30 for 30....Requiem for the Big East

[metsfan2323]

By the time the feeding frenzy was done, ESPN had a worthless property in the AAC and had wildly overpaid for the ACC, while losing a ton of content in the process. Nice work.

How is the AAC worthless? ESPN is probably making a small fortune off of its content given that it costs them very little. If the content was worthless our games would be on NBC as ESPN would have never matched their offer.

You are the king of crap.

 

[djct1999]

any chance jeff goodman or brett mcmurphy narrarates?

 

[pj]

ESPN screwed up and did have to pay hugely more for media rights than it would have paid had it acquired the rights earlier. No doubt they regret those mistakes. But in truth, no one 4-5 years ago predicted the rise in value (bubble?) in live sports programming.

ESPN's screw up pales next to UConn's. We really had poor leadership in the crucial period when we needed to prepare for this possibility.

 

[Fairfield 1st]

I won't watch a minute of this revisionist history

 

[John]

I've long thought that if a good writer got their hands on all the source documents, the rise and fall of the Big East would make a truly great sports/business book.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

ESPN screwed up and did have to pay hugely more for media rights than it would have paid had it acquired the rights earlier. No doubt they regret those mistakes. But in truth, no one 4-5 years ago predicted the rise in value (bubble?) in live sports programming.

ESPN's screw up pales next to UConn's. We really had poor leadership in the crucial period when we needed to prepare for this possibility.

Every business is impacted by the bad decisions of its largest customer. UConn and the Big East is no different.

 

[MilliniumPrince]

On the History Channel, Lee Harvey Oswald is producing, "JFK"

One of the best posts I have ever seen.

 

[NCHusky91]

Documentaries you see in 4th grade may be factual, but those on TV and in the movie theater are specifically designed to promote the point of view of its creator. I learned this when I stupidly watched "SportsCentury" about Mickey Mantle hoping to see and hear about all of the 500 foot homers he hit, instead it was 60 minutes of what a lousy father and drunk he was.

 

[gars44]

The funny thing about all you guys who claim "it was just business" is that you fail to recognize that it would have been a lot cheaper for ESPN to pay the Big East market than do what happened. ESPN ended up paying almost $300MM a year for Louisville, Pitt and Syracuse, and Notre Dame's basketball program, and about half the games of TCU and WVU. That doesn't count the uptick they will have to pay the Big 10 for Rutgers. It was about as bad a business decision as ESPN could have made, and they apparently did it to teach the Big East a lesson. Every Big East school but UConn, USF and Cincinnati doubled their revenue by telling ESPN to buzz off.

Too funny. Have to tell you, have an interesting insight into all of this.

 

[Waquoit]

I learned this when I stupidly watched "SportsCentury" about Mickey Mantle hoping to see and hear about all of the 500 foot homers he hit, instead it was 60 minutes of what a lousy father and drunk he was.

That wasn't factual?

 

[NCHusky91]

That wasn't factual?

It likely was true, but certainly subjective in nature, and was just overemphasized a wee bit, and I heard little about his career.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

It was true. Mickey was nearly as lousy a father as Ted Williams was.

 

[IMind]

ESPN screwed up and did have to pay hugely more for media rights than it would have paid had it acquired the rights earlier. No doubt they regret those mistakes. But in truth, no one 4-5 years ago predicted the rise in value (bubble?) in live sports programming.

ESPN's screw up pales next to UConn's. We really had poor leadership in the crucial period when we needed to prepare for this possibility.

Jeff Hathaway doesn't get nearly the blame he deserves for the demise of the Big East. You know he was siding with the basketball schools at the expense of football.

 

[whaler11]

Jeff Hathaway doesn't get nearly the blame he deserves for the demise of the Big East. You know he was siding with the basketball schools at the expense of football.

It's really more that the Big East lasted as long as it did partially because of UConn wanting to keep it together.

 

[upstater]

It's really more that the Big East lasted as long as it did partially because of UConn wanting to keep it together.

UConn should have let it die in 1993. It would have focused minds about football. They would have been ready to play in 1996.

 

[whaler11]

UConn should have let it die in 1993. It would have focused minds about football. They would have been ready to play in 1996.

We often disagree UpSt. but you get that UConn and Notre Dame were the two biggest supporters of the ridiculous hybrid - which is a core concept few understand.

 

[upstater]

We often disagree UpSt. but you get that UConn and Notre Dame were the two biggest supporters of the ridiculous hybrid - which is a core concept few understand.

The Courant reported that back in 1993. The Catholics had enough votes to split, but Harry Hartley peeled off a few of the Catholics by putting forth an amendment that said any league decision would require 75% of the vote (which took power away from the football schools). This was enough for UConn and Tranghese/Gavitt faction to box-in Georgetown, St. John's and Seton Hall who were looking to end the BE. UConn carried the day with a 7-3 vote. Villanova and Providence voted with UConn and the football side (Syracuse, BC, Pitt, Miami).

 

[whaler11]

And it went on long after that.

 

[IMind]

The ironic part is that if the split had occurred in 1993 we wouldn't be worrying about our football program being in a P5.

 

[upstater]

The ironic part is that if the split had occurred in 1993 we wouldn't be worrying about our football program being in a P5.

I would not be so sure. Remember, Perkins was pushing for a stadium in 1990-1991. They thought they had the stadium on campus solved in 1993. That's when they got political blowback that set the plans back 4 or 5 years. If the league split up in 1994 (1993 was the plans for a split, vote didn't come until 1994) then it might have focused minds for a stadium much sooner.

 

[IMind]

I would not be so sure. Remember, Perkins was pushing for a stadium in 1990-1991. They thought they had the stadium on campus solved in 1993. That's when they got political blowback that set the plans back 4 or 5 years. If the league split up in 1994 (1993 was the plans for a split, vote didn't come until 1994) then it might have focused minds for a stadium much sooner.

I think that's possible, but it could also have had a chilling effect.. I'm definitely glad, all things considered, that things happened they way they did for us. I still think we're in a far better position than if we had a CAA football team and were playing Butler, Creighton, PC, and DePaul regularly in basketball.