BYU deal: DOA...

[uconNYC]

I don't think it's about AQ status anymore (as BE will definitely be the 6th best conference no matter what western teams we bring in. Besides the AQ might be gone anyways) It's now about creating the strongest conference in terms of competition/markets and leveraging it for a nice TV contract. Thus the need for 12 teams - the inventory of games, plus the conference championship adds value to a TV contract.

 

[buckley503]

A lot of people are grasping at straws.

Not a pessimist but a realist on this. There just aren't enough chairs at the table, not enough interest in an upstart football program with no tradition or major conference type following, we are a basketball school and it is all about football, and don't even have a say in the conversation (begharder not withstanding). Spots needed to be filled and Cuse and Pitt got asked to dance and we didn't.

The BCS format will change with no more AQ status and the whole go-to-16 team conferences will not be needed either, which would have been our only hope.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Forgive the conspiracy theory but, from what I read, BYU only in the last few days pulled a show stopper condition out of their to kill the deal. This was after weeks of negotiation. In the process, they raised their profile as a desired institution and further crapped on the Big East's image. I can't help but wonder if their TV partner encouraged them to drag it out and take us to third base for PR purposes. The issue that killed it sounds like one that should have come up in the first 15 minutes.

I thought this might happen. ESPN could throw BYU another $5MM per on top of the $8 they get already, and the Big East would never be able to match it.

 

[whaler11]

The TV market I understand, I just don't think Boise and esp. Houston would run over BE teams week in and week out.

BYU cares about the international rebroadcast rights because they aren't running a football program to win the BCS, they are running a football program to convert people to their religion. If the AQ doesn't matter to you (and it might not exist anyway), then why the hell would you want to be in a league with this mismash of teams.

 

[Revrat]

It's pretty simple if your read the articles. They left the biggest detail for last and they couldn't get around it. The hope is you get them reeled in so far that they comprimise on the one thing that you probably knew they wouldn't but you try anyways. In the end. BYU wants a conference but they wont give up the cash to do it. They are shooting for Notre Dame type independence where they get a deal to go to BCS games like Notre Dame. The problem is that even Notre Dame knows those days are numbered, Not sure why BYU doesn't realize this. If the BCS does what they say they are going to there will be no "in" to the big bowls outside of the title game. They will need a conference. Or If we want to keep any big bowls we will have to make concessions like allowing Notre Dame or BYU to grab those slots on occassion. Lets face it at the end of the day the Big East is not going to have a seat. The big boys are making sure of that.

 

[upstater]

The story is BS. They never talked about TV rights until the last day?

Yeah right.

If that's true, both Marinatto and BYU are clowns.

 

[Rumrunner]

"Big East Commissioner John Marinatto had been talking to BYU about joining the league for weeks. But the school's desire to retain the TV rights to its home games did not come up until late in the discussions the person said."

Never underestimate John Marinatto, the wizard of Providence.

TV revenue and its distribution is a minor, almost inconsequential,factor in all of this. I look at Mr. Marinatto as more of a visionary leader, kind of like an Alexander the Great of conference realignment.

The story is BS. They never talked about TV rights until the last day?

Yeah right.

If that's true, both Marinatto and BYU are clowns.

 

[MattMang23]

Johnny Marinatto reminds me of Johnny Appleseed. He travels around the country and, instead of apple seeds, he leaves teams behind to help grow other leagues.

Maybe in keeping with the theme this time of year, he could be equated to another jolly, fat, elf who gives away presents to grateful beneficiaries. "ACC, for you good boys and girls, I give you a new Syracuse and a Pitt to play with. And for you Big XII, I pull a shiny new WVU and TCU from my bag of goodies." John Marinatto: King of Merry Gift Giving.

 

[flyonthewall]

A lot of people are grasping at straws.

Not a pessimist but a realist on this. There just aren't enough chairs at the table, not enough interest in an upstart football program with no tradition or major conference type following, we are a basketball school and it is all about football, and don't even have a say in the conversation (begharder not withstanding). Spots needed to be filled and Cuse and Pitt got asked to dance and we didn't.

The BCS format will change with no more AQ status and the whole go-to-16 team conferences will not be needed either, which would have been our only hope.

Absolutely right. With the expected end of AQ the Orange Bowl will sign a deal with the ACC, Sugar-SEC, Fiesta-Big12 and Rose-B1G and Pac12. Just like it used to be except with a 1-2 matchup for the BCS game. The major bowls will then pick the best teams they can get to fill the open slots based on record, tv appeal and fans who travel which means few, if any, new BE teams will ever get selected.

The new BE will just be a comglomeration of teams who try to collectively sell their tv rights for the most $$ but will not get that much because of the lack of teams with a following outside of their limited home areas.

 

[upstater]

Absolutely right. With the expected end of AQ the Orange Bowl will sign a deal with the ACC, Sugar-SEC, Fiesta-Big12 and Rose-B1G and Pac12. Just like it used to be except with a 1-2 matchup for the BCS game. The major bowls will then pick the best teams they can get to fill the open slots based on record, tv appeal and fans who travel which means few, if any, new BE teams will ever get selected.

The new BE will just be a comglomeration of teams who try to collectively sell their tv rights for the most $$ but will not get that much because of the lack of teams with a following outside of their limited home areas.

This has always been about a playoff. Your scenarios don't include that. Superconferences are about playoffs. KILL THE OTHER LEAGUES. Then institute a playoff. That's the gameplan.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Absolutely right. With the expected end of AQ the Orange Bowl will sign a deal with the ACC, Sugar-SEC, Fiesta-Big12 and Rose-B1G and Pac12. Just like it used to be except with a 1-2 matchup for the BCS game. The major bowls will then pick the best teams they can get to fill the open slots based on record, tv appeal and fans who travel which means few, if any, new BE teams will ever get selected.

The new BE will just be a comglomeration of teams who try to collectively sell their tv rights for the most $$ but will not get that much because of the lack of teams with a following outside of their limited home areas.

If it's an open market for Bowl's, what makes you think the Orange would take the ACC over the SEC?

The ACC could very well be marginalized (in terms of 'BCS' bowls) because of this push for eliminating AQ's.

 

[Excalibur]

An ACC with FSU, Clemson, Miami and Virginia Tech will get a seat at the big boy bowl table.

 

[RS9999X]

An ACC with FSU, Clemson, Miami and Virginia Tech will get a seat at the big boy bowl table.

They will likely have a contract with the SEC for the Orange Bowl and beg for scraps.

God knows, the ACC can't afford another 99 cent tickets to the 2009 Orange Bowl fiasco in Florida. In comparison unranked Iowa and unranked South Carolina sold their allotments to the Outback Bowl at Raymond James for a measly $3.2 million payout each; The following year Auburn couldn't get enough tickets

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Woeful Orange Bowl Press

As late as December 31, neither team had sold its entire allotment of 17,500 tickets. Cincinnati fans had bought 13,000 tickets, while Virginia Tech fans bought fewer than 5,000 tickets from the school's allotment.

In an effort to spur sales, Tech administrators had head football coach Frank Beamer star in a video asking Hokies fans to buy tickets to the game. Owing to limited demand for tickets, prices in the secondary market plunged.

Countering Virginia Tech's low direct ticket sales were large numbers of fans who avoided paying face value for tickets—US$125—by buying them on the secondary market, often for as little as 99 cents.