IMG Media’s Barry Frank weighs in on the industry

By Ken Kerschbaumer

When Barry Frank, who heads TWI, IMG s television and film division, took the stage for a one-on-one interview at last week s Sports Business Journal Media & Technology conference it didn t take long to see (and hear) that Frank s long-standing success in the industry gives him the confidence to speak freely on topics as controversial as the NFL s flex schedule, the future of the USTA, and what the NFL Network needs to do to grab the attention of cable operators.

The flex schedule was necessary to get NBC into the game because they needed a hook, he said. The $600 million for rights is a daunting number and NBC needed assurance that at the end of the season they wouldn t have a dog on their hands. But if you re CBS or Fox you have to hate it.

Even with the flex schedule it isn t a moneymaker for NBC but the other effects, like not having to develop pilots for Sunday night and rubbing off viewers to other NBC programs deliver some benefits. At the least they re losing $100 million this year and a little less next year, said Frank. But there are so many ways to slice the term making money.

With respect to the NFL Network Frank said the decision to withhold games and give up $400 million in revenues makes it not only the story of the year but the story of the decade. As the NFL Network battles cable operators like Time Warner Cable for carriage, with the NFL looking for 80 cents a sub and the operators willing to pay roughly 20 cents, Frank said the endgame will involve a deal where the NFL Network gets roughly 45 cents a subscriber.

Unfortunately for the NFL Network they don t have a strong schedule and a game that can pull the cable operators house down, he said. But the beauty of the NFL is they have enough money to stay strong and in my opinion Steve Bronstein and the NFL will hold out.

Adding strength to the possibility of a holdout? At the recent owners meeting support for the NFL Network s position was unanimous and for those owners to be unanimous on anything is incredible, he added.

Quick hits

Frank also had no problem sharing some quick thoughts on the sports industry s top leagues and brands:

On NASCAR: It s hugely strong and the only concern is they get the same 4, 5, or 6 rating every week. There aren t new people coming in and, other than a few people, NASCAR hasn t established any stars. But it s here to stay as a major sport.

On MLB: MLB has been one of the incredible bounce backs of all time. I love it and watch it a lot but I m older and if I was baseball I would be concerned with the demos. But it has enough local interest to keep the numbers up and overall it s in better shape than it s been in 20 years.

On the PGA: If you could clone Tiger Woods that would be a hell of a deal. The disparity in TV ratings numbers when he plays and doesn t is scary. I ve only seen four people who can move the needle like that: Ali, Jordan, Palmer to a lesser degree, and, now, Tiger. And percentage wise Tiger increases ratings the most. But in the long run it s going to cause as many headaches as good days.

On tennis: Tennis is in big trouble. The Tennis Channel has not made it and I don t know how much longer it can exist with what they ve got. And tennis ball sales are down which is the best indicator of the popularity of the sport.

On the NHL: “The NHL has solved problem the others haven t, like the labor problem. But while they do very well in terms of in-house draw the ratings are just not there and, personally, I wished they hadn t done the Versus deal. ESPN gets more viewers accidentally than Versus or others get on purpose.”

On CPM s rising while ratings are falling: I thought 20 years ago the CPMs would level off but it keeps going up. I think a lot of advertisers feel that being involved with live sports puts you in a milieu that is hard to duplicate. You can t buy an NFL spot for less than $175,000 so it s foolish to laugh in the face of history and say the rise of CPMs won t continue.

The key to success in the sports industry? Local teams and local broadcast channels. The NHL has proven that leagues still need over-the-air TV and national broadcast networks, said Frank. The jury is still out on whether the NBA did the right thing in marginalizing its national TV audience [by moving away from broadcast TV.] They gave up tremendous exposure.

Getting broadcast exposure, however, is not as easy as it seems. All of the Olympic sports [except for figure skating] are paying their way onto network television which is remarkable, he says. I thought track and field would eventually get a time buy but there is a paucity of really great American athletes. And there s a huge disparity in the way Olympic gymnastics are viewed versus the World Championships.

For those leagues and teams looking for exposure Franks advice is simple: If TV is important to your sport have someone willing to invest in it to get it on TV, he said.