I view this news with some apprehension. What happens when contracts expire for the SEC or ACC networks? Could entities like Amazon Prime, Hulu, You Tube TV et al dilute the market more by picking them up? I’d hate to have to subscribe to a service just to see my team play.
If it’s JUST your team you want to see play, then you would be money ahead to subscribe to the streaming service that carries that conference.
Instead, now you get to pay for multiple conferences through contracts to show games a half (or more) continent away that you don’t care about.
For instance, I care about Big 12 college sports. But my local Cable company ‘gives’ us Big10 sports package. It’s not an optional package because they knew not enough subscriber would ‘pay’ for an extra. Instead they make it a basic channel so everyone pays for it instead of just those that want to watch it. (Exactly like CNN or MSNBC).
If you like to watch games all over the nation then, yes, the current system is advantageous.
(Yes, I know, cancel my cable!) Save the keystrokes.