How one Texas sports franchise became the focal point for the entire sports world
Just as ESPN started with not much in September of 1979, something called “Victory +” has even less to offer in October of 2024.
ESPN was once the ambitious startup network in the new world of “cable television,” that had little programming to show viewers who had the money to pay for extra channels beyond ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS.
In 1979, a lot of people thought the concept of an all-sports TV network was the equivalent of throwing a bag of money into a garbage can. Who is going to watch sports all day?
In 1980, Ted Turner started a 24-hour news network, CNN. What are they going to do on a slow news day?
In 1981, MTV launched. What is a music video?
Cable TV, and specifically those networks, revolutionized the world by developing content around the game, or creating news, and interest, to end the idea of a slow news day. This is all a part of us now, for better, for worse. Usually because someone got richer. Most certainly until death do us part.
All of those networks that were once so far ahead are now behind technology that moves at a pace, and determination, of a hungry lion that is never full.
While linear TV evaluates hospice care plans, everyone involved in sports watches for the “next ESPN.” Because it’s not Fox Sports. It’s closer to Amazon. It’s the player on the side that no one sees coming. The YouTuber. The TikTok infuencer. The Instagram model who hits it on their own, without the cost.
“(Linear TV) is heading for extinction. I think by early 2030, the overwhelming majority of us will be watching TV through streaming,” Dallas Stars president Brad Alberts said in a phone interview. “It is hanging on, and sports, specifically the NFL, is holding it together.”
Rather than wait, the Stars became the first major team to cut the cord and jump into streaming exclusively. With a roster that is good enough to reach the Stanley Cup, the Stars both on and off the ice will be one of the most fascinating teams to watch in 2024 and 2025. In any sport.
The Stars are either on the ground floor of an industry revolution, and their new TV plan will score; or sports teams, and leagues, will be forced to re-evaluate themselves in a streaming society.
The Stars are one of two teams to go with the new app “Victory +” to televise their regular season games that are not carried by national networks.
Their regular season begins on Thursday night in Nashville, which will be carried by Hulu and ESPN+. Their home opener, on Saturday against the New York Islanders, will be the first game televised on Victory +.
It’s free to download. Free to watch.
Industry professionals have called Alberts all with the same question, “What kind of money can you make with this?” he said.
He’s not sure. APMC, which owns and operates Victory +, is paying the Stars a certain amount over at least the next two years to televise these games on their app. If after two or three years the results are unsatisfactory, the Stars will re-evaluate and find another destination for its regular season games.
“We wanted to fix the distribution problem that we’ve had and this does that,” Alberts said of the team’s regional cable deal that for the last several years left fans unable to watch their games because of conflicts between Bally Sports and carriers.
“Streaming is the future. We know this is where everyone is headed. We just said, ‘Let’s go there now.’”
The risk is on APMC. Since this app is free, the revenue is based on an advertising model that is akin to an Instagram or Facebook algorithm. It knows what you watch, and the advertising you see during a Stars’ telecast may be different than the person in the next room.
The striking difference between Victory + and an ESPN is not the game broadcast but the rest of the content. ESPN, and all cable networks, are tasked to provide 24-hour programming. That’s what gave birth to highlight shows that are now old news, and talk shows. It created stars out of Stephen A. Smith, Skip Bayless, Tucker Carlson, Glenn Beck and a host of others who have made a small fortune bloviating about every topic between the commercials that pay their six and seven figure salaries.
The most valuable piece of programming to ESPN, or Fox Sports, was never the talk. It’s always the game. A Victory + could, potentially, just eliminate the vast majority of the talk content. Any game requires some, but not 24 hours.
“In some cases we need more content, but we don’t necessarily need a Stephen A. Smith or a Mike Greenberg, or any talking head, talking all day and then that rolls into the afternoon shows and then into live sports programming,” Alberts said. “Because then it becomes costly. And I do think that’s one of ESPN’s bigger challenges right now. They are trying to get expenses in line with revenues.”
Victory + will also stream the content created by the Stars’ radio partner, Sportsradio 96.7 FM/1310 AM The Ticket.
The challenge for all of these networks, and content providers, is that they can see their audience in real time. Today’s measuring tools are far more accurate than previous methods. It gives advertisers, teams and leagues a better idea of who, and how many, are watching.
That is a wonderfully terrifying development. The numbers can be both uplifting, and humiliating.
“I wouldn’t say we are (a guinea pig) but maybe a little bit. We are not afraid to pioneer this,” Alberts said. “I am not afraid of failure. I think the fan is going to love it. We just have to figure out if this can help support a sports business.”
The answer could potentially change all of sports.
