Satellite Radio's impact on College Sports
Sports is filled with Rights and fees. Who has the right to
broadcast and reproduce sports, and how gets paid? College
Universities always hold local radio rights for their sports
programs.
Satellite radio has caused a conflict with these schools
due to the amount of the local broadcasts going national over
satellite systems.
Many universities believe that the local radio stations should
receive some proceeds from these broadcasts. However in many
cases, they are not currently getting any money from Satellite
Radio Services.
Negotiations have occurred at some level but not for every one,
it has been a league-by-league issue. XM, for example, deals
with several major conferences, including the Pac-10. However,
Sirius negotiated individual deals with Southern California and
UCLA, and these are all creating a conflict between the
companies and their respective teams and leagues. And although
these fees are not very large, with a growing subscriber base
and increased satellite radio popularity, the fees and the
battle to control rights are definitely going to increase and
heat up!
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