Dom Amore: If Big 12 calls, UConn will have to choose between Big East love and Power Five money.

[navery12]

I’m wondering where this 30-40 million is going to come from. Does the network just say sure we’ll increase our just negotiated contract proportionately so we can get UConn football? Or do a bunch of Texas schools agree to take a smaller piece of the pie to have their football conference diluted?

Having a hard time wrapping my head around this.

No, those numbers being quoted are for the current media/CFP deal, so there's an assumption being made that at worst those numbers stay the same. Maybe it's a bad assumption, but I think it's a pretty safe one. The Big 12, and more specifically the schools, wouldn't be approving expansion that was going to put them in a worse position. So using the current deal as a baseline for what it gets negotiated to with the new schools joining seems pretty safe

 

[Zissou]

I’m wondering where this 30-40 million is going to come from. Does the network just say sure we’ll increase our just negotiated contract proportionately so we can get UConn football? Or do a bunch of Texas schools agree to take a smaller piece of the pie to have their football conference diluted?

Having a hard time wrapping my head around this.

The conference seeks agreement / negotiates with the network to plus up the compensation to UConn so that the rest aren’t diluted. The Network agrees if they see the value.

 

[Jbirdp5]

No, those numbers being quoted are for the current media/CFP deal, so there's an assumption being made that at worst those numbers stay the same. Maybe it's a bad assumption, but I think it's a pretty safe one. The Big 12, and more specifically the schools, wouldn't be approving expansion that was going to put them in a worse position. So using the current deal as a baseline for what it gets negotiated to with the new schools joining seems pretty safe

That seems to be the big question right now, will the networks agree to give us a full share because if not we will most likely not pass the vote to get the invite if the other teams in the league need to give up a piece of their slice of the pie. There has been no definitive answer to this question.

 

[CL82]

I’m wondering where this 30-40 million is going to come from. Does the network just say sure we’ll increase our just negotiated contract proportionately so we can get UConn football? Or do a bunch of Texas schools agree to take a smaller piece of the pie to have their football conference diluted?

Having a hard time wrapping my head around this.

Yormark said ESPN has indicated that it will treat certain G5 programs as if they were P5 programs under the contract and pay a full pro rata share for them if they join. He gave a very strong indication that Connecticut was one of those programs.

You're welcome!

 

[mussels]

Yormark said ESPN has indicated that it will treat certain G5 programs as if they were P5 programs under the contract and pay a full pro rata share for them if they join. He gave a very strong indication that Connecticut was one of those programs.

You're welcome!

You answered my question, so yeah thanks, but I’m having a hard time believing that the “strong indication” (in whatever form it took), wasn’t for purposes of deception to gain leverage in some other transaction. (like assisting the big 12 in recruiting some other school. (you better get on board before UConn takes your spot)

I know football fans are justifiably optimistic about the direction of the program, but given the last decade I just can’t see how a network would be convinced we are a good buy.

We‘ll see I guess.

 

[Jbirdp5]

Yormark said ESPN has indicated that it will treat certain G5 programs as if they were P5 programs under the contract and pay a full pro rata share for them if they join. He gave a very strong indication that Connecticut was one of those programs.

You're welcome!

 

[aburks41]

This whole pro-rata thing by the TV networks is such nonsense. Does ESPN really believe that -for example- Oregon State is intrinsically worth a full revenue share if they somehow got an B12 invite just because they currently reside in a power conference?

That’s why it’s so important to take the first power conference invite that comes our way

 

[FfldCntyFan]

In the spirit of turnabout is fair play, you seem to be going out of your way to try to pour cold water on the idea of a move to the B-12.

Even if things end up as that that tweet suggests. If we (as a G-5) are added, ESPN kicks in their 63% at full value and Fox decides to pay 75 cents on the dollar for their 37%, it still gives us 91% of what other B-12 schools are receiving for media rights, which by the way is substantially more than what we would be receiving from the BE.

An additional point, if the BE is as strong and respected a conference as you (and others) claim, how would Fox be able to justify calling us a G5 school?

 

[CL82]

You answered my question, so yeah thanks, but I’m having a hard time believing that the “strong indication” (in whatever form it took), wasn’t for purposes of deception to gain leverage in some other transaction. (like assisting the big 12 in recruiting some other school. (you better get on board before UConn takes your spot)

I know football fans are justifiably optimistic about the direction of the program, but given the last decade I just can’t see how a network would be convinced we are a good buy.

We‘ll see I guess.

Yeah that "strong indication" language is just my memory being flawed. At the time I thought it was pretty clear.

 

[CL82]

https://twitter.com/mrrickjunior/status/1670436052186673152

Your mark indicated that Connecticut would be treated "as a P5 edition" for the purposes of the contract.

 

[Jbirdp5]

In the spirit of turnabout is fair play, you seem to be going out of your way to try to pour cold water on the idea of a move to the B-12.

Even if things end up as that that tweet suggests. If we (as a G-5) are added, ESPN kicks in their 63% at full value and Fox decides to pay 75 cents on the dollar for their 37%, it still gives us 91% of what other B-12 schools are receiving for media rights, which by the way is substantially more than what we would be receiving from the BE.

An additional point, if the BE is as strong and respected a conference as you (and others) claim, how would Fox be able to justify calling us a G5 school?

I’m not making a claim in any direction I’m just saying what’s out there. My point was if we are looked at by the networks as G5 then the university presidents probably do not vote us through as they would be giving up some of their share.
The big east is respected as a basketball conference on par with any. The payouts are from football.
So in football we are group of 5 basketball we are a power conference.

 

[Jbirdp5]

View attachment 89044

https://twitter.com/mrrickjunior/status/1670436052186673152

Your mark indicated that Connecticut would be treated "as a P5 edition" for the purposes of the contract.

I don’t see UConn mentioned in the tweet you added.
I personally have seen people reporting on both sides. Some have claimed we would qualify for the full share and some have said we wouldn’t. But the answer to that question is probably the answer to whether we get the invite or not.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I’m not making a claim in any direction I’m just saying what’s out there. My point was if we are looked at by the networks as G5 then the university presidents probably do not vote us through as they would be giving up some of their share.
The big east is respected as a basketball conference on par with any. The payouts are from football.
So in football we are group of 5 basketball we are a power conference.

Not long ago you pointed out that it is too early to view USC & UCLA moving to the B1G as a success (when someone pointed out the travel they were taking on compared to what we would face in the B-12). The thread I most recently responded to was in response to your pointing out that Fox (slightly more than one third of the broadcast contract) wasn't necessarily on board with a full share to a G-5 member. In all candor,

I don't know how that part of it will shake out but regardless, it will still be more than a sufficient enough increase to justify the move. One thing that is obvious is that you feel so negative about the possibility of our moving to the B-12 that you feel it necessary to point out all possible pitfalls while ignoring any possible benefits.

I get it, you are too emotionally attached to our games with Seton Hall, Georgetown, Providence et al to look at this rationally. The good news for you is that it is still quite a longshot for us to get an invitation from the B-12.

 

[Zissou]

I’m not making a claim in any direction I’m just saying what’s out there. My point was if we are looked at by the networks as G5 then the university presidents probably do not vote us through as they would be giving up some of their share.
The big east is respected as a basketball conference on par with any. The payouts are from football.
So in football we are group of 5 basketball we are a power conference.

I actually think UConn is in a better position than being “G5”. UConn isn’t G5, it is independent.

 

[Jbirdp5]

Not long ago you pointed out that it is too early to view USC & UCLA moving to the B1G as a success (when someone pointed out the travel they were taking on compared to what we would face in the B-12). The thread I most recently responded to was in response to your pointing out that Fox (slightly more than one third of the broadcast contract) wasn't necessarily on board with a full share to a G-5 member. In all candor,

I don't know how that part of it will shake out but regardless, it will still be more than a sufficient enough increase to justify the move. One thing that is obvious is that you feel so negative about the possibility of our moving to the B-12 that you feel it necessary to point out all possible pitfalls while ignoring any possible benefits.

I get it, you are too emotionally attached to our games with Seton Hall, Georgetown, Providence et al to look at this rationally. The good news for you is that it is still quite a longshot for us to get an invitation from the B-12.

You make up this narrative of my opinion in your mind.
I said you can’t call usc and ucla a success because they haven’t made the move and been successful yet. If their play is not as good due to the constant travel would that have any effect on your opinion?
I know you love bringing up seton hall and providence as my reasons for wanting to stay, but my concern is constant travel having a negative impact on our ability to succeed at a high level. With zero road trips that would be easy without so much as a single travel partner in the league.
I’d jump at an acc or big ten invite.

 

[Jbirdp5]

I actually think UConn is in a better position than being “G5”. UConn isn’t G5, it is independent.

Fox and espn are the only 2 who have an opinion that counts on the matter. I’d agree we are in sort of a gray area as to what we are considered.

 

[CL82]

I don’t see UConn mentioned in the tweet you added.
I personally have seen people reporting on both sides. Some have claimed we would qualify for the full share and some have said we wouldn’t. But the answer to that question is probably the answer to whether we get the invite or not.

Yeah, it's somewhere on The Boneyard, because I read it here.

The post I put up was just to address the notion that ESPN had a greed to a pro rata share for P fives but fox has not.

 

[metsfan2323]

I actually think UConn is in a better position than being “G5”. UConn isn’t G5, it is independent.

The current TV money UConn receives for football is bottom of the barrel G5. I don't like it but that's what it is. It's a lousy deal.

 

[Jbirdp5]

Yeah, it's somewhere on The Boneyard, because I read it here.

The post I put up was just to address the notion that ESPN had a greed to a pro rata share for P fives but fox has not.

Saw that espn is 63% of the deal, fox is 37%. Espn hasn’t been kind to us in the past

 

[JeffConn]

The conference seeks agreement / negotiates with the network to plus up the compensation to UConn so that the rest aren’t diluted. The Network agrees if they see the value.

This may be the most important point. From media reports, the Big 12 basketball coaches want to add UConn, but the Big 12 more football-centric athletic departments currently don't see significant value in adding UConn (from a revenue or perceived quality of football perspective). The school presidents will probably not add a school unless such move is, at a minimum, revenue neutral for the existing schools at day one, and with the prospect of higher revenues in the future. UConn is probably only in the conversation because of its basketball teams and the Big 12 commissioner's stated objective to capitalize on his conference's basketball strength, and the potential to expand that strength into a national footprint (to generate more revenue for the schools). While not the driver like football, conference basketball telecasts and the NCAA Basketball Tournament are revenue generators, and with more consolidation of schools into the power conferences, the money will potentially flow moreso to the power conferences (that can leverage negotiating strength from both football and basketball) in the future.

There's also been media reports that when new schools join a conference, their share of revenue starts at a lower level and then increases over time in some type of stepped up formula. In order for something to happen, the starting amount of revenue initially shared with the new school might need to be the amount that keeps revenue neutral for the existing schools while covering the increased costs (for travel, etc.) for the new school and also increasing in a stepped fashion over time. Hopefully, such a mutually beneficial share amount exists for both sides because the networks are in control of how the revenue numbers are projected.

Simultaneously while the revenue numbers are looked at, media reports indicate some of the Big 12 schools have the same geographic and culture arguments against an invitation to UConn that have been discussed from UConn's perspective on this forum. But foremost, from each side's perspective, there must be a prospect for more increased revenue in the future.

 

[CL82]

Saw that espn is 63% of the deal, fox is 37%. Espn hasn’t been kind to us in the past

True, but with the Big East media contract coming up for renegotiation, Fox may see value in taking their highest value property out of that Conference and ESPN may see value in regaining control of our games.

 

[Blades]

True, but

Yeah, it's somewhere on The Boneyard, because I read it here.

Here's couple of tweets from a K-state writer/radio guy from awhile back on this stuff...

 

[Blades]

 

[CL82]

Here's couple of tweets from a K-state writer/radio guy from awhile back on this stuff...

Lol so someone actually did use the "strong indication" language.

 

[UCan3]

For many years we were kicked to the curb in this realignment in favor of schools like BC, Rutgers, Syracuse.

But, now frankly, most conferences would be lucky to have us right now. National champions in BB with a historic run in tourney, a respectable bowl and great game vs Marshall and nothing but sunny days on the horizon. Women’s basketball stands alone for perennial Final 8/4/NC.

When you look at the train wreck some of these teams we were passed over for - and what they have become (BC etc.) frankly the ACC or Big 12 would be fortunate to have us. We are growing in all the right ways and like Hurley said “better catch us now.”