Brad Hubbard Football, Innovation, Media, NFL

Super Stream

By Brad Hubbard | @bradhubbard

More people watched the Super Bowl via streaming than they did last year. While CBS has yet to release the concurrent number (how many people are watching at the same time) it is suspected that it is above the 1.3 million concurrent streams NBC reported last year.

Super Bowl 50

Re/code has solid coverage of this but the initial numbers do show that there is a growing audience here. These initial numbers along with the growth of the College Football Playoff streaming numbers (WatchESPN was up 38% year-over-year) shows that this is not a trend but a full blown movement.

I am not the only one who believes this, the NFL does too. That is why the NFL is shopping around the streaming rights for Thursday Night Football after selling the TV rights to CBS and NBC.

As prices rise for cable or satellite subscriptions and watching live sporting events like the Super Bowl become more available via devices like Apple TV and Roku my conclusion is that you will see these numbers continuing to rise year-over-year.

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Brad Hubbard College Football, Football, Media

New Year’s Eve Playoff Is Not As Bad As It Sounds

By Brad Hubbard | @bradhubbard

Year two of the College Football Playoff will be played on New Year’s Eve and not on New Year’s Day as it was in its first year. While much of the college football media has come out slamming the decision, the fact is that it’s not all that terrible of an idea.

MSU TDDan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports has absolutely chastised the idea. While Wetzel is correct in his cronyism view and that these games would have been bettered served being played on New Year’s Day or even on January 2nd, he is miss guided on several other points.

Not everyone has plans New Year’s Eve believe it or not. While a lot of people have to work on New Year’s Eve day, let’s be honest, nothing is really getting done (especially by kick off which is at 1pm PST) and with Watch ESPN, people are going to be watching in significant numbers on various devices. Also, people have to work on New Year’s Day and even Christmas so let’s stop acting like America completely shuts down on Holidays anymore.

If you do have plans on New Year’s Eve, did the bar or home of the party you are attending all of sudden stop having TV’s? If you are at a club, ballroom or what not, we can promise you that someone is going to be streaming the game on a smartphone. It’s 2015 after all.

Deshaun Watson ClemsonYes the ratings will be down this year compared to last year but that is not just because of the date and time the games are being played. In the second year of something you can almost guarantee a dip. The novelty has worn off. And if we’re being honest, Michigan State and Clemson are not the national brand names that Ohio State and Florida State are. Not to mention the fact that one of the games last year (Oregon vs Florida State) featured two Heisman Trophy winners squaring off against each other.

Yes a 1pm kick off on the West Coast on a ‘work day’ is a head scratcher. However we are in a 24/7 on-demand world. That means that we are not passively involved anymore, instead we have to actively seek out and find what we want to watch. Besides most people are using a second screen while watching TV anyway. Up to 87% of them in fact. So this notion that everyone stops, gathers around the TV and never looks away went out the window a long time ago.

Is a 1pm PST kick off on a ‘work day’ any worse than a 8:30pm EST kick off on a ‘work night’? Last year the Ohio State vs Alabama game didn’t kick off until almost 9pm EST and wasn’t over until well after midnight. Plenty of people didn’t stay up for that one after staying up late the night before and having to work the next day. Where was the outcry for that?

Look the College Football Playoff should be played on New Year’s Day and have games that are done well before midnight on the East Coast. But having the games on New Year’s Eve isn’t the ‘outrageous’ idea some want to make it out to be. Now there will be something on instead of Ryan Seacrest and Pitbull. If you prefer that then God be with you, the rest of us will be watching the College Football Playoff.

Brad Hubbard College Football

Bowl Preview

By Brad Hubbard | @bradhubbard

All times are PST

Saturday December 20th

Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl: Utah vs Colorado State – 12:30pm ABC: Solid matchup between a tough Utah team and fantastic Colorado State team. Big issue for CSU, Head Coach just took the Florida job.

Tuesday December 23rd

Boca Raton Bowl: Marshall vs Northern Illinois – 3pm ESPN: These two teams are a combined 23-3. It’s also a chance to check out the best QB you may not have heard about, Marshall’s Rakeem Cato.

Saturday December 27th

Hyundai Sun Bowl: Arizona State vs Duke – 11am CBS: It’s the only bowl game CBS does for whatever reason. Both teams are a very talented 9-3 and this game should be close throughout.

Pacific Life Holiday Bowl: Nebraska vs USC – 5pm ESPN: Nebraska is without a head coach which means guys are playing to impress the incoming staff. USC is in a better place than they were a year ago.

Monday December 29th

Autozone Liberty Bowl: Texas A&M vs West Virginia – 11am ESPN: This could be the most exciting Bowl game Or it could totally suck. Either way it’s a Monday afternoon college football game.

Russell Athletic Bowl: Oklahoma vs Clemson – 2:30pm ESPN: Don’t know what to expect here but it has all the makings of a shootout.

Tuesday December 30th

Belk Bowl: Georgia vs Louisville – 3:30pm ESPN: This is one of the best bowl games outside of the Playoff.

Wednesday December 31st

Chik-Fil-A Bowl: Ole Miss vs TCU – 9:30am ESPN: Either TCU takes Ole Miss behind the woodshed or they get faded cause they are left out of the Playoff.

Vizio Fiesta Bowl: Boise St vs Arizona – 1pm ESPN: This game depends on what Arizona team decides to show up.

Thursday January 1st

Goodyear Cotton Bowl: Baylor vs Michigan State – 9:30am ESPN: Oh lord is this one going to be good.

Rose Bowl: Oregon vs Florida State – 2pm (ish) ABC: We can only hope that this Playoff lives up to the hype. This should be the better of the two Playoff games.

Valero Alamo Bowl: UCLA vs Kansas State – 3:45pm ESPN: This game has a tradition of being one that you don’t want to miss. This should be no exception.

Monday January 12th

National Title Game – 5:30pm (ish) ESPN: Let’s see if this is as good as we hope. Also, ESPN is apparently doing it’s ‘Film Room’ again during the game. It was awesome last year.

Brad Hubbard College Football, Football

The Sunday: Jump, Flip & Drop The Football Into Playoff Contention

By Brad Hubbard | @bradhubbard

The race for the  four slots in the College Football Playoff is more cutthroat than the mid term elections. While we won’t know who the final four teams are for several more weeks we do know that players on the field are doing all they can to get in.

The Flip

TCU played Kansas State in the only top 10 match-up of the day. TCU QB Trevone Boykin didn’t only lead the Horned Frogs to a beat down of the Wildcats but he may have stolen the night by flipping into the end zone.

Like Steamin Willie Beaman

The Jumps

While Boykin may have stolen the show with his flip for a touchdown. Oklahoma QB, and future Katy Perry boyfriend, Trevor Knight leaped over a Baylor defender.

 

 

Meanwhile in West Lafayette, Wisconsin RB Melvin Gordon upped the ante by hurdling a Purdue defender on this way to a touchdown.

 

Dropping The Football Is Not Like Dropping The Mic

Then we have Utah WR Kaelin Clay. He was able to turn a 78 yard TD into a 99 yard TD for Oregon. It even left ESPN announcers Brad Nessler and Todd Blackledge in shock.

 

 

With a few more weeks left before the four teams for the Playoff are announced. We should see more flips, jumps, and dropped footballs.

Brad Hubbard Baseball, Basketball, College Football, Football, Hockey, MLS, NBA, NFL, NHL

The Best Sports Month Of The Year

By Brad Hubbard  | @bradhubbard

Of all the months during the calendar year, nothing compares to October for sports in North America. It features every single major sport that the continent has to offer. From playoff baseball to playoff rankings in college football and the beginning of a new season for the NHL and NBA. October has it all.

Love October

MLB Playoffs kicked off Tuesday night with the AL Wild Card match up between the Oakland A’s and KC Royals. The NL Wild Card between the SF Giants and the Pittsburgh Pirates takes place on Wednesday. Those two games get things started and it all culminates with the World Series which gets started October 21st.

College Football will get into mid season form with more of the traditional conference match ups that we’re use to seeing. On October 28th the first set of playoff rankings will be released. Moments later people will claim that the sky is falling.

The NFL will hopefully have a better October than November. In any event you do have some fun match ups like the 49ers at Broncos and Packers at Saints.

MLS heads into the stretch run as teams fight for playoff position. The regular season ends October 26th but that only signifies the beginning to a great playoff season. This years playoffs should include some very popular names and the end of Landon Donovan’s spectacular career.

The NHL is heading into a season with the LA Kings as returning champions….again. The puck drops on the regular season on October 8th. Meanwhile the NBA tips off on October 28th with the San Antonio Spurs looking to defend their title.

Happy October.