ACC

[metsfan2323]

God damnit. I knew this was going to come back and bite us in the ass.

The people that thought that UConn and all of it's 10 years of FBS competition were suddenly above playing ND at a neutral location had absolutely no foresight into the ramifications that would have for our program.

I agree. Who screwed this up? Hathaway was portrayed as a meek, micromanager of mundane functions. Did he make this decision? Who had the ego to say play at the Rent or we walk?

 

[mavblues]

Can someone PLEASE tell me how to place Carl Spackler on ignore before my eyeballs rip themselves out of my head?

TIA

 

[Dann]

Can someone PLEASE tell me how to place Carl Spackler on ignore before my eyeballs rip themselves out of my head?

TIA

click his avatar and option apear on the screen in the profile look. one option is "ignore".

 

[FromTheInside]

Carl-


Yes, but TV contracts aren’t written based on potential, they’re written based on production……and that’s where the BE is way behind the other major conferences. A conference stretching from coast to coast is not the plus you think it is. Yes, there is “potential”, but the BE isn’t going to get paid for that potential. You cannot make people on the Left Coast care about sports on the East Coast. Nobody in Newark is going to turn on the TV and watch an SMU game just b/c they’re in the BE. The teams the BE has recruited all have very weak viewership in their home regions. Houston, despite having produced a high-octane offense last season, as well as an undefeated team until the very end, still wasn’t even in the top 7 in viewership in the city of Houston last year.

Of the new teams the BE has recruited to the conference, not a single one carries their home market. In the entire BE, only UConn and Louisville carry their DMA (their TV region). So, you’re marketing a product to networks in which only 2 of the teams are the most popular team in their region. And then, you look at their popularity outside their region, and it’s abysmal.

So, to do what you want to do, you have to convince collegiate athletics fans to care more about a team than their home region does. And on top of that, the BE suffers from a lack of regional dominance outside the NE. There won’t be much cross-watching w/in the BE. Meaning, a UConn fan is unlikely to turn on the TV to watch UCF vs SDSU, simply b/c they’re BE teams. Now, a UConn fan might actually do that with Syracuse, Rutgers, Pitt, BC, and other current/former BE members (when/while they were members). But, I can look at the numbers and tell you that very few BE fans are tuning in for Louisville, South Florida, and other teams outside their region. There’s no commonality. There’s no regional rivalry (as in how Texans & Oklahomans dislike each other). The BE can’t manufacture a “family” spread across the country. It’s just not possible. And, there’s no amount of marketing that will change that.

As for time slots, they’re always guided by numbers. Networks know which teams turn on which tvs around the country. Thus, the big boys will always get the best slots, b/c they pull the most viewers.

 

[FromTheInside]

Carl-


I wish your theory were true or possible, b/c despite the fact I’m not a BE fan, I am an underdog fan. I’d love to see the conference bounce back. But, it’s highly unlikely. The Big East is essentially a mid-major w/ AQ status. Just look at where each member was 10 years ago.

Big East:
* Rutgers
* Temple

Conference USA:
* Houston
* Louisville
* Memphis
* Cincinnati

Independent:
* UConn
* South Florida
* Navy

Mid-American
* Central Florida

Mountain West
* San Diego State

WAC
* Boise State
* SMU

Now, does that look to you like the bones of a big boy conference which is going to be able to dominate (or even secure) viewership across the country?

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

Yes, but TV contracts aren’t written based on potential, they’re written based on production……and that’s where the BE is way behind the other major conferences. A conference stretching from coast to coast is not the plus you think it is. Yes, there is “potential”, but the BE isn’t going to get paid for that potential. You cannot make people on the Left Coast care about sports on the East Coast. Nobody in Newark is going to turn on the TV and watch an SMU game just b/c they’re in the BE. The teams the BE has recruited all have very weak viewership in their home regions. Houston, despite having produced a high-octane offense last season, as well as an undefeated team until the very end, still wasn’t even in the top 7 in viewership in the city of Houston last year.

Of the new teams the BE has recruited to the conference, not a single one carries their home market. In the entire BE, only UConn and Louisville carry their DMA (their TV region). So, you’re marketing a product to networks in which only 2 of the teams are the most popular team in their region. And then, you look at their popularity outside their region, and it’s abysmal.

Thank you, this is the same argument I've been positing for years ever since some of the yahoos on here were yelling and screaming for the BE to pre-emptively add UCF and Houston to "get those markets". Just because you're located in that market, doesn't mean anyone cares about you! I would bet a great deal of money that UCF is not in the top 3 of college football viewership in the Orlando DMA. This is what the clowns at ECU still don't get when they rag about how they sell out their 50K stadium in Greenville, NC. No one else in the state of NC cares about them or watches them on TV. The Big East can put lipstick on a pig all it wants, but the majority of the teams we've added do not actually bring in much value of the markets in which they're located. This is the same reason why the DePaul addition in way back when was so puzzling.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

Carl-


I wish your theory were true or possible, b/c despite the fact I’m not a BE fan, I am an underdog fan. I’d love to see the conference bounce back. But, it’s highly unlikely. The Big East is essentially a mid-major w/ AQ status. Just look at where each member was 10 years ago.

Big East:
* Rutgers
* Temple

Conference USA:
* Houston
* Louisville
* Memphis
* Cincinnati

Independent:
* UConn
* South Florida
* Navy

Mid-American
* Central Florida

Mountain West
* San Diego State

WAC
* Boise State
* SMU

Now, does that look to you like the bones of a big boy conference which is going to be able to dominate (or even secure) viewership across the country?

Don't try and pose logic to him, he only understands that the NNBE is the best thing since sliced bread and everyone in NYC is going to suddenly start watching RU-SMU football games.

 

[MidTown Husky]

I agree. Who screwed this up? Hathaway was portrayed as a meek, micromanager of mundane functions. Did he make this decision? Who had the ego to say play at the Rent or we walk?

When we walked from that series everybody was beating their chest telling ND to off and praising hathaway for standing his ground. Now some yahoo come on this board and says it was a bad choice and will cause the downfall of uconn as we know it and everybody is mad...yeesh

 

[Adios]

The Big East has to market aggressively. They have $20 million coming from WVU and the Big 12. That's way more than what each of the two Big 12 teams leaving for the SEC are paying. In NYC, there are a lot of things to do, too. This would be for the person who is so used to living in NYC, that they wouldn't care to go out on weekends.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

The Big East has to market aggressively. They have $20 million coming from WVU and the Big 12. That's way more than what each of the two Big 12 teams leaving for the SEC are paying. In NYC, there are a lot of things to do, too. This would be for the person who is so used to living in NYC, that they wouldn't care to go out on weekends.

You can't just market people into watching a product they don't care about. That's a fallacy. The production has to come on the field first in a big way, and just slapping the Big East label on the field isn't going to do the trick. When people in San Diego think college football, (I'd bet most generally don't) they think of the big name programs long before they think of San Diego State. It's why teams like the Royals and the Jaguars can't get people to come to their games, just because they're in the big name league doesn't mean people automatically will show up if they're not interested in the product on the field, no matter how much it's marketed.

 

[metsfan2323]

When we walked from that series everybody was beating their chest telling ND to off and praising hathaway for standing his ground. Now some yahoo come on this board and says it was a bad choice and will cause the downfall of uconn as we know it and everybody is mad...yeesh

Ignore the discussion on this thread, it was still a dumb, shortsighted move. Thankfully the old management is gone. (Edsall, Hathaway, Hogan).

Not that it matters, but I always thought it was dumb to walk away from ND.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Carl-


Yes, but TV contracts aren’t written based on potential, they’re written based on production……and that’s where the BE is way behind the other major conferences. A conference stretching from coast to coast is not the plus you think it is. Yes, there is “potential”, but the BE isn’t going to get paid for that potential. You cannot make people on the Left Coast care about sports on the East Coast. Nobody in Newark is going to turn on the TV and watch an SMU game just b/c they’re in the BE. The teams the BE has recruited all have very weak viewership in their home regions. Houston, despite having produced a high-octane offense last season, as well as an undefeated team until the very end, still wasn’t even in the top 7 in viewership in the city of Houston last year.

Of the new teams the BE has recruited to the conference, not a single one carries their home market. In the entire BE, only UConn and Louisville carry their DMA (their TV region). So, you’re marketing a product to networks in which only 2 of the teams are the most popular team in their region. And then, you look at their popularity outside their region, and it’s abysmal.

So, to do what you want to do, you have to convince collegiate athletics fans to care more about a team than their home region does. And on top of that, the BE suffers from a lack of regional dominance outside the NE. There won’t be much cross-watching w/in the BE. Meaning, a UConn fan is unlikely to turn on the TV to watch UCF vs SDSU, simply b/c they’re BE teams. Now, a UConn fan might actually do that with Syracuse, Rutgers, Pitt, BC, and other current/former BE members (when/while they were members). But, I can look at the numbers and tell you that very few BE fans are tuning in for Louisville, South Florida, and other teams outside their region. There’s no commonality. There’s no regional rivalry (as in how Texans & Oklahomans dislike each other). The BE can’t manufacture a “family” spread across the country. It’s just not possible. And, there’s no amount of marketing that will change that.

As for time slots, they’re always guided by numbers. Networks know which teams turn on which tvs around the country. Thus, the big boys will always get the best slots, b/c they pull the most viewers.

Understood. I think you're wrong though. I think the power that a 3+ hour window of live television broadcasting that a football game brings is more than enough time to create new viewers across the country.

As another poster noted, it all hinges on competition. IF the teams suck, none if matters. But there is a track record a decade long now, showing htat the big east has a plan that works for football programs to elevate to national relevance and rankings.

I know for a fact, and can also show you numbers.... that when UConn was in position to win big east titles, many, many UCOnn fans were tuning into Louisville, Cincinatti and South Florida games against other opponents than UConn. These same fans, would never have thought twice about watching a Cincinatti or South FLorida game 5 years ago. These were all NEW viewers for those programs, in the UConn demographic.

I see absolutely no reason why the fan base of Boise, or SDSU, or SMU, or Houston, which agreed, don't have ownership of their own markets......wouldn't become new viewers for the other programs though, and why a die hard SDSU fan, would not tune into a UConn v. Temple game at 12:3o PST, in November, when the outcome of that game would have direct effect on that SDSU program as the seasons progress, and those other games mean a lot more to their own team's ability to get to the college football post season promised land.

It all hinges on playing competitive football throughout the league though, and you're right, there is going to be a very large amount of selling potential in negotiations. When isn't there in a negotiation?

 

[Adios]

You can't just market people into watching a product they don't care about. That's a fallacy. The production has to come on the field first in a big way, and just slapping the Big East label on the field isn't going to do the trick. When people in San Diego think college football, (I'd bet most generally don't) they think of the big name programs long before they think of San Diego State. It's why teams like the Royals and the Jaguars can't get people to come to their games, just because they're in the big name league doesn't mean people automatically will show up if they're not interested in the product on the field, no matter how much it's marketed.

UConn certainly has surged immensely since the powers that be decided to put UConn at the elite level in college football, requiring the right-sized stadium and proper facilities. Before, there were crowds of 10,000 and less. People do care when there's a brand name attached.

 

[Dann]

#watchtvharder

 

[Carl Spackler]

Carl-


I wish your theory were true or possible, b/c despite the fact I’m not a BE fan, I am an underdog fan. I’d love to see the conference bounce back. But, it’s highly unlikely. The Big East is essentially a mid-major w/ AQ status. Just look at where each member was 10 years ago.

Big East:
* Rutgers
* Temple

Conference USA:
* Houston
* Louisville
* Memphis
* Cincinnati

Independent:
* UConn
* South Florida
* Navy

Mid-American
* Central Florida

Mountain West
* San Diego State

WAC
* Boise State
* SMU

Now, does that look to you like the bones of a big boy conference which is going to be able to dominate (or even secure) viewership across the country?

OK - hold on a second. That smacks of lack of understanding, and the concept that southern football is better than northern football. Let's not go there.

The same things were said about big east football in 2003, and expansion of the conference then involved adding DePaul and Marquette. Let that sink in. The football conference of 8 teams, lost 3 teams, replaced them with Louisville, Cincinatti, and South Florida.....and then the conference expanded by adding Depaul and Marquette - you're concerned about the big east being a so called "mid-major"....check where DePaul and Marquette football programs are. It's that kind of leadership in the past among the conference, that led the big east to where it is now.

The current leadership is different, we just don't have a lot of pieces to work with anymore. But Lousiville, Cincinatti, adn South Florida have all seen very high national rankings since 2005, and Cincinatti was a BCS snub for a national title game.

That's what the backbone of Catholic schools, and their basketball conference, has been able to do with "mid-major" football programs that were formerly long term independant 1-A programs.

Take UConn - a football program with a 113 year history, of noodling around and an overall record up to the 1980's when a Joe Paterno product stared recruiting and coaching, had a significant losing record. (We've been a regular overall winner since the 1980s).....but were 1-AA, and then in 1-A football, well, we can be a lot better than we are, and we're working on it, but have two conference titles already.

So - I don't buy that mid-major crap argument that any program comign into the big east, can't or won't be successful nationally. it's all about recruiting for the level of competition you want to be at, building the facilities and infrasructure you want to be at, and then going out and smashing some people on the field.

It all hinges on being competitive on the field. It's a show me sport.

 

[CTMike]

A wise man once said : "Hey, if you want me to take a dump in a box and mark it guaranteed, I will. I got spare time. But for now, for your customer's sake, for your daughter's sake, ya might wanna think about buying a quality product from me."

Just to be clear, the NNBE is the poop in the box, and Carl is offering the guarantee.

 

[CTMike]

Carl, I know you mean well. I know you love UConn through and through. But at some point you need to realize that, when it comes to negotiate the next Big East contract, when it comes to contemplate our place in the universe, NOBODY is considering court decisions from the 80's, analysis done in the 50's, or the 113 year history of UConn. It has ZERO bearing. When it comes time to negotiate, it's going to based on numbers - money, and eyeballs.

 

[junglehusky]

Forget it, he's on a roll.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

#watchtvharder

LMAO.

 

[ZooCougar]

Can someone PLEASE tell me how to place Carl Spackler on ignore before my eyeballs rip themselves out of my head?

TIA

Come on! Just imagine a thread that only he and RutgersAl can post on. The possibilities are hilarious.

 

[ZooCougar]

Insider,

What is your opinion on UConn joining Hockey East? Also can we ever hope to become a participant in the Beanpot Tournament?

How much value does ECU have?

 

[uconnbaseball]

Insider,

What is your opinion on UConn joining Hockey East? Also can we ever hope to become a participant in the Beanpot Tournament?

How much value does ECU have?

How would he know the answer to the former question?

 

[MidTown Husky]

would nova football or prov bball get higher tv ratings?

Neither - San Diego State basketball would trump both combined...big hands, long arms, athletes, altitude...

 

[NEforceUConn]

Inside - Thanks for your insights.

But I think you are putting way too much value on thinking NDs series influenced the ACC's decision on who to invite. The ACC took two schools to invoke their renegotiation clause with ESPN and to strengthen ACC BB. They were conscious of giving the illusion to their football schools (FSU, Clemson, NC State) that the new schools also were members of the old boy football club - ie the glowing past tradition at Pitt and Cuse. Playing ND had very little to do with it. The ACC probably liked the idea of UConn BB but noone thinks that UConn football compares to Pitt/Cuse's tradition.

ACC bb has declined huge in just 4 years (save UNC/Duke). The ACC needed immediate action to address this and the thinking is Cuse and Pitt will help stop the fall. The FB element (who engineered the Miami/BCU/VT coup) had to eat a bit of crow and accept a BB infusion, but accepting two former national champion FB schools named Pitt/Cuse was the pill. Your belief that UConn would have gotten the nod if the ND series was signed is totally wrong.

Last thought, maybe UConn bb does not draw nationally but when I wear a UConn hat or T shirt every US resident in ANY state knows of UConn's BB tradition.

But thanks for the tv points of view - they are informative, but rethink your ND envy.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I thought turning down the ND series was a dumb move, but I didn't realize how dumb it would turn out to be.

What amazes me is that from what I remember, Business Lawyer and I were the only posters who were in favor of the ND series with our home games at NFL stadiums in the northeast instead of the Rent. Today none of the posters who jumped all over the two of us are thumping their chest in this thread.