Jeff Long
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@kjayhawks ESPN + is streamed for 4.99 a month. I get cox, so I get it. Those guys know the kc area. Not sure about Salina area, probably about the same as hutch
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Can I buy ESPN+ on the fire stick? Does anyone know lol
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It appears so.
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Hear! Hear!
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@Crimsonorblue22 I’m real excited he is our AD. I can’t wait to see what he can do for the football team.
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Amazing development which begs the question…why is it that Zenger could not get the same deal that did not take the new AD very long to get it done?
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I’d be among the very last to ever defend the Z person (don’t even want to type his name anymore) but to be fair there was no ESPN+ or other OTT network from ESPN at the time…it was all cable based. That doesn’t excuse the deal Z made…it was lousy, but there were only cable options at that time…no OTT.
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JayHawkFanToo said:
Amazing development which begs the question…why is it that Zenger could not get the same deal that did not take the new AD very long to get it done?
I work in the contract world quite a bit. If you negotiate one deal, it’s tough to go back and negotiate a different one later without giving up the farm.
A new person, however, can often get a better deal just because they didn’t negotiate the first deal, so they aren’t tied to the first negotiations.
Perhaps the deal Zenger got was the best deal at the time - I don’t know. Perhaps it was a lousy deal to begin with and he left too much on the table. Again, without knowing the options, I can’t say.
But his likely mistake was not keeping the deal short enough to allow him to renegotiate once he did have more leverage.
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I work with contract too. As a consultant, every bit of work I do involves a contract of some sort and there are many ways to structure them; some tend to favor clients and some the service provider. When the actual numbers (money’s, quantities) are hard to estimate they are structured in such a way where either party can either backup or renegotiate the contract based on new information.
The original contract was universally considered to be not favorable to KU since the school did not even get any money and payment was structured as programming in kind and the contract left a lot of KU fans in the state, and particularly the greater KC Metro area, without coverage which resulted in the biggest concentration of Jayhawk fans in the country very displeased with Zenger…which in hindsight was probably his undoing. I don’t believe the contract was up yet and the new AD was able to make changes that corrected a lot of the issues. Probably helped the fact that Metro Sports might be going out of business in the near future.
As you know, in contracting you never get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate; whoever negotiated the previous contract with KU obviously did a great job. It is very telling that one of the first acts of the new AD was to address and correct this issue, he certainly is now in the good side of fans.
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@JayHawkFanToo he started aug 1. This has been in the works
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If I recall correctly Zenger was fired in May? Had he fixed this issue he might have, maybe not necessarily saved his job, but at least bought himself some time. This was a hot issue with the fans base in KC which carries a fair amount of weight and perhaps was the driving force behind his firing. Maybe there were other issues we are not privy that cost him his job.
As you know, I have been very vocal about Zenger and it is/was a fair reflection of the fans in the KC area.
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@JayHawkFanToo I do know. I do know it’s been in the works too. I don’t know if sz had anything to do w/it. I was not a fan of his either, you know that
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Was anyone a fan of Zenger?
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Next question lol, so the CMU game says it on ESPN+, if a local channel picks up the package like the Nichols State game, will that have that game as Well?
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@kjayhawks An educated guess says yes, but it’s just a guess based on how it normally works.
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Vb plays on ESPN+ sun pm, will shall see. I’m betting the fb game will be on there. My cox guide wasn’t updated last pm.
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No more nursing a beer and eating stale nachos.
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I think the question here is… if Zenger was still at Kansas, would this opportunity have happened?
I question if it would happen. Not passing judgment, but I wasn’t seeing enough of a connection with Zenger and the fanbase. That makes me question it.
There were many complaints from Kansas fans about those early games not available to them and I always felt like Zenger didn’t address those complaints well enough by looking for a solution.
Long steps in… solution!
What was involved in order to accomplish this was for Kansas to specifically address this issue of lost games due to factors, like blackouts. That required contracting with existing media sources to open up those games for broadcast. And there is very little direct financial gain for Kansas because of the production costs and then the limited revenue from ESPN+.
This was a deal for us fans! Something Zenger should have accomplished, but didn’t. His focus on this just wasn’t there.
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ICThawk said:
I’d be among the very last to ever defend the Z person (don’t even want to type his name anymore) but to be fair there was no ESPN+ or other OTT network from ESPN at the time…it was all cable based. That doesn’t excuse the deal Z made…it was lousy, but there were only cable options at that time…no OTT.
Actually, the primary issue, at least in the greater KC Metro Area was not ESPN but the contract that took away broadcasst by local stations and gave TW Metro Sports exclusive local coverage of some football and basketball games and only its partner, Comcast, was allowed to carry the programs. Other primary cable outlets in the Kansas side such as At&T and CCI did not carry because TW made prohibitively expensive for them to do it and thus left a large number of fans unable to get those games.
Actually the other portion of the contract was with cable only ESPN3 and the provision that the entire state of Kansas and the KC Metro are would be blacked out which left fans with no access to Metro sports completely option-less.
The new contract allows local station to carry those games and lifts all the previous blackouts, something that shopuld have been done in the first place.
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I believe the answer to your question, IMHO, is no, it likely would not happened until the contract was up for renewal since doing it would have been an admission of how unfavorable the contract was to KU in the first place. As I mentioned before, this issue alone cost him the support of the largest base of KU fans in the country and probably his job as well.
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Looks like ESPN+ is 4.99/mo that isn’t horrid but I’m wondering if Hulu Live, Sling, and others will pick it up. Hulu seems likely as both are at least partially owned by Disney
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You guys in kc area that are suppose to carry the Jayhawk network, does your guide show the fb game for sat? Cox isn’t showing it.
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I don’t know if any of you have the Jayhawk network, but I’ve been reassured the fb game will be on sat, plus the pre and post show. I know most folks on here could care less. I don’t miss the games, still a fan. I listened to that Colorado game where we came back and won while riding a bike at genesis, great workout. Great comeback! So the hawk talk and Beatty shows will be on too. My cox friend said the guide should be updated tmrw. Don’t know if that means all the Jayhawk networks. Most of the Vb games are on ESPN plus, so I’m guessing, they will not be on Jayhawk network. Cox friend says ESPN gets first choice. Hope that is helpful. Rock Chalk!
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@Crimsonorblue22 Usually here you just have to know which channel is the Jayhawk network and when/what the programming is. The guide rarely gets corrected on Pioneer cable. (Which sucks ‘cause I don’t have cable and forget which channel is which on the occasion I have to bum my parents TV/cable)
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Chanel 38 in KC, the local Jayhawk Network station, is showing the game on Saturday at 6:00 PM. I get that station over the air since YouTube TV does not carry it.
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@JayHawkFanToo I did not understand that, but I guess u get it
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I am not sure I follow but here it is. Chanel “38 the Spot” in KC is the local tv station that is part of the Jayhawk Network, until a few days ago only Metro Sports would carry the 2 football games and 6 basketball games that were blacked out. Here is the schedule for Saturday that shows the KU football game. The local cable providers carry this station but I do not have cable and I use YouTube TV streaming service instead and it does carry the local station for the 4 major networks (ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox) but Chanel 38 is not one of them so I get it using an antenna over the air (OTA). If your own provider carried Metro/Spectrum Sports before you should continue to watch the games like you did. Until recently, only Comcast and Time Warner carried Metro Sports in the KC Metro area and the rest were blacked out, now that 38 the Spot is allowed to carry them a lot more of us have access to these games.
Hopefully my explanation makes sense.
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Ota! Got it! So happy to ct. cable tv.
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Crimsonorblue22 said:
I don’t know if any of you have the Jayhawk network, but I’ve been reassured the fb game will be on sat, plus the pre and post show. I know most folks on here could care less. I don’t miss the games, still a fan. I listened to that Colorado game where we came back and won while riding a bike at genesis, great workout. Great comeback! So the hawk talk and Beatty shows will be on too. My cox friend said the guide should be updated tmrw. Don’t know if that means all the Jayhawk networks. Most of the Vb games are on ESPN plus, so I’m guessing, they will not be on Jayhawk network. Cox friend says ESPN gets first choice. Hope that is helpful. Rock Chalk!
@Crimsonorblue22 Be careful watching games at Genesis. I was watching a KU BB game while on the treadmill some years ago. I got so engrossed in the game and something happened that really excited me. I forgot where I was and what I was doing and I jumped into the air. When I came down on the moving treadmill, I nearly got thrown off! I escaped without injury, but I stay away from Genesis when KU is playing BB.
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Lol! I went to bike! I have a friend and he’s always yelling at the tv. I’m home for B.B.
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Greetings Jayhawks and Rock Chalk!
I am thrilled to address you for the first time as the Director of Athletics at the University of Kansas. Over these first few weeks I have experienced firsthand the tremendous spirit and passion KU alumni, faculty, staff and students have for this great University. Our history and tradition truly make this institution special.
As we enter the academic and competitive year, our coaches, student-athletes and staff are focused on competition – competition in the classroom, competition in their athletic pursuits and competition to engage in and make a positive impact in our communities. It is our expectation that we will continue to represent the flagship institution of KANSAS in a manner in which Jayhawks around the world will be even more proud.
Our number one priority will be the well-being of our 460-plus student-athletes and their individual student-athlete experience. We have the privilege and duty to educate these young minds, assist in their maturity, sharpen their athletic skills and produce proud University of Kansas graduates.
We have begun the process of identifying any and all obstacles that may exist that would prevent us from providing an amazing student-athlete experience. Two areas that directly impact this experience are revenue production and facility enhancements. Over the next few months we will engage in deep conversations about growing our membership in the Williams Education Fund and establishing a clear vision for our capital improvements, including David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, Allen Fieldhouse and Hoglund Ballpark.
You can make an immediate impact on the student-athlete experience by coming to David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium this fall to cheer on the crimson and blue. The young men on this team are dedicated to competing for KANSAS. Like you, they are Jayhawks; they love representing KANSAS and they need your support.
For those who have purchased season tickets, thank you. For those who haven’t, please consider helping us break the cycle and join us this Saturday and all season long.
The University of Kansas boasts some 350,000 alumni worldwide. As we tour the state and travel nationally I hope to meet many of you. Over the last month I have learned what you already know: This is a very special place, and I am grateful for the opportunity to represent you as the Director of Athletics at the University of Kansas!
Rock Chalk! Jeff Long Director of Athletics
