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Message: [QUOTE="CL82, post: 4017231, member: 44"] Off the top of my head: [LIST=1] [*]Four men’s basketball national championships in the last 22 years. [*]23 National championships, if you include soccer in 1948. Now, before anyone says no one cares about women’s basketball, which I disagree, and women’s field hockey, which I pretty much agree with, keep in mind that 23 national championships is an indication of a healthy athletic department. Yeah, woman’s field hockey doesn’t drive the bus, but having success across multiple sports is noteworthy. [*]Having the 33rd overall media market and being a part of the New York city DMA. I agree the metric is shifting away from broadcast TV being the definitive statement of value, but those things are both good things. [*]While we’re talking about New York City, the fact that you can’t fans show up to games, and especially in MSG also is noteworthy and has value. [*]Brand value. UConn is a known national brand. And that drives eyeballs, which in turn contributes to value. [*]I can’t remember which poster it was who pointed out that there are approximately 11 million people within a 2.5 hour of UConn. Why does that matter? Arguably, they are all potential viewers, but practically speaking it is equally important that in that group there are many other alumni of other institutions. Playing games against UConn gives those schools the opportunity for outreach to those alumni. [*]Let’s talk women’s basketball. Posters love to write off its significance but keep in mind that their games regularly draw more than many DI men’s teams and have drawn more than pro sports. Someone must be watching. That is definitely noteworthy. Also keep in mind that while most women’s basketball teams play in front of empty arenas Connecticut fills up arena even on the road. They also have incredible brand value. Does that get us into a conference? Of course not. But it can’t be discounted as having no value either. [*]Despite being located in a relatively small state Connecticut as fans who are pretty rabid and will likely subscribe in order to get digital access to games, even for sports that are not traditionally revenue producing like baseball and hockey. And digital subscribers are the next cash cow for conferences. [*]Facilities. Gampel, the Werth Champions Center, Burton, Shenkman, Elliot Ballpark, the new softball and soccer fields and the new hockey arena that we are building are all first class facilities appropriate for an elite DI institution. Unlike a lot of other schools Connecticut wouldn’t need to spend millions upgrading their facilities in order to be able to compete. That has considerable value. The Rent is a little small, it is easily upgradable to a 50,000 seat arena. We would do it in a heartbeat if it meant admission to a P5 conference. It also is a great venue to see a game, with great site lines from literally every seat and can be incredibly loud when fans are given a reason to cheer. The tailgating around the stadium in the old airfields is excellent. Overall, it’s a pretty nice venue. [*]We play all the revenue sports that any conference would be interested in. Sure, footballs had a bad eight years, but we still play it, well except for last year, but let’s not get into that. [*]We are the flag ship land grant institution for our state. In that way, we are more alike to most of the P5 schools than we are to the G5 schools. [*]UConn is the only game in town for Connecticut. We do not compete with other major universities or other in-state professional teams. That means we are more likely to draw the attention of the 3 million people in our state. Keep in mind though there are many other states with greater landmass, there aren’t all that many that have more people and certainly none that have more people and only one University, and no pro teams. [/LIST] You’re welcome. [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach

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