Fox - Big East exclusive negotiating window

[How Sway?!]

I don't but considering Fox has the B12 coming on board the same season that our negotiation ends I can't imagine the BE valuation in their eyes would grow as much as it should

The big 12 is making up the hole the PAC 12 is leaving. They still need the big east content

 

[Luna]

View attachment 97685

This is great news to me.. I thought FOX had filled up their content with the big10 and big 12 contracts and that Fox was playing hardball with the big east since the big east is two weeks away from going into the open market without a deal

 

[Drew]

I actually was thinking it would impact UConn the most. Purely anecdotal but it feels like Peacock has been getting a lot of Purdue MBB and Iowa WBB to bring more viewers to the service, but I could be totally wrong.

Yeah… it very well could impact us greatly. Its impossible to know anything for sure without knowing what the deal looks like… a lot will depend on how many games FOX keeps in their inventory IMO… if they slash it in half for instance streaming may wind up with a much larger inventory than I’m thinking now.

Based on the report from Ourand.. it sounds to me like the “third package” is all of the crappy non-conference games plus lower end conference games (think DePaul v Buter or something like that) with the FOX/CBS packages being split somewhat evenly. I imagine FOX feels some loyalty to the BE because they signed with them in 2014 but that doesn’t mean they’ll overpay or overcommit coverage to the league. We’ll see what happens.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

This is great news to me.. I thought FOX had filled up their content with the big10 and big 12 contracts and that Fox was playing hardball with the big east since the big east is two weeks away from going into the open market without a deal

There is a sizable component of UConn football fans that want the annihilation of UConn’s athletic program because it joined the Big East.

 

[UConnJim]

I don't but considering Fox has the B12 coming on board the same season that our negotiation ends I can't imagine the BE valuation in their eyes would grow as much as it should

This issue has been laid out before. FOX really didn't increase their basketball content with their new contracts, gain some there, lose some there. But, losing the Big East would create a massive hole in their college basketball content as FOX covers over 120 games. And, they only potentially have one conference tournament for the foreseeable future, the Big East as they do not have rights for the Big 12 or Big 10 conference tournaments. I think what many people miss is that the BTN, SECN, and ACCN consume by far most of those conferences basketball content which is why the Big East is valuable to FOX as they offer a lot of content for FS1 and FS2. This is also why people can't compare the ratings of the entire Big East conference slate of basketball games on the FOX networks vs a small subset of the Big 10 games on the FOX networks.

 

[Storrs South]

Yeah… it very well could impact us greatly. Its impossible to know anything for sure without knowing what the deal looks like… a lot will depend on how many games FOX keeps in their inventory IMO… if they slash it in half for instance streaming may wind up with a much larger inventory than I’m thinking now.

Based on the report from Ourand.. it sounds to me like the “third package” is all of the crappy non-conference games plus lower end conference games (think DePaul v Buter or something like that) with the FOX/CBS packages being split somewhat evenly. I imagine FOX feels some loyalty to the BE because they signed with them in 2014 but that doesn’t mean they’ll overpay or overcommit coverage to the league. We’ll see what happens.

Ah that makes sense. Ourand goes out of his way to mention FOX has loyalty to Big East and one of the best relationships with Big East execs so it really could be just the bad games rather than the good which would be pretty big.

 

[Drew]

Ah that makes sense. Ourand goes out of his way to mention FOX has loyalty to Big East and one of the best relationships with Big East execs so it really could be just the bad games rather than the good which would be pretty big.

Yup… and there’s a bunch of nuance to it obviously too. Peacock isn’t going to sign up to only stream Jackson State @ Seton Hall or whatever. They only do that so they can also stream UConn v Villanova. So there’s give and take. You just hope the give is less than the take in this scenario

Frankly- FOX re-upping with a reduced commitment makes a ton of sense. Big East conference v conference games average ~211k viewers on FS1. FOX could easily have filled that inventory with B1G womens hoops, mens hoops, etc. I hope if they get a more selective inventory of games and averages go up that they’ll keep them around after the next deal ends. Will be curious if the Big East follows the other leagues with a shorter deal between 4-6 years or if they look for some more long term security (while likely sacrificing money).

 

[Husky92]

There is a sizable component of UConn football fans that want the annihilation of UConn’s athletic program because it joined the Big East.

Why do you keep posting this crap? I have yet to meet a football fan who doesn’t love all UConn sports. Most of us were surprised by the BE move, but it’s not like the AAC was helping us. What we want is a real conference that supports ALL our sports.

 

[Exit 4]

Yup… and there’s a bunch of nuance to it obviously too. Peacock isn’t going to sign up to only stream Jackson State @ Seton Hall or whatever. They only do that so they can also stream UConn v Villanova. So there’s give and take. You just hope the give is less than the take in this scenario

Frankly- FOX re-upping with a reduced commitment makes a ton of sense. Big East conference v conference games average ~211k viewers on FS1. FOX could easily have filled that inventory with B1G womens hoops, mens hoops, etc. I hope if they get a more selective inventory of games and averages go up that they’ll keep them around after the next deal ends. Will be curious if the Big East follows the other leagues with a shorter deal between 4-6 years or if they look for some more long term security (while likely sacrificing money).

Feels like a 5 year offer might be the game here...line things up with what will probably be another exciting round of CRA at the end of the decade.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Why do you keep posting this crap? I have yet to meet a football fan who doesn’t love all UConn sports. Most of us were surprised by the BE move, but it’s not like the AAC was helping us. What we want is a real conference that supports ALL our sports.

I will rephrase. There is a small, very active posting component of UConn football fans on this board that seem to root for the annihilation of the UConn athletic program because it joined the Big East.

 

[Slasher]

It'll be interesting to see who this 3rd party is and assuming it's a streamer -- which one. Fox doesn't have a sports streaming service. Apple hasn't been overly successful. Peacock is NBC owned and probably feels good about their content with Big 10. Might ESPN be in play for those tier 3 rights? There's a ton of stuff on ESPN+ already but rumors are they'll be raising the price soon. Paramount Plus may be a likely option as well since that's CBS owned and they have some sports there (mainly soccer.)

 

[CashewCrew]

I will rephrase. There is a small, very active posting component of UConn football fans on this board that seem to root for the annihilation of the UConn athletic program because it joined the Big East.

No there isn’t

 

[Drew]

Feels like a 5 year offer might be the game here...line things up with what will probably be another exciting round of CRA at the end of the decade.

I would tend to agree.

In today’s media landscape and with added teams going to the B1G in the next TV deal, I can’t envision FOX wanting to do anything more than 5 years either. Win for everyone involved.

 

[UConn Dan]

And now that the MSG deal has been extended we should hear about the TV deal shortly

 

[billybud]

Sankey is the Borg...after destroying football, basketball could be his next target.

In a recent phone interview, Sankey acknowledged the tournament is one of the few things that bonds the disparate world of Division I together. "Nothing remains static," he told ESPN. "I think we have to think about the dynamics around Division I and the tournament."

He added that recent runs by UCLA from the First Four to the Final Four in 2021 and Syracuse's run to the round of 16 beginning with a play-in game in Dayton in 2018 show the caliber of power-conference teams on the fringe of the NCAA tournament.

"That just tells you that the bandwidth inside the top 50 is highly competitive," Sankey said. "We are giving away highly competitive opportunities for automatic qualifiers [from smaller leagues], and I think that pressure is going to rise as we have more competitive basketball leagues at the top end because of expansion."

 

[UConnJim]

Sankey is the Borg...after destroying football, basketball could be his next target.

In a recent phone interview, Sankey acknowledged the tournament is one of the few things that bonds the disparate world of Division I together. "Nothing remains static," he told ESPN. "I think we have to think about the dynamics around Division I and the tournament."

He added that recent runs by UCLA from the First Four to the Final Four in 2021 and Syracuse's run to the round of 16 beginning with a play-in game in Dayton in 2018 show the caliber of power-conference teams on the fringe of the NCAA tournament.

"That just tells you that the bandwidth inside the top 50 is highly competitive," Sankey said. "We are giving away highly competitive opportunities for automatic qualifiers [from smaller leagues], and I think that pressure is going to rise as we have more competitive basketball leagues at the top end because of expansion."

He's not wrong about the major conferences. They have expanded and some of the conferences probably deserve more bids. I think he is pushing for expansion by talking about the small conferences' auto bids to get more people on his side.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Sankey is the Borg...after destroying football, basketball could be his next target.

In a recent phone interview, Sankey acknowledged the tournament is one of the few things that bonds the disparate world of Division I together. "Nothing remains static," he told ESPN. "I think we have to think about the dynamics around Division I and the tournament."

He added that recent runs by UCLA from the First Four to the Final Four in 2021 and Syracuse's run to the round of 16 beginning with a play-in game in Dayton in 2018 show the caliber of power-conference teams on the fringe of the NCAA tournament.

"That just tells you that the bandwidth inside the top 50 is highly competitive," Sankey said. "We are giving away highly competitive opportunities for automatic qualifiers [from smaller leagues], and I think that pressure is going to rise as we have more competitive basketball leagues at the top end because of expansion."

This is the stuff that pisses me off beyond end.

When they first moved beyond 64 (when the 16 member WAC split into the WAC & Mountain West) the reasoning was that they couldn't take away any automatic bids from a lesser conference. Obviously the idea of taking away an at large, that almost assuredly would go to a member of a power conference was never a possibility.

The play-in games that they've refused to call play-in games deprive some schools of the actual experience, which is entirely bullspit. The champion of the Big Sky, the MEAC, etc should be part of the 64 team field that begins play on the Thursday after selections Sunday. That school did everything it was required to do (win it's confreence's autobid) while being afforded one opportunity. The last school from one of the power conferences to receive an at large bid had countless opportunities to earn its way into the field and failed nearly all of them. If one of those schools still needs the opportunity to be part of the NCAA tournament, they should be playing in Dayton against a school with a similar claim. Yes, they did a (surprinsingly) good thing when they went to four of these games by having the final at large teams participate in two of them but they really should have the final eight at large do this. They also should have only at large bids play these games once they expand.

I know an eleven seed from the SEC or B-12 will more likley make it through a few rounds than the one representative of any of the bottome five or six conferences. That isn't the point. Abelene Christian, Coppin St, Mercer, Valparaiso, Oral Roberts, Richmond, Hampton, Norfolk St, St Peters, Cleveland St, Middle Tennessee, Fairleigh Dickenson and UMBC are as much of the fabric of this tournament as shots by Laetner or Suggs.

 

[WestCoastHusky]

Sankey is the Borg...after destroying football, basketball could be his next target.

In a recent phone interview, Sankey acknowledged the tournament is one of the few things that bonds the disparate world of Division I together. "Nothing remains static," he told ESPN. "I think we have to think about the dynamics around Division I and the tournament."

He added that recent runs by UCLA from the First Four to the Final Four in 2021 and Syracuse's run to the round of 16 beginning with a play-in game in Dayton in 2018 show the caliber of power-conference teams on the fringe of the NCAA tournament.

"That just tells you that the bandwidth inside the top 50 is highly competitive," Sankey said. "We are giving away highly competitive opportunities for automatic qualifiers [from smaller leagues], and I think that pressure is going to rise as we have more competitive basketball leagues at the top end because of expansion."

Sankey wants to take away the one thing that makes March Madness special. Many people watch because they want to see Cinderellas take out giants, and it has happened countless times throughout the history of the tournament.

If he gets his way, he will kill March too just like SEC and B1G are doing to college football.

 

[UConnJim]

Sankey wants to take away the one thing that makes March Madness special. Many people watch because they want to see Cinderellas take out giants, and it has happened countless times throughout the history of the tournament.

If he gets his way, he will kill March too just like SEC and B1G are doing to college football.

The P2 can dictate college football, but not college basketball. There are too many schools involved in the NCAA basketball tournament and the real power brokers in college basketball are the networks and they want the current format to continue. That said, there will probably be tournament expansion.

BTW, the last P2 school to win the NCAA championship was Kentucky in 2012.

 

[billybud]

BB finals viewing....also highest viewed games last year...

NCAA men's title game hits record-low, still tops hoops charts

One day after the women's tournament finished with a record-high, ratings hit a record-low for the NCAA men's basketball tournament final.

www.sportsmediawatch.com

 

[superjohn]

The P2 can dictate college football, but not college basketball. There are too many schools involved in the NCAA basketball tournament and the real power brokers in college basketball are the networks and they want the current format to continue. That said, there will probably be tournament expansion.

BTW, the last P2 school to win the NCAA championship was Kentucky in 2012.

Bingo. I don't know why everyone doesn't understand this.

 

[superjohn]

It looks like views are waning...

NCAA men's title game hits record-low, still tops hoops charts

One day after the women's tournament finished with a record-high, ratings hit a record-low for the NCAA men's basketball tournament final.

www.sportsmediawatch.com

Cool.

You should see the recent NBA finals ratings.

 

[billybud]

I edited...the "waning" is a recent phenom and may not persist...

Big names and big brands bring watchers...UConn vs UNC would be huge,,,

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Super Conferrnces may be new to football. It the Old Big East had 16 teams
in 2011 they got 10 bids
and racked up 25 Units which is still a record
With the demise of the PAC . i suspect the expanded P conferences will pick up a bid or two as no auto bids have been added these Bids will by default go to power conferences
These major Conferences guys are long on BS short on facts
PAC Bids

2023	4
2022	3
2021	5
2019	3
2018	3
2017	4
2016	7

 

[billybud]

2011 wasn't the earner for the Big East that it could have been...the conference got in a lot of teams (11)... but 2009 was the year that the BE earned 24 Units.

2011
"The conference that placed a record 11 teams into the 64-team field ended up with only two -- Marquette and UConn -- among the last 16."

The ACC holds the current record of 25 units....according to my search....2016