Big 12 expansion and Uconn

[WVU-FAN]

AAC TV viewership is greater than the left behind 8. Honestly believe getting $15M to $25M per team per year with the left behind 8 will be mostly a pipe dream. They will be lucky to get $9M per year in a media deal without GOR since no one will sign it. They might be a slightly better version of the AAC, but the numbers don't show it.

A Big 12 without Texas and Oklahoma Is Worth The Same as - or Less Than - The American

The TV viewership numbers prove it

www.blackandgoldbanneret.com

You honestly think that TV viewership is stronger among AAC schools than for schools with rabid fan bases like oSu, Kansas State, Baylor, TTU, WVU, and TCU? I honestly only see 2 AAC products that might have significant tv viewership.....perhaps UCF because of a large alumni base, or Houston. Despite the quality of Cincinnati on the field they just don't have a massive following.....same for Memphis. Now honestly I'm not trying to denigrate those fine schools but the fan bases at those Big 12-8 are not at all insignificant.....and I honestly think ESPN is trying to sell a false narrative of weakness in the remaing 8 to compel the destruction of the Big 12 as a conference so OU and Texas can escape the GoR and ESPN can get out of the LHN early.

 

[WVU-FAN]

Imagine being in our shoes. You guys probably felt the same way before the B12 lifeline. We get stuck in a crap conference playing schools that noone cares about (even when they're ranked) that was geographically horrible for us. A putrid rights contract was negotiated where each team's take was much less than what we could have gotten for our tier 3 media rights alone. Then B12 starts a public audition for open spots in their conference where the entire AAC applies, admitting that noone wants to be there. And then everyone gets left at the altar. We've lost 10's if not 100's of millions if not more in potential revenue and suffered in performance as well. We basically were dealt the worst hand in all of conference realignment and that was coming off a BCS bowl, multiple national championships across the board etc. We were 100 miles north of NYC from hitting the lotto. It's sucked, hence bombs to the conference(s).

I think the Big 12 really wanted to expand....the fans were excited to bring in fresh blood, and I think the league wanted to trigger contract renegotiation to increase revenue. ESPN was the one that dictated that none of the proposed additions could justify increasing revenue and that is the reason Big 12 expansion failed. Now I as a WVU fan did oppose expansion for 2 reasons.....1) I didn't want WVU revenue to be cut, and 2) OU and Texas would both be in a different division and I wanted to maintain an annual home and away with those schools on the WVU schedule (ironic huh? LOL)

 

[UCONNFAN179]

I know this will never happen, but what I'd like to see is a shift to geographic divisions and get back to regional rivalries. You take the 81 or so schools that are in power/semi-power conferences, and group them into 8 divisions something like below. Each division has 10 teams resulting in 9 games. Teams can fill the other 2 or 3 games however they like. At the end of the season, the top 2 teams in each division square off for a division championship. Each division champ makes the playoff, along with 8 wild cards based on national rankings or something, and you have your 16 team playoff.
It would be wonderful to get regional rivalries again, and travel time/costs minimized for all.
TV money could be worked out for those schools 'worth more'... Maybe all tv money is pooled and the better you perform in a year, the more you get that year. Maybe only remaining playoff teams split each round's playoff money. Just get creative...

Syracuse	Virginia	Georgia	Mississippi	Michigan	Iowa	Texas	Arizona		Notre Dame*
Boston College	Virginia Tech	Georgia Tech	Mississippi State	Michigan State	Iowa State	TCU	Arizona State
Connecticut	West Virginia	Alabama	LSU	Ohio State	Nebraska	Baylor	Oregon
Army	North Carolina	Auburn	Tulane	Cincinnati	Kansas	Texas Tech	Oregon State
Rutgers	North Carolina State	Central Florida	Arkansas	Indiana	Kansas State	Texas A&M	Washington
Temple	Duke	Florida	Missouri	Purdue	Colorado	Houston	Washington State
Penn State	Wake Forest	Florida State	Tennesee	Illinois	Oklahoma	SMU	California
Pittsburgh	East Carolina	South Florida	Memphis	Northwestern	Oklahoma State	Utah	UCLA
Navy	South Carolina	Miami	Vanderbilt	Wisconsin	Tulsa	BYU	USC
Maryland	Louisville	Clemson	Kentucky	Minnesota	Air Force	Boise St	Stanford

 

[WestCoastHusky]

You honestly think that TV viewership is stronger among AAC schools than for schools with rabid fan bases like oSu, Kansas State, Baylor, TTU, WVU, and TCU? I honestly only see 2 AAC products that might have significant tv viewership.....perhaps UCF because of a large alumni base, or Houston. Despite the quality of Cincinnati on the field they just don't have a massive following.....same for Memphis. Now honestly I'm not trying to denigrate those fine schools but the fan bases at those Big 12-8 are not at all insignificant.....and I honestly think ESPN is trying to sell a false narrative of weakness in the remaing 8 to compel the destruction of the Big 12 as a conference so OU and Texas can escape the GoR and ESPN can get out of the LHN early.

TV numbers don't lie. Yes schools in the South and Midwest have more dedicated fans, but it might not translate to interest from national audience though.

A school like ECU is like some schools in the B12. It got a rabid fanbase but no one cares about it outside its immediate area hence no conference is dying to add ECU. Most B12 schools were propped up by Texas and OU, and the reality will hit them soon at the next media contract renegotiation.

I always liked WVU since Pat White days. However, WVU didn't go bat once for Uconn when Uconn applied to the B12 for membership. It is pretty much every man for himself with this realignment hunger game style. The writing is on the wall that even remaining B12 schools cobble together a conference, it will be a conference where every member has wondering eyes for the next best offer just like the current AAC.

 

[ZooCougar]

So much enjoyment.

 

[Jimdish255]

If a AAC and Big12 had an actual merger and could have been locked into a GOR it might have been the best scenario for us. With no strings attached we could work towards B1G or ACC consideration. The current chaos is likely to be worked out, but the longer it lasts the better we look for potential scheduling arrangements and recruits. I don't believe we should be looking for a spot in a league that does nothing but box us into further uncertainty. The Big 12 needs to demand their money and consider any interest from UCF, Memphis, Cincinnati and Houston. That is their best option unless ESPN starts to squirm and offer everyone a lucrative deal. But that won't happen.

 

[WestCoastHusky]

If a AAC and Big12 had an actual merger and could have been locked into a GOR it might have been the best scenario for us. With no strings attached we could work towards B1G or ACC consideration. The current chaos is likely to be worked out, but the longer it lasts the better we look for potential scheduling arrangements and recruits. I don't believe we should be looking for a spot in a league that does nothing but box us into further uncertainty. The Big 12 needs to demand their money and consider any interest from UCF, Memphis, Cincinnati and Houston. That is their best option unless ESPN starts to squirm and offer everyone a lucrative deal. But that won't happen.

The answer for the B12 leftovers is obvious: stay together until 2025 to extract maximum money out of ESPiN, Texas, and OU. I doubt B12 leftovers will expand beyond 8 unless their media contract stipulates they have to. They will want to keep as much money as possible for themselves with no sharing with any new members unless they have to. In meantime, every team among the 8 will be looking for a safe landing spot somewhere. If they don't find any, they will expand at 2025 to add some teams and face the music for their next media deal. I suspect they might get better than what AAC is getting now, but it won't be much more,

Is a conference like the above appealing to UCONN right now? Definitely not. If they can somehow lock up a media deal with some sort of GOR, then perhaps.

UCONN should be focusing on helping BE get the biggest media deal possible, and get a much much better indy media deal for football vs. the current one.

 

[Hoophound]

The solution for UConn continues to be one thing, win football games.

 

[Jimdish255]

The answer for the B12 leftovers is obvious: stay together until 2025 to extract maximum money out of ESPiN, Texas, and OU. I doubt B12 leftovers will expand beyond 8 unless their media contract stipulates they have to. They will want to keep as much money as possible for themselves with no sharing with any new members unless they have to. In meantime, every team among the 8 will be looking for a safe landing spot somewhere. If they don't find any, they will expand at 2025 to add some teams and face the music for their next media deal. I suspect they might get better than what AAC is getting now, but it won't be much more,

Is a conference like the above appealing to UCONN right now? Definitely not. If they can somehow lock up a media deal with some sort of GOR, then perhaps.

UCONN should be focusing on helping BE get the biggest media deal possible, and get a much much better indy media deal for football vs. the current one.

Yes. And while most of us agree our best case scenario is either a B1G Invite or and ACC Invite, our worst case scenario might be helped by the relegation of a dozen or so teams into a lower status. They'll be stuck in weak leagues with no path to national relevance. Stuck in mediocre contracts playing by league rules with little or no autonomy. On the other hand just about all these teams whether in the P4 or outside it will still want OOC games. They can't exist in a bubble. We retain scheduling flexibility and play by our own rules, getting smarter about how to navigate our Independence along the way. No distractions, no legal fights, and no GOR to hold us back from future opportunities. We have a path and we also have the autonomy to navigate that path as an Independent Brand. We may succeed or fail but the current chaos makes UConn a more viable option for future recruits and AD's when DB calls.

 

[HuskyHawk]

The answer for the B12 leftovers is obvious: stay together until 2025 to extract maximum money out of ESPiN, Texas, and OU. I doubt B12 leftovers will expand beyond 8 unless their media contract stipulates they have to. They will want to keep as much money as possible for themselves with no sharing with any new members unless they have to. In meantime, every team among the 8 will be looking for a safe landing spot somewhere. If they don't find any, they will expand at 2025 to add some teams and face the music for their next media deal. I suspect they might get better than what AAC is getting now, but it won't be much more,

Is a conference like the above appealing to UCONN right now? Definitely not. If they can somehow lock up a media deal with some sort of GOR, then perhaps.

UCONN should be focusing on helping BE get the biggest media deal possible, and get a much much better indy media deal for football vs. the current one.

They can expand without sharing all the money. They probably will. Cinci and Houston would be the best bets.

 

[Jimdish255]

They can expand without sharing all the money. They probably will. Cinci and Houston would be the best bets.

If they could expand they would also want Florida Markets with UCF/USF. Problem is they can't expand if ESPN says not interested past the current contract go talk to other leagues (hint, hint that great bargain league the AAC) . If another network doesn't step in they're stuck. But I digress because these headaches all help UConn and the rest is up to us. Like winning.

 

[HuskyHawk]

If they could expand they would also want Florida Markets with UCF/USF. Problem is they can't expand if ESPN says not interested past the current contract go talk to other leagues (hint, hint that great bargain league the AAC) . If another network doesn't step in they're stuck. But I digress because these headaches all help UConn and the rest is up to us. Like winning.

Markets don't matter. That is the new reality. UCF doesn't really move the needle, even if does more than USF. Brands matter. UCF isn't bad, but is behind Houston and Cinci and is further outside the natural area. Cinci is a good partner for WVU. ESPN has no veto power on adding new members. They certainly don't have to renew in 2025, but screw them, somebody will bid on it. ESPN isn't the lead partner anyway, Fox is. And Fox is not going to be happy with ESPN about any of this. Nobody is going to the AAC. ESPN just doesn't have that strong a hand here.

I expect the next B12 contract will be some new YouTube sports or Amazon sports service. YouTube ad revenue hit 7 billion in the last quarter. It's bigger than ESPN. That number is on par with all Disney media properties combined.

 

[Jimdish255]

You honestly think that TV viewership is stronger among AAC schools than for schools with rabid fan bases like oSu, Kansas State, Baylor, TTU, WVU, and TCU? I honestly only see 2 AAC products that might have significant tv viewership.....perhaps UCF because of a large alumni base, or Houston. Despite the quality of Cincinnati on the field they just don't have a massive following.....same for Memphis. Now honestly I'm not trying to denigrate those fine schools but the fan bases at those Big 12-8 are not at all insignificant.....and I honestly think ESPN is trying to sell a false narrative of weakness in the remaing 8 to compel the destruction of the Big 12 as a conference so OU and Texas can escape the GoR and ESPN can get out of the LHN early.

We'll see how rabid their fanbases are without OU and Texas. When recruit ratings start to impact their quality of play noticeably. Then with losing records to half the AAC teams they play. They've been spoiled. Now comes their last dance with relevance and the rabid fans won't like the taste of it.

 

[Jimdish255]

Markets don't matter. That is the new reality. UCF doesn't really move the needle, even if does more than USF. Brands matter. UCF isn't bad, but is behind Houston and Cinci and is further outside the natural area. Cinci is a good partner for WVU. ESPN has no veto power on adding new members. They certainly don't have to renew in 2025, but screw them, somebody will bid on it. ESPN isn't the lead partner anyway, Fox is. And Fox is not going to be happy with ESPN about any of this. Nobody is going to the AAC. ESPN just doesn't have that strong a hand here.

I expect the next B12 contract will be some new YouTube sports or Amazon sports service. YouTube ad revenue hit 7 billion in the last quarter. It's bigger than ESPN. That number is on par with all Disney media properties combined.

So YouTube is just going to throw millions at this new junior league?

 

[HuskyHawk]

So YouTube is just going to throw millions at this new junior league?

It’s a vastly better league than the AAC and would be worth more than the Big East. The point is ESPN is on life support. It is hardly in a position to control any outcome.

 

[Stinger92860]

It’s a vastly better league than the AAC and would be worth more than the Big East. The point is ESPN is on life support. It is hardly in a position to control any outcome.

if ESPN ends up with a 20 team SEC, I’d say they will be fine. Should these leagues start there own streaming service, then ESPN would be in trouble. Then it’s a subscriber model and they won’t need ESPN. I’d like to see UConn try this now, but I don’t have any idea how they could take on production. I’d buy just for Hockey.

 

[CL82]

So YouTube is just going to throw millions at this new junior league?

Maybe, if it gives them a base market share and establishes that the have the capability to be a viable platform.

 

[CL82]

if ESPN ends up with a 20 team SEC, I’d say they will be fine. Should these leagues start there own streaming service, then ESPN would be in trouble. Then it’s a subscriber model and they won’t need ESPN. I’d like to see UConn try this now, but I don’t have any idea how they could take on production. I’d buy just for Hockey.

Hockey and baseball. UConn made a big mistake not negotiating to keep tier 3 rights when it joined the Big East . There is value there.

 

[WestCoastHusky]

if ESPN ends up with a 20 team SEC, I’d say they will be fine. Should these leagues start there own streaming service, then ESPN would be in trouble. Then it’s a subscriber model and they won’t need ESPN. I’d like to see UConn try this now, but I don’t have any idea how they could take on production. I’d buy just for Hockey.

Uconn needs to make sure to get its T3 rights back from the Big East. Uconn has to get its own channel going. I am pretty sure it can get at least 100k+ paid subs if can offer the right content. This is the only way to stay in the arms race since revenue from the Big East media deal wont be enough.

Also, Uconn needs to get into the AAU. Whatever happened to that? What's keeping the school from being part of the AAU?

 

[CL82]

Uconn needs to make sure to get its T3 rights back from the Big East.

Agree, but I’m not sure how we do that since we really don’t have any significant leverage at this point. Allowing the tier 3 rights to go to the Big East, which was not their policy prior to our joining, was a significant miss in the negotiations.

What's keeping the school from being part of the AAU?

Basically, Connecticut wage law for state entities. Because Yukon is a public entity it has to pay higher wages than a private entity would. That makes it less competitive, if not just uncompetitive, when it is putting together bids for federally funded research.

This should be a no-brainer for the legislature. Exempt programs eligible for research grants from the wage law. UConn instantly becomes a more attractive bidder and would get more federal grants. That benefits UConn athletics because we would be more tractive for conference realignment, particularly to the Big Ten.

But it also conveys significant benefits to the state. First research grants are an influx of cash to the state. Jobs are created, money is spent by workers, it’s a good thing. This was the goal when the state invested in UConn’s science park, but it is hindered by our bids being incomplete due to the mandated higher wages.

In addition to that if Connecticut is viewed as a research nexus we will attract businesses to the state. Certainly our co-ventures in public private research would have inertia toward staying in state, but also these things tend to build. Once you have one or two businesses in an industry it becomes easier to attract others. Potentially, this is a way out of the states economic malaise, however, we need the legislature to not be shortsighted and carve out a research and development exception to the state’s public wage requirements.

 

[huskymedic]

if ESPN ends up with a 20 team SEC, I’d say they will be fine. Should these leagues start there own streaming service, then ESPN would be in trouble. Then it’s a subscriber model and they won’t need ESPN. I’d like to see UConn try this now, but I don’t have any idea how they could take on production. I’d buy just for Hockey.

Uconn needs to make sure to get its T3 rights back from the Big East. Uconn has to get its own channel going. I am pretty sure it can get at least 100k+ paid subs if can offer the right content. This is the only way to stay in the arms race since revenue from the Big East media deal wont be enough.

They already have the basics to build on for a number of sports (baseball, softball, wlax, field hockey, soccer) in Huskies All Access .... Baseball v Seton Hall

24 hour pass, monthly subscription, yearly subscription: Huskies All-Access - Powered by SIDEARM Showcase - University of Connecticut Athletics

There are some production facilities in the Rizza Family Performance Center in the new athletic complex.

 

[Waquoit]

Hockey and baseball. UConn made a big mistake not negotiating to keep tier 3 rights when it joined the Big East . There is value there.

I'm asking, why would the Big East have anything to do with our hockey rights?

 

[CL82]

They don't. Hockey East does.

 

[How Sway?!]

Considering the Big East doesn't have their own TV channel, why did we have to give up our T3 rights?

 

[don356]

They can expand without sharing all the money. They probably will. Cinci and Houston would be the best bets.

Not only that, you can't wait till the last minute on these things. You have to do it way in advance for a multitude of reasons both financial and logistical.