , if you are referring to watching our games online

Occidental Women's Basketball
they will no longer be free, no

You'd have to subscribe to FloSports.  You can get a monthly or annual subscription.  The subscription will give you access to everything on FloSports, not just SCIAC competition

Yes, but you should be able to review the gamesd 72 hours after completion on the school's site. At least that is the landmark model.

The same for the SCIAC according to the excerpt of the press release I posted earlier on this thread.  So, if you want to watch a game to see a team's style of play (e.g., if you are a recruit) or to gauge the quality of a team or a particular player (e.g., for rankings or all american team selections), you can just wait until it's available for free.  If you want to watch it live because you are interested in the outcome of a game, though, you have to subscribe.  My guess is the biggest group in the latter category are the followers of the opponent of a Landmark/NEWMAC/SCIAC team in a non-conference game or diehard fans of a particular DIII sport (which, to be fair, is probably limited to the people on this board)

[Kuiper]

Another conference, the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference, joins the FloSports bandwagon, although this one is messy.

The Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) announced today it has entered into a multi-year, seven-figure media rights agreement with FloSports, a global sports media company, making it the fourth Division III conference to be featured on the upcoming FloCollege platform. The agreement will also fuel productions for the soon to be created SCACtv Network beginning in the 2024-25 academic year.

The messy part is that not all the conference schools are participating

Over the length of the five-year partnership, FloSports will stream all live and on-demand SCAC events from participating members Centenary College, Colorado College, Concordia University (Texas), University of Dallas, McMurry University, University of the Ozarks, Schreiner University and University of St. Thomas, including the conference's 18 championships on FloCollege. On-demand access will last for a period of 72 hours following each contest, after which video will be archived on the SCACtv Network and member institutions will be able to provide access free-of-charge through their institutional platforms. FloSports will also leverage the local, national and international brands of SCAC member institutions by producing original content and social media programming.

Only 8 schools are listed, when the conference currently has 12 members.  The fact that Trinity and Southwestern aren't listed makes sense because they are moving to the SAA next year, but that still leaves 2 other schools opting out - Texas Lutheran and Austin College. 

On the schools not signing this deal, it raises real questions about Austin College and Texas Lutheran.  Three possible explanations:

1.  Austin and TLU held out on principle to the idea of selling their games and were willing to forgo the revenue (even from the championship games) to do so.  Seems unlikely Flo Sports would go along with that because it hurts the value of its product.  It makes it less likely everyone will sign up because some games will still be streamed for free and it sets a bad precedent for future conferences.

2.  Austin and TLU are going to the SAA.  The SAA has 10 members with Southwestern and Trinity and without Birmingham Southern and this would give them 12 (although they are losing Hendrix in 2025).  If you were going to identify teams that might make sense for the SAA, from both an academic and geographical perspective, it might be those two.  You could start thinking about a western and eastern division of the SAA, with maybe Millsaps moving to the West, which alleviates some of the travel burden for most schools.

3.  Austin and TLU are going to the ASC.  Seems unlikely, but the ASC could have lured them away in a last ditch effort to stay alive.  They would both bring football teams, which is the biggest issue for the ASC, and maybe they have agreed to cover enough expenses to make it worth their while.

I think the SAA explanation seems most likely, but that's just a guess.

[Ron Boerger]

As I posted on the SCAC football board, the failure to include TLU and Austin is a *huge* eye opener.  The conference has basically opened itself up to treating members differently (and sharing revenue only with the eight noted). 

Dwayne Hanberry (who I see watching as I enter this) does so many things right that you have to wonder if the conference presidents (or eight of them) are the ones driving this.  Does not bode well.

[Kuiper]

As I posted on the SCAC football board, the failure to include TLU and Austin is a *huge* eye opener.  The conference has basically opened itself up to treating members differently (and sharing revenue only with the eight noted). 

Dwayne Hanberry (who I see watching as I enter this) does so many things right that you have to wonder if the conference presidents (or eight of them) are the ones driving this.  Does not bode well.

I modified my post to go over the possible explanations for why Austin College and Texas Lutheran aren't included. To me, an unannounced conference move seems most likely.

[Ron Boerger]

Agreed.  And this time the ASC might be just as likely as the SAA given both came from there and the travel would be much simpler.

[Kuiper]

Agreed.  And this time the ASC might be just as likely as the SAA given both came from there and the travel would be much simpler.

For what it's worth, TLU just posted about it

https://tlubulldogs.com/general/2024-25/releases/20240710dy20yp

In a decision made with its fan base in mind, Texas Lutheran has decided to opt-out of this agreement initially - deciding to continue to offer all home games and matches to Bulldog fans for free on their YouTube Channel, TLU+, for free with immediate access to all. TLU games will still be housed on the conference's new SCACtv Network with road conference games being found on the paid subscription service at every institution this season but Trinity, Southwestern, and Austin College. TLU can still choose to opt-in to join the FloSports platform at a later date.

That's kind of a non-answer to the question in mind, because I don't see why FloSports would want to allow it if there wasn't a better reason than we just don't want to participate.  Pomona-Pitzer and CMS are much richer than TLU and Austin and not participating would have made more sense for their families and alums, but they are going along with the other SCIAC schools.  Either the SCIAC has a different governance structure and majority rules or FloSports was getting desperate for more content and caved when the SCAC couldn't get all schools to sign on to the deal.

[Kuiper]

There's a fourth explanation, or a variant of the previous ones I mentioned upthread, as to why Austin and TLU didn't sign on to the SCAC's FloSports deal. 

It may be that they are not confident that the SCAC without Trinity and Southwestern will be to their liking and they want to remain flexible for a possible future move (whether or not they have had any discussions with the SAA and the ASC already about the possibility of a move).  If these FloSports deals are being structured as grant-in-rights deals by the schools, then schools should take a close look at the litigation involving the ACC and Clemson/Florida State.  In a world in which conference membership is constantly changing because of schools closing or cutting certain sports, the last thing a school wants is to limit its ability to be nimble and adjust to changing circumstances by moving elsewhere. 

For a SCAC school, this seems particularly relevant because there are potentially three conferences that have overlapping geographical coverage now and membership has shifted back and forth repeatedly over the years.  For a SCIAC school, that may have been less of an issue because there are no other DIII schools or conferences nearby and it would take a massive shift of a bunch of NAIA or DII schools to DIII for a new conference to develop.  Indeed, in the SCIAC, some of the wealthier schools may have signed on because they needed to help the poorer schools create more revenue flows to make sure they stick around and keep the conference viable.

[IC798891]

Good on the schools who are not upending their entire model of access for a piddling sum — the initial article on the D3hoops mentioned something revenues of like $27,000 a year per school, which is LOL.

As I was told by someone at my institution, that basically covers three road trips for football. It's a drop on the revenue bucket