Justin Beitler

Octagon Media Rights Consulting

[Justin Beitler @JustinBeitler]

Hydration breaks - not the end of the world! Turns out, we're pretty ok with commercials during live sports.

Thanks to Austin for including my thoughts. Great work by @andrewelkadi for nailing down this analysis.

[Austin Karp @AustinKarp]

Hydration breaks not causing Fox Sports to lose much of the FIFA World Cup audience (2-3%), per analysis from @octagon. Compare that with halftimes, which generally lead to a 14% drop https://t.co/TOCIJwxVTf

[Justin Beitler @JustinBeitler]

Nice use of minute by minute viewership numbers here. Hydration breaks nowhere near the audience loss of a typical halftime break.

[Andrew @andrewelkadi]

Lots of discussion about FOX’s lucrative decision to show commercials during hydration breaks at the World Cup.

Octagon analysis suggests only a small percentage of viewers tune-out during the ads and that viewership recovers after the return to play.

[Andrew @andrewelkadi]

League and network execs always want a Game 7, but the 2026 NBA Finals didn’t need to go the distance to put up monster numbers

[Justin Beitler @JustinBeitler]

Spo nailed it months ago

[Rit Holtzman @BenRitholtzNBA]

Sit back and enjoy, Knicks fans.

[Andrew @andrewelkadi]

The WCWS gets underway today in Oklahoma City with 2 games on ESPN and 2 games on ESPN2, plus ABC coverage coming over the weekend.

The tournament has quietly become one of the best viewership stories in women’s sports.

[Justin Beitler @JustinBeitler]

@LevAkabas 2022 MIL-BOS G5. Possibly the best series of the decade, IMO.

[Justin Beitler @JustinBeitler]

8 *additional* games, I should clarify!

[Justin Beitler @JustinBeitler]

Quick math here: $50m/year for 8 games = $6.25m/game

Based on this year's linear viewership & estimated rights fee, @Octagon has this year's First Four games valued at an average of $6.02m/game.

Factoring in escalators + sponsorship categories, pricing aligns w/ current deal.

[Austin Karp @AustinKarp]

NCAA Tournament expansion means new $50 million/year in media dollars, but added sponsor categories for TNT Sports and CBS Sports to sell

https://t.co/eiSlP6Erev

[Justin Beitler @JustinBeitler]

Cool visual. Credit to NBC for growing the @KentuckyDerby audience throughout the broadcast.

[Andrew @andrewelkadi]

As @NBCSports gears up for another Kentucky Derby, here’s a look at how audience builds on the network throughout the afternoon

[Andrew @andrewelkadi]

If past years are any indication, ESPN will garner more viewers than its sister network ABC tonight. The opposite is the trend for MNF games simulcast on both networks.

Perhaps the studio show nature of draft coverage shepherds viewers to the longtime home of SportsCenter.

[Justin Beitler @JustinBeitler]

Cool to see the viewership relationship between the @MarchMadnessWBB National Championship Game and the @WNBA Draft.

Consistent 6-7x multiple between the two events.

Great work here from @andrewelkadi

@Octagon

[Justin Beitler @JustinBeitler]

What a great result for @TST7v7 on their new media rights deal with @NBCSports. Broadcast exposure (2x!) on @nbc. Excited for what's ahead, @ussoccer!

@Octagon

https://t.co/8fINpsDck5

[Justin Beitler @JustinBeitler]

The general assumption is that Nielsen's Big Data + Panel bumps up viewership, but that wasn't the case for this year's @CBBCrown Final, which saw a -9% decrease compared to the old Panel Only methodology.

Either way you slice it, congrats on a strong year 2, @CBBonFOX

[Justin Beitler @JustinBeitler]

We now have 2 examples in the last 6 months of Tier 1 properties seeing an initial viewership increase in their debut on a streamer. Nice one @andrewelkadi

[Andrew @andrewelkadi]

Moving to streaming from cable once again delivers for a major property

Ditching free-to-air for streaming has historically been a less reliable bet

[Justin Beitler @JustinBeitler]

Do we REALLY love #MarchMadness upsets?

@Octagon research suggests an inverse relationship between average per game viewership and the number of upset during the first weekend of both @MarchMadnessMBB and @MarchMadnessWBB

[Justin Beitler @JustinBeitler]

As a Knicks fan in Minnesota, I've had this game circled since the day the schedule came out... this sucks.

@jalenbrunson1 @nyknicks

[New York Basketball @NBA_NewYork]

Knicks injury report Tuesday at Minnesota:

🤕 Jalen Brunson OUT (right ankle injury management)

🤕 OG Anunoby OUT (left ankle soreness)

🤕 Deuce McBride still OUT

🤕 Landry Shamet still OUT

🤕 Pacome Dadiet OUT - G League

🤕 Guerschon Yabusele OUT - illness

[Andrew @andrewelkadi]

Action is already underway in Vegas. I’m expecting the Players Era to strengthen its foothold this year.

[Justin Beitler @JustinBeitler]

Great stuff from @andrewelkadi taking in some early NBA numbers. NBC bring in a larger total audience, but I was taken by how similar the 18-49 slice is. Demographically, Prime's audience looks more similar to TNTs

[Justin Beitler @JustinBeitler]

@zacyourback @TheWilliamMao @VersantMedia @Octagon @pac12 the people NEED a Mao keg stand. This ain't New Haven anymore!

[Justin Beitler @JustinBeitler]

Pac-12 is officially back! Proud to have supported

@Octagon @AnotherDanCohen @TheWilliamMao @TheOnlySamMarks

[Pac-12 Conference @pac12]

1⃣0⃣0⃣% home games on 📺🏈
1⃣0⃣0⃣% home games kickoffs set preseason
1⃣0⃣0⃣% can't wait for 2026

#BackThePac