Flo Sports

[IC798891]

It may be that we are speaking past each other on this point.  I'll say it this way:  Assume I generally give $100 to the school's annual fund for athletics and my team fund.  Since my disposable income hasn't increased, I'm not upping my athletic department or team fund gift to $200 this year because you've started a streaming fund.  I'm just reallocating some or all of my $100 gift to that fund, which means the athletic department or team falls short on funding what they usually get with my $100.  The only way that doesn't happen is if I up my gift or some new people give.  There are some funding campaigns that bring out new donors or bigger donations, but they may think streaming isn't one of them.

I think the analogy I'd use is, if you want food delivered, and your restaurant offers delivery but has a delivery charge, why are you going on the Door Dash App to pay their service fee?

[Kuiper]

It may be that we are speaking past each other on this point.  I'll say it this way:  Assume I generally give $100 to the school's annual fund for athletics and my team fund.  Since my disposable income hasn't increased, I'm not upping my athletic department or team fund gift to $200 this year because you've started a streaming fund.  I'm just reallocating some or all of my $100 gift to that fund, which means the athletic department or team falls short on funding what they usually get with my $100.  The only way that doesn't happen is if I up my gift or some new people give.  There are some funding campaigns that bring out new donors or bigger donations, but they may think streaming isn't one of them.

I think the analogy I'd use is, if you want food delivered, and your restaurant offers delivery but has a delivery charge, why are you going on the Door Dash App to pay their service fee?

That's fair, but I think a different point.  My guess is Rochester lost as many casual fans with its own paywall as FloSports does, but Rochester did get the money from its parents and dedicated fans/alums rather than sharing it with a third party.  Someone with connections to that school might have insight as to whether this is better or worse for them net of costs.  My point you were responding to was about whether schools would be hesitant to fundraise for it, not whether they should charge a fee for it and provide the service itself.  I think those have two different looks to alums and two different potential consequences for the university.  There were plenty of people on this board unhappy with Rochester for charging a fee.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

We have a test case.  The OAC just signed with Flo.  Their broadcasts have been proudly and publicly underwritten by an alumni group for a long time - it's been labeled and branded all over their stuff.

One would hope they'd be consulted on this kind of move.  If they are like many other schools we've talked to, that may not have happened.

I doubt we'll get all the financial numbers from this, but they will exist.  Marietta will know how this affects the relationship with certain alums pretty much right away.