Interesting piece by Maury Brown on the meda-tv deals being signed by clubs, especially in the ALW. Even the Astros have just completed a big regional deal. And “Who else is in line? The Mariners … are in play.”
This, to me, is (besides yet another sign of Crywolffisher’s shortsightedness, lack of strategic vision, and incompetence) actually the strongest argument for a move to SJ — and, consequently, the Giants’ strongest argument against the move. I think that without a move to the more attractive TV subscriber base in SJ, the A’s, even with the spankingest of brand spanking new stadiums in Oakland, aren’t going to gain traction for a lucrative regional deal to complete with the rest of the division. (If Lew had satisficed 5-7 years ago and gone for a simultaneous new stadium at the Coli loc and the roots of a regional media deal, before they flushed the current fanbase and gone on a series of abortive not-quite-rebuilds, I think they could have had one in place already.) And of course I think the Giants play is less about attendance per se than it is about retaining the SJ TV market (along with their rational media/marketing incursion into the East Bay).
In terms of fielding a competitive team for the next decade, it really is SJ or bust.
I’d root for contraction, but at this point contracting the A’s would probably guarantee Lew a bigger payout than a successful stadium/media deal.
Related.
Baker’s basically right. The Rangers and Angels were able to secure such favorable TV deals by not only investing in their product, but also convincing the networks and viewers that such long term investment (and hence, success) would continue well into the future.
The A’s of course, have done the exact opposite.
What do the A’s get now for local TV revenues?
$5
And 50 cents!!!
Can I have $10?
Haha.
1. What makes you say San Jose is a more attractive TV subscriber base?
2. I’m sorry, but anyone actually rooting for contraction is not an A’s fan anymore. Next time I see you I’m ripping your stripes of your sleeves.
1. Should have clarified — at this point, (a) starting fresh with a SJ TV aud is a better bet than rebuilding equity among East Bay fans, (b) new stadium revenue is necessary to establish base for spending, and (c) Crywolffisher will never spend to contend in Oakland (they won’t really in SJ, either, from what they’ve said, but it won’t be Lorioariffic like they’ll continue to do in Oak). Basically what it comes down to is that partly due to the natural media geography and partly due to the difference in the 2 teams fortunes (in both senses of the word) of late, while the SFBA may be theoretically capable of supporting 2 teams via attendance, I think it’s become a 1-team media market.
2. I said I’m rooting against contraction. Sure, it’s out of spite, but I’m on the right side.
Also I have been saying this for years.
I just don’t see the A’s getting that good a deal 3 or 4 years ago. Had they milked their fan base appropriately and spent (and lost money in the process) to build a better team, even today they don’t make much of profit. Partly because of what you said above about the bay area really only being a one team media market, but partly because media partners aren’t likely to invest in a team losing buckets of money with an uncertain future. I highly suspect when they move to SJ, they make a big deal. Nowhere near the other AL West teams. Probably below the average deal of the more recent TV deals coming around (possibly at/near the bottom). Odds are that deal is slightly (though not necessarily a certainty) a better deal than they get with a new stadium in Oakland. More so because of the shitty why they’ve handled things and the team’s on field performance than an Oakland/SJ thing. I will say, though, the only thing the team has done wrong in the last 6 years is A) Let Wolff talk. B) Been grotesquely bi-polar in their team building approach. Pretty much everything they’ve done wrong is a derivative of those two horrifically bad failures.
I was thinking about this the other day. A’s must have a terrible tv deal. I live in Eureka and it’s hard to get csnca here, I think the dish is the only provider. Of course the giants are on tv all the time, but FK the giants and their fans.
I can’t exactly see the A’s getting a stellar deal in SJ, either.