Classics. Replays of old sports events. Network TV. Sports bars. Gambling.
CBS is running replays of of "classic" NCAA games - this was supposed to be the mega weekend of March Madness.
NBC is running a golf tournament for last year.
I'd been interested in how they'd fill the time. Massive loss of ad revenue for CBS which paid BIG MONEY - see below - for March Madness.
This has to be one of the cash cow weekends for sports bars.
Gambling - huge losses.
Sunday, bracket pools and buzzer-beaters set in Friday, television networks, major advertisers, college sports officials and other stakeholders began to grapple with the financial ramifications of eliminating an event that annually generates more than $1 billion, which flows through the NCAA to conferences and schools, as well as hundreds of millions spent across the country by fans attending games.
Officials at conferences and schools who count on millions flowing in from the NCAA are just beginning to discuss the potential impact on their budgets. In statements this week, they have avoided the question of whether the tournament’s cancellation will cut into the more than $600 million the NCAA distributes each year.
The NCAA and its broadcast partners, CBS and Turner Sports, are in the middle of a 14-year, $11 billion deal to broadcast the men’s tournament through 2024. In 2016, the parties extended the contract through 2032 for $8.8 billion. Those deals essentially fund the NCAA’s existence.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/03/13/march-madness-money-coronavirus/
= new reply since forum marked as read
I was just texting that to my sisters yesterday. There will soon be a different undercurrent of frustration among sports fans... The news radio here that normally has their sports segment, has been notably frustrated to have nothing to report - at least outside of a story I did hear about the NFL owners and a vote they had to allow the option of adding a 17th game to the season. 