Americans May Love ESPN, But Not As Much As They Love Eight Bucks

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America's cable-watching public may be less attached to ESPN than many think, according to survey results released today. And that's

In the survey, commissioned by BTIG research analyst Rich Greenfield, about 1,600 U.S. consumers were asked two simple questions: “If you could save $8 per month by removing ESPN and ESPN2 from your cable or satellite package, would you do it?" and "If ESPN and ESPN2 were ONLY available as a standalone service like Netflix, would you pay $20 per month to subscribe?"

Of the responders who are cable subscribers, 56% would get rid of ESPN and ESPN2, including 49% of men. "There's this view that younger men are so dedicated to sports, but whether you look at age or sex, almost half of men would save eight bucks," Greenfield wrote.

Only 6% of responders said they would pay $20 a month for ESPN and ESPN2 as a standalone streaming service.

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Through its distribution agreements with traditional cable providers, ESPN gets nearly $9 billion in annual revenue, Greenfield said. If 15% of the 115 million U.S. households with internet signed up for a $20/month streaming package, ESPN would bring in just over $4 billion in revenue.

"A DTC [direct to consumer] model would leave Disney/ESPN with far less subscription revenue, a smaller base of subscribers to advertise to (reducing ad revenue), at the same time when they would need to invest in technology to support over-the-top video streaming," Greenfield wrote.

"The math for a direct-to-consumer offering for a basic cable network does not work, especially for channel(s) with very high monthly fees." In 2014, Disney had $21.2 billion in revenues from its TV networks, which includes the company's cable channels.

ESPN has already suffered a decline in cable subscriptions, shedding over 3 million households according to data from Nielsen. While it is available in some alternative, "skinny" bundles of channels, like Dish's Sling TV, it will not necessarily be available in all of them. Verizon's Custom TV service, which allows customers to pick channel packs, was the subject of a lawsuit from Disney that claimed it violated agreements.

In a conference call with analysts in November, Disney chief executive Bob Iger said some desertion of cable subscriptions was due to “economic factors,” along with “young people...not signing up as quickly as they once did.”

BTIG

"At some point the subscriber numbers fall far enough you start to get people to launch direct to consumer or smaller bundles," Greenfield said. "I wouldn’t be surprised if this year you’ll see bundles without ESPN."

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Mizzou Vacates Men's Basketball Wins Over Illegal Donor Gifts To Athletes

The joint investigation with the NCAA found school donors were providing “impermissible benefits” to student athletes.

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The University of Missouri has vacated men's basketball wins from the 2013-14 season following a 19-month investigation that found various NCAA rule violations.

The most serious of infringements was a Mizzou athletics donor "[providing] impermissible benefits to three men's basketball student-athletes and one prospective men's basketball student-athlete from 2013-2014," investigators found.

Those "benefits" included compensation for work not performed at a business through a summer internship program, through which the donor also provided "other impermissible inducements and extra benefits," including housing, $520 in cash, transportation, iPads, meals, use of a local gym," according to the investigation carried out by the university and NCAA.

The University was also found to have failed to fully research the internship provided by the donor and check documentation. The same donor "had multiple impermissible recruiting contacts with a prospective student-athlete and paid for a meal for a non-scholastic coach, in violation of NCAA bylaws."

A second donor provided impermissible benefits to 11 student-athletes and three members of one student-athlete's family from 2011-2014, the investigation found. While the athletes did not receive any cash compensation from the donor, they were given "a 'friends & family' reduced rate at a hotel, as well as meals and a ride on a recreational boat," investigators found.

A Missouri men's basketball student manager also provided transportation for multiple athletes to the hotel from the campus, all in violation of NCAA bylaws.

The donor was named as a party of interest in a second, less serious violation in which a former associate head coach gave the phone number of a prospect's mother to the donor to "arrange for rental housing," which the family paid a market rate for, according to the investigation.

The full list of self-imposed sanctions, including the vacating of wins, is as follows:

• Restitution and withholding from competition for impermissible benefits received by student-athletes was imposed as necessary.
• The former associate head men's basketball coach was prohibited from off-campus recruiting for a period of three months while the review process was underway.
• The university permanently disassociated Representative #1, prohibiting him from receiving tickets, making donations or otherwise representing the university.
• The university disassociated Representative #2 for a period of two years, prohibiting him from receiving tickets, making donations or otherwise representing the university.
• The university vacated all wins from the 2013-14 season.
• The university will pay the NCAA a fine in the prescribed amount of $5,000.
• The university self-imposed the loss of one men's basketball scholarship in 2015-16 and an additional scholarship loss to be incurred no later than the 2017-18 season.
• The university placed restrictions on the recruiting activities of the men's basketball staff during the years of 2014-15 through 2016-17.
• The university imposed a one-year postseason ban for the 2015-16 men's basketball season, which prohibits the team from participating in the 2016 SEC Men's Basketball Tournament, and any other postseason competition sanctioned by the NCAA. As such, the university will not receive any revenues from the 2016 SEC or NCAA men's basketball tournaments.

The university also said it was certain no current members of the program are implicated in the violations, which date back to 2011.

The NCAA did not immediately release a statement on the violations and self-imposed sanctions.

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Former Football Star Lawrence Phillips Found Dead In Prison

Phillips had been charged with killing his cellmate after going to prison for assault-related crimes.

Phillips in 1996 with the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

Mike Powell / Getty Images

Former football star Lawrence Phillips died of a suspected suicide in his prison cell, California prison officials said Wednesday. of a suspected suicide early Wednesday.

Phillips, 40, was found dead Wednesday during a routine security check just after midnight, according to the California Department of Corrections.

Phillips was a former running back who won two national championships with the Nebraska Cornhuskers and was a first-round pick in the 1996 NFL draft. During his time with Nebraska, Phillips was arrested multiple times for assault, including of his ex-girlfriend, basketball player Kate McEwen.

After a short career in the NFL and Canadian Football League, Phillips was sentenced to 31 years in prison for combined convictions of "inflicting great bodily injury involving domestic violence, corporal injury to a spouse, false imprisonment and vehicle theft."

In April 2015, Phillips was accused of murdering his cellmate, and faced the death penalty. He was officially charged on Sept. 1.

According to the California Department of Corrections, Phillips had been in an "Administrative Segregation Unit" on single-cell status since April 11, 2013, after he was suspected of killing his cellmate.

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What Should England's National Anthem Be?

One MP reckons it’s time to ditch “God Save the Queen” and let England have its own anthem.

MPs are debating whether England should be given its own national anthem – rather than the UK-wide "God Save the Queen".

Damien Meyer / AFP / Getty Images

At the moment "God Save the Queen" – the national anthem for the UK as a whole – is played for England at most international matches.

In the House of Commons on Wednesday, the Chesterfield MP will call for a public consultation so that people can decide which song is best for England.

Perkins told BuzzFeed News: "England is a component part of Britain but having our own national anthem is recognising England as its own nation, just as Scotland and Wales are."

Stu Forster / Getty Images

He said: "We're going to be playing Wales in the football this summer, just as we did in the rugby this winter. It seems wrong that Wales is singing its own song while we sing 'God Save the Queen'."

His Commons motion has support from some Conservative and Liberal Democrat MPs but is unlikely to lead to action without government support. Perkins told us he would also start an e-petition to pile pressure on ministers to start a consultation.

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How Many Of These Skate Logos Can You Remember From Your Childhood?

It’s a bit of a grind, but surely you can spot the real ones from the fakies.

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NFL Committee Recommends Site For New Los Angeles Stadium

Marcio Jose Sanchez / AP

An NFL committee has recommended Carson, California, as the preferred site for a new stadium if the league decides to move a team to Los Angeles, multiple news outlets reported on Tuesday.

NFL team owners still need to vote on the plan, but the proposal to build a brand new stadium in Carson could bring two professional football teams back to Los Angeles.

The NFL's relocation committee on Tuesday heard proposals from three possible sites in the Los Angeles area, but the committee of six NFL team owners decided on the Carson site, which would move the Chargers out of San Diego, and bring the Oakland Raiders back to Los Angeles.

The site of the proposed Carson stadium.

Richard Vogel / AP

The league's 32 owners are expected to vote on the committee's relocation suggestion, NBC News reported.

The St. Louis Rams have also proposed a stadium in Inglewood.

The Los Angeles Times reported, however, that the preferred scenario for many of the NFL team owners is to approve a plan that includes bringing two teams to L.A., which has not been home to an NFL team since the Rams and Raiders left at the end of the 1994 season.

Any relocation would require a three-quarters vote from the rest of the NFL teams.

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All Major League Baseball Teams Required To Hire Spanish Translators By 2016 Season

Major League Baseball and its players’ union are implementing the policy, in part, as a way to ease the transition for non-American Latino players.

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Major League Baseball and its players' union have informed teams that they must have a Spanish translator ahead of the 2016 season, a league spokesman confirmed to BuzzFeed News.

Clubs had employed Spanish translators at-will, but prior to Tuesday, MLB had no formal, consistent policy in place.

Latino players made up 29.3% of opening day rosters last year, according to the 2015 Racial and Gender Report Card: Major League Baseball, which is prepared by the University of Central Florida's Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport.

In many clubhouses, players act as translators for each another. Consistent access to translators will aim to ease the transition to MLB clubhouses for non-American Latino players, as well as simplify relations with non-Spanish speaking media members. Some Japanese players, such as Mariners outfielder Nori Aoki, employ a personal translator.

Under new MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, professional baseball has made significant adjustments toward increasing diversity.

Pitchers and catchers begin reporting for spring training Feb. 18. It is unclear, however, if translators will need to be hired ahead of spring training or before the regular season begins on April 3.

The memo sent to clubs was not made publicly available.

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