ESPN / ACC deal... $17 mil / school

[whaler11]

Give me your prediction, then I will debate mine. At least mattp had the balls to actually declare that he believes UConn will end up in the Big 10.

I've predicted all along that FSU and Clemson won't go to the Big 12. I imagine that Louisville will.

I have no idea if the hoop schools bolt. I imagine that UConn will spend a few years in this new Big East minus Louisville but with the Catholics for hoops.

 

[Carl Spackler]

The only sources anywhere suggesting that basketball catholic schools are considering separating from the conference is unfounded internet message board rumor and speculation. It's not happening. College football is the primary market force in the intercollegiate sports world nationally. But in our neighborhood, the northeast corridor from Washington to Boston, the television markets are by far the biggest and most desireable in teh country - and this is the battle ground and college football and college basketball are both very important.

There's a reason why ESPN fills up the weeknights in the winter with 10-12 Big East college basketball games and not SEC games. ACC round ball programs not named Duke or UNC don't see a lot of air time either, although their planning on broadcasting more now, that they've got Duke, UNC, and now Syracuse to draw from teh northeast market - except none of them are actually local to the markets...... The big east still has UConn, St. John's, Villanova, now Temple, Georgetown....to draw television audiences on winter weeknights.

The big east basketball schools, through their direct ties with division 1-A football, have direct access to the money that division 1-A football brings. They are not willingly giving up access to that revenue, and in the northeast, after the creation of the YES network led the way....... the northeast, for a sports broadcasting company - college basketball is the way to fill up the winter weeknight primetime broadcasting slots......not college football....and that's what's most valueable to those kinds of broadcasting arragnements.....basketballl....now over college football.....because college basketball primetime fills up all those winter nights when there is no baseball.

College football belongs on fall saturdays, and the baseball carrying networks know it.

College football though, in 20 years has created a divide in athletic programs aroudn money that is enormous, and basketball can't close that gap alone.

Very interesting dynamic, very interesting times.

 

[UCFBfan]

The only sources anywhere suggesting that basketball catholic schools are considering separating from the conference is unfounded internet message board rumor and speculation. It's not happening. College football is the primary market force in the intercollegiate sports world nationally. But in our neighborhood, the northeast corridor from Washington to Boston, the television markets are by far the biggest and most desireable in teh country - and this is the battle ground and college football and college basketball are both very important.

There's a reason why ESPN fills up the weeknights in the winter with 10-12 Big East college basketball games and not SEC games. ACC round ball programs not named Duke or UNC don't see a lot of air time either, although their planning on broadcasting more now, that they've got Duke, UNC, and now Syracuse to draw from teh northeast market - except none of them are actually local to the markets...... The big east still has UConn, St. John's, Villanova, now Temple, Georgetown....to draw television audiences on winter weeknights.

The big east basketball schools, through their direct ties with division 1-A football, have direct access to the money that division 1-A football brings. They are not willingly giving up access to that revenue, and in the northeast, after the creation of the YES network led the way....... the northeast, for a sports broadcasting company - college basketball is the way to fill up the winter weeknight primetime broadcasting slots......not college football....and that's what's most valueable to those kinds of broadcasting arragnements.....basketballl....now over college football.....because college basketball primetime fills up all those winter nights when there is no baseball.

College football belongs on fall saturdays, and the baseball carrying networks know it.

College football though, in 20 years has created a divide in athletic programs aroudn money that is enormous, and basketball can't close that gap alone.

Very interesting dynamic, very interesting times.

Well said and it's true that SNY, YES, and NESN fill their winter programming with College bball. However, football still is the driving force and while ESPN won't abandon the Northeast Corridor, they won't be pining to pony up to keep it either. The NBE is getting further and further away from the North East. How much will this really play a role for them? Would they be willing or able to do a bball only type of TV deal? Will the Big East hold strong enough to make ESPN have to pay dearly in order to keep Big East basketball. Hell, is BE basketball even that big of a draw anymore now that Syracuse, Pitt, and possibly Louisville aren't in it anymore? I don't know....these are tough times coming up. It's crazy that THIS is what is taking up all the headlines of college football....not the actual game or players.

 

[CL82]

They're just trying to steal the thunder from the UConn women's SNY coup.

Nice try, Swofford. Nice try.

Hah, where is your ACC woman's basketball coverage Swofford? Where?
Bwahaha

 

[Jericho]

The first we heard that Pitt and Syracuse were leaving was a Raleigh radio station a week before they bolted, and no one believed it. The difference between UConn and FSU in this situation is that we have been begging anyone who will listen fro 8 months. That said, I have always stated that the Big 12 is the ONLY league that would take FSU. The SEC and Big 10 are never inviting FSU. I believe the rumors that FSU reached out to the SEC a year ago and was politely declined.

Which brings up a very simple and interesting question. If the rumors of Syracuse's departure cropped up within a week of them leving, why is that the FSU reumors have lingered for months without and really credible sources picking up on them? It's one thing to a miss a story that breaks in a few days. But sit on one that's out there for weeks? The media ate up the Missouri/A&M shenanigans and the potential UT to the Pac-10 move.

I still maintain that no move could even be evaluated until the ACC and Big 12 worked out new deals and the new NBC system was determined. We're a lot closer to those events actually happening, but the rumors have been around forever. Doesn't make them seem particularly credible.

 

[freescooter]

Looks like a kind of crappy deal to me...certainly not what I thought they were expecting. if the Big east gets something fairly close, I could imagine very close, the question would have to be what was the big deal about? I don't think BC-Syracuse on thanksgiving Friday is that bad a deal, though. Nice way to end the season...with Texas-A&M and a few others going away it isn't a bad thing to be the tureky weekend game, as long as it isn't Thursday morning! I wish UCONN-Rutgers (and note it isn't that weekend again this year!!! doesn anyone in this friggin' confernece get the concept of rivalries????) could be a feature game on that day or on Saturday of that week I wouldn't mind.

 

[freescooter]

And as an aside, can someone tell me why anyone actually cares whether Clemson stays or goes? If there was an award for underperformance over the last quarter century, clemson would be right in the running...Florida State I get...Don't believe all the nonsense about how good they are, but I get the concept. But Clemson...you could plug any one of 20 teams in and they'd perform as well as Clemson

 

[junglehusky]

I think the reason Clemson was being mentioned was purely because they are more of a football culture, less of a bball school, which matches FSU's supposed distaste for the bball centric direction the ACC was moving in with SyraPitt (and possibly UConn).

 

[CTMike]

- $17 mil per school isn't bad.
- Can the NNBE (if it makes it that far) meet or exceed that number? (allowing for whatever variences due to the hoops onlies)
- Is it better to be featured at the optimum football timeslots on NBC or Fox Sports (but it's NBC or Fox Sports)... or sub-optimal football timeslots on the worldwide leader? (Big Fish/Small Pond or vice versa).

 

[ConnHuskBask]

- $17 mil per school isn't bad.
- Can the NNBE (if it makes it that far) meet or exceed that number? (allowing for whatever variences due to the hoops onlies)
- Is it better to be featured at the optimum football timeslots on NBC or Fox Sports (but it's NBC or Fox Sports)... or sub-optimal football timeslots on the worldwide leader? (Big Fish/Small Pond or vice versa).

The thing that really worries me about being on NBC and not ESPN isn't the time slot, but the fact that ESPN completely and totally shapes public perception on sports. Nowhere does that perception play a bigger role than in college football.

If we have been ragged on for years as the worst conference ( even though we've been better than the ACC ) as a product of ESPN, I really shudder to think what happens when our games are no longer on the station. Big East Football would be lucky to get a 20 second highlight clip and extra lucky if the game wasn't made fun of for the duration of the clip.

 

[RS9999X]

If UConn was locked into this contract we'd be ecstatic. Give the ACC credit: they've taken a mediocre regional football product and gotten top dollar for it.

They need to change the song lyrics:

They call Alabama the Crimson tide....Call me Husky Blues

The bad part: it feeds the Flippers' and their egos and tells them that the on field product can suck with impunity. Pitt is gloating. SU is ready to hire back Greg Robinson. Sucking is in.

#Suck Harder

 

[RS9999X]

- $17 mil per school isn't bad.
- Can the NNBE (if it makes it that far) meet or exceed that number? (allowing for whatever variences due to the hoops onlies)
- Is it better to be featured at the optimum football timeslots on NBC or Fox Sports (but it's NBC or Fox Sports)... or sub-optimal football timeslots on the worldwide leader? (Big Fish/Small Pond or vice versa).

Did you see the UConn Women's $1.1 mil a year from SNY? How much more do you think they will pay for UConn men?

 

[UCFBfan]

If we have been ragged on for years as the worst conference ( even though we've been better than the ACC ) as a product of ESPN, I really shudder to think what happens when our games are no longer on the station. Big East Football would be lucky to get a 20 second highlight clip and extra lucky if the game wasn't made fun of for the duration of the clip.

This is going to happen even if the new deal is with ESPN. Look at the current situation. Last year College GameDay spent all of 5 minutes a weekend talking about a Big East game and that was usually a WVU game. Hell, even when they came to Morgantown they spent more time talking about Syracuse and Pitt leaving instead of WVU and the game. ESPN already has determined that they will never cover a Big East game the way they get on their knees for the ACC, B1G, Big12, Pac12, and SEC. So in the end, does it matter? I'd love for ESPN to give more credit to the Big East but have we even earned that....?? We haven't had a school go to the BCS with double digit wins in three years. I just don't see them caring about the Big East even if we stay with ESPN.....