Ruh Roh... the BE might be getting an unpleasant SURPRISE

[pj]

-the numbers tell swafford that wvu is the clear #1 add. there is almost a tie for 2nd with lville and uconn. cuse, pitt and ruty are next all very close to each other.
-espn says listen, if u add the best fball school and the best bball school from the big east we can pay up on the contract. then u can add 2 more down the line of pitt/cuse/ruty and be all good.
-swafford says sorry but wvu academics are not for tobacco road and same with lville. and bc doesn't like uconn. so were going to add pitt and cuse.

If this is actually what happened then Swofford and any presidents who backed him are insane.

With WVU and UConn, the ACC would have been a very nice conference. Shame it didn't shake out that way.

 

[pj]

Does anyone really believe that adding UConn and Rutgers would give the B1G enough clout to require every cable, satellite and optical provider in the states of New Jersey and Connecticut to carry the BTN on its basic tier yet also charge each provider for the right to carry the network (at I believe $1.10 per household month)?

They don't have to use the same pricing model in every market. They can go on for free and sell ads. They key is that they get visibility and market share in these markets. NY/NJ/NE are so big - ~15 million households - that even if you get $0.10 per household per month you're getting $18 mn per year. The exposure, the opportunity to play in/near NYC and claim the northeast media, is worth a lot in marketing terms, independent of revenue.

If over time UConn/Rutgers/Michigan/Ohio State/Penn State build mindshare in the northeast and they get $1.10/hhold/mo from 15 mn northeast households to watch B1G football & basketball, that's an extra $200 mn a year in revenue. A huge jackpot.

 

[RS9999X]

They don't have to use the same pricing model in every market. They can go on for free and sell ads. They key is that they get visibility and market share in these markets. NY/NJ/NE are so big - ~15 million households - that even if you get $0.10 per household per month you're getting $18 mn per year. The exposure, the opportunity to play in/near NYC and claim the northeast media, is worth a lot in marketing terms, independent of revenue.

If over time UConn/Rutgers/Michigan/Ohio State/Penn State build mindshare in the northeast and they get $1.10/hhold/mo from 15 mn northeast households to watch B1G football & basketball, that's an extra $200 mn a year in revenue. A huge jackpot.

Last year the BiG distributed $8.2 million per team based on the BiG Network. $8.4 mil was based on their National Networks Contract. $6 milliion was for various other income including Bowls, Conference Corporate Sponsors, and Conference Web Site Ads, The BiG Basketball Tourney gate, etc.

Here's the rub: CT's 1.1 million cable households would generate $9.25 mil and be split 50/50 with Fox (assuming 70 cents a month). The CT market might support the BiG with decent add revenue rates in Hartford to Stamford but it's no slam dunk for them in CT given the population size and lack of national presence in football. CT adds nothing to their National Contract

Booking Ohio State at Yankee Stadium is the way the game would have to be played. Then there's queston of NYC, it is technically a non-CT market, and penetration and carrier fees: likely the usualy 10 cents and no more.

Adding UConn and Rutgers and SU I thought was possible. That would get enough regional traction to place the BiG in New York.

I get BiG on DirecTV and rarely watch it.