In article <1171051396.010601.84780@q2g2000cwa.googlegroups.c om>,
i_tell_it_like_it_is_7@yahoo.com wrote:

> Sure, I'll watch the races, but I sure won't 'visit' any of the
> products sponsored on the telecasts. That's just like ESPN...take
> control of something so they can go and ruin it. Wanting (I think I
> recall) 3 times ($30M/year vs current $10M/year) for Nextel to
> continue. Nextel said they could not afford to do that, and I am sure
> their customers are happy about that.
>
> The local cable company was at one time thinking about coming out with
> a'la carte selling of cable channels. the ESPN channels were
> assigned a value twice that of the nearest channels. Just so you can
> watch recycled poker on pro football sundays. And, my favorite
> offering of theirs...the national spelling bee. Shat!
>
> Those cheap bastards in Connecticut wouldn't even pony up enough
> money for the NHL so the contract went to OLN/Versus instead.

so your point is that ESPN should sell the sponsorship for 1/3 of what
they can get elsewhere? I don't think their stockholders would like
that.