Flo Sports

[ADL70]

Uggh  UAA signs with Flo

https://athletics.case.edu/documents/2025/6/20/UAA_FAQ.pdf

[jknezek]

Sadly the pebbles are starting to push bigger rocks down the hill. I suspect all of D3 will go this route over the next couple years unless FLO goes belly up.

[Kuiper]

Sadly the pebbles are starting to push bigger rocks down the hill. I suspect all of D3 will go this route over the next couple years unless FLO goes belly up.

To state it more optimistically, the value proposition for a FloSports subscription is growing (more games you might want to watch on the network and fewer games available for free outside the network) and the importance of D3 to Flo Sports is increasing, which means that Flo has more incentive to take care of the schools/conferences/subscribers that use it.  This is especially true with some of the original 5 year-deals coming due in the next few years and the possibility of fragmentation destroying Flo's business model if a competitor picks off a few unsatisfied conferences.

In the case of the UAA, I wouldn't be surprised if Brandeis had been bringing this up for awhile and it started to gain allies as many other conference athletic departments faced cuts and hiring freezes.  Many of these research universities have been proactively instituting budget controls because of all the federal funding threats instituted and in the works through the legislative and judicial processes.  I wouldn't be surprised if the Centennial Conference is considering it with Hopkins being hammered by the federal funding cuts and several other of the wealthier members schools at risk of losing endowment income from the increased endowment tax rates.  Among other conferences with high endowment members and threats of the loss of research grants, the NEWMAC already has a Flo Sports deal, as does the SCIAC.

If the cuts to Pell grants come through in the Budget Bill, I expect many more athletic departments will be under orders to increase revenue generation and Flo Sports is the low hanging fruit right now.

[Gregory Sager]

Uggh  UAA signs with Flo

https://athletics.case.edu/documents/2025/6/20/UAA_FAQ.pdf

As if we needed any more proof that even the schools for smart kids are capable of doing really dumb things.

[Gregory Sager]

Sadly the pebbles are starting to push bigger rocks down the hill. I suspect all of D3 will go this route over the next couple years unless FLO goes belly up.

To state it more optimistically, the value proposition for a FloSports subscription is growing (more games you might want to watch on the network and fewer games available for free outside the network) and the importance of D3 to Flo Sports is increasing, which means that Flo has more incentive to take care of the schools/conferences/subscribers that use it.  This is especially true with some of the original 5 year-deals coming due in the next few years and the possibility of fragmentation destroying Flo's business model if a competitor picks off a few unsatisfied conferences.

I wouldn't characterize Flo Sports being subjected to a potentially competitive market for D3 sports streaming as an optimistic outcome. Pay per view is pay per view, no matter which vendor you're paying to watch a game.

In this case, "more optimistic" means drinking expired milk gone bad, as opposed to drinking expired milk gone bad to wash down a sandwich made with moldy bread.

[Kuiper]

Sadly the pebbles are starting to push bigger rocks down the hill. I suspect all of D3 will go this route over the next couple years unless FLO goes belly up.

To state it more optimistically, the value proposition for a FloSports subscription is growing (more games you might want to watch on the network and fewer games available for free outside the network) and the importance of D3 to Flo Sports is increasing, which means that Flo has more incentive to take care of the schools/conferences/subscribers that use it.  This is especially true with some of the original 5 year-deals coming due in the next few years and the possibility of fragmentation destroying Flo's business model if a competitor picks off a few unsatisfied conferences.

I wouldn't characterize Flo Sports being subjected to a potentially competitive market for D3 sports streaming as an optimistic outcome. Pay per view is pay per view, no matter which vendor you're paying to watch a game.

In this case, "more optimistic" means drinking expired milk gone bad, as opposed to drinking expired milk gone bad to wash down a sandwich made with moldy bread.

The "optimistic" part is that Flo Sports will want to pay more attention to the consumer to avoid losing conferences, which might mean that they focus on keep product standards up.  It's admittedly a glass half-full perspective that mostly only applies if you follow teams that are in conferences that already have FloSports deals (so, you no longer have an option of free streaming for your school), but that's where we are right now.

[ziggy]

It's safe to say at this point probably every conference had some level of contact, welcomed or otherwise, from FLO or another streamer. To my knowledge there hasn't been another platform actually secure rights but I do know of another one out there that has at least contacted a conference in the East.

The genie is out of the bottle, it's just a matter of seeing down the line if there will be total holdouts (there are programs out there keen to do what they can to self-monetize) and if the conferences that do go this route all end up on one platform of are fragmented between multiple.

[Ron Boerger]

It is totally ridiculous that a conference like the UAA says they need this, and I don't care what stupidity is going on in DC (and there's a lot of it). 

One thing I know about streaming services:  as soon as they feel they have a sufficient captive audience, they will jack the price up, then start selling commercials, usually simultaneously.  You'd be hard pressed to find any (maybe Apple TV+) that don't do both in quick succession.  Just look at Amazon Prime which has just increased commercials to something like six minutes/hour, after initially bragging about how they'd never have any and then implementing 3 minutes/hour last year.  Now six.  Unless you pay more, of course, and even then you'll be stuck with ads on their live programming.  I expect nothing less from Flo. 

[Kuiper]

The genie is out of the bottle, it's just a matter of seeing down the line if there will be total holdouts (there are programs out there keen to do what they can to self-monetize) and if the conferences that do go this route all end up on one platform of are fragmented between multiple.

The interesting part of UAA going with FloSports is that Rochester already had its own paywall for streaming of their games.  So, either that wasn't very successful (or revenue was too volatile to be helpful for budgeting) or, assuming the UAA needed unanimous consent from its members to go this route, FloSports offered a better deal that got Rochester more than they were getting in their best years from their own streaming fees.

[jknezek]

The genie is out of the bottle, it's just a matter of seeing down the line if there will be total holdouts (there are programs out there keen to do what they can to self-monetize) and if the conferences that do go this route all end up on one platform of are fragmented between multiple.

The interesting part of UAA going with FloSports is that Rochester already had its own paywall for streaming of their games.  So, either that wasn't very successful (or revenue was too volatile to be helpful for budgeting) or, assuming the UAA needed unanimous consent from its members to go this route, FloSports offered a better deal that got Rochester more than they were getting in their best years from their own streaming fees.

Maybe. Or maybe it just wasn't enough of a difference to stand in the way of something all their conference mates want and possibly cause problems or resentment in the future. While UAA schools could join other conferences, they benefit from the association they currently have, and being known as the problem child is probably not a good idea.

[ziggy]

The genie is out of the bottle, it's just a matter of seeing down the line if there will be total holdouts (there are programs out there keen to do what they can to self-monetize) and if the conferences that do go this route all end up on one platform of are fragmented between multiple.

The interesting part of UAA going with FloSports is that Rochester already had its own paywall for streaming of their games.  So, either that wasn't very successful (or revenue was too volatile to be helpful for budgeting) or, assuming the UAA needed unanimous consent from its members to go this route, FloSports offered a better deal that got Rochester more than they were getting in their best years from their own streaming fees.

Rochester's paywall was a form of self-monetization but I meant to refer to advertising and sponsorships that keep the stream available for free while also being able to bring in some revenue from it.

[Kuiper]

The genie is out of the bottle, it's just a matter of seeing down the line if there will be total holdouts (there are programs out there keen to do what they can to self-monetize) and if the conferences that do go this route all end up on one platform of are fragmented between multiple.

The interesting part of UAA going with FloSports is that Rochester already had its own paywall for streaming of their games.  So, either that wasn't very successful (or revenue was too volatile to be helpful for budgeting) or, assuming the UAA needed unanimous consent from its members to go this route, FloSports offered a better deal that got Rochester more than they were getting in their best years from their own streaming fees.

Maybe. Or maybe it just wasn't enough of a difference to stand in the way of something all their conference mates want and possibly cause problems or resentment in the future. While UAA schools could join other conferences, they benefit from the association they currently have, and being known as the problem child is probably not a good idea.

Fair (Pomona had a story like that for why they went along with other SCIAC members in signing with FloSports last year), but if Rochester had a story about why self-monetizing was a better deal than what FLoSports was offering without too much hassle, I assume that they would have tried hard to make the case to the other members.  I doubt FloSports' promise of "original content and storytelling initiatives," plus whatever value to alum and parents from access to other FloSports content, was enough of a value-add to persuade the other UAA schools if Rochester could show how they could get higher monetary returns.  My guess is everyone liked the fixed returns they could get from FloSports over the variable returns they could get under Rochester's model.

[Ron Boerger]

I replied to the UAA tweet announcing the Flo deal, saying it was sad they felt it necessary to force people to watch their students.  They locked down replies to only people they follow shortly thereafter.  Sensitive much?

[Gray Fox]

Sadly the pebbles are starting to push bigger rocks down the hill. I suspect all of D3 will go this route over the next couple years unless FLO goes belly up.

To state it more optimistically, the value proposition for a FloSports subscription is growing (more games you might want to watch on the network and fewer games available for free outside the network) and the importance of D3 to Flo Sports is increasing, which means that Flo has more incentive to take care of the schools/conferences/subscribers that use it.  This is especially true with some of the original 5 year-deals coming due in the next few years and the possibility of fragmentation destroying Flo's business model if a competitor picks off a few unsatisfied conferences.

I wouldn't characterize Flo Sports being subjected to a potentially competitive market for D3 sports streaming as an optimistic outcome. Pay per view is pay per view, no matter which vendor you're paying to watch a game.

In this case, "more optimistic" means drinking expired milk gone bad, as opposed to drinking expired milk gone bad to wash down a sandwich made with moldy bread.

The "optimistic" part is that Flo Sports will want to pay more attention to the consumer to avoid losing conferences, which might mean that they focus on keep product standards up.  It's admittedly a glass half-full perspective that mostly only applies if you follow teams that are in conferences that already have FloSports deals (so, you no longer have an option of free streaming for your school), but that's where we are right now.

They did do a very good survey a month or so ago.  I assume they will take the replies seriously.

[stlawus]

Where are these schools going to see this money?  It's nothing in the grand scheme of things.