FYI - A bunch of smoke over at the Oklahoma CR Board

[Hoophound]

None of that is true. UConn's problem is not selling tickets. It's being in the AAC and being horrible for 4 straight seasons. You can't generate ticket sales for that crap anywhere. Further, give us P5 revenue and then look at our AD. With major conference revenue we are in great shape --better than half of p5 schools and that's with a 40k football stadium (which is expandable)

If anyone wants to knock us they should say, "I don't think they can get the players to win because they don't have strong, natural recruiting grounds". That's the biggest challenge we'd face. That guy's opinion is just a conclusion he reached by reading message boards and buying the bs about UConn losing money on the Fiesta Bowl. We lost money because our conference didn't pay us back like theirs did.

Our bowl team didn't anyone, we were 8-4. What do you expect? It could happen in any conference if everyone is down in a given year. We won the conference despite being an average BCS football team, but it's not like we scammed anyone. We were 8-4. 10-2 P5 teams have taken much worse beatings in major bowls. We weren't a fraud, we were just the tallest midget that year.

 

[whaler11]

The subsidy really is ugly but it doesn't come from the state.

In our defense the Pitt team that got buried by Utah was worse.

 

[Sportsman5]

from the OU board, view on UConn:

"UConn has been measured and weighed by conferences and TV partners.
Academics are what is likely going to prevent you from ever Joining the B1G. A great football program (OU/Nebraska) can overcome this. But a great BB/WBB can't.
Finances- You get nearly 1/3 of your AD budget as a subsidy becasue you lack things like ticket sales to help support the AD. Once Connecticut pisses off ESPN and others by cutting tax breaks they will be gone and at some point the state won't keep pumping 30 million a year to support the AD in the AAC.
The TV market argument is worthless as it pertains to football. The UConn/Memphis game last year had a 0.0 TV rating. UConn football does not bring any TV market. There are millions of people in and around Connecticut but unfortunately few are college football fans.
Fan base-Fans are the real reason UConn is where it is. Fans simply don't care about football. This is why you played FCS ball until the 90's. This is also why you currently play games in a half full stadium owned by the state an hour from campus. Even games in the teens and 20's regularly. That's not p-5 support.
Your past success in football consist of a 4 loss co-championship from the Big East where you are arguably the worst team to ever play in a BCS game. Hardly impressive."


Kind of sobering to be honest. Still think we're a good fit for B1G or ACC and while I'd rather be B1G I think our profile as a school is more ACC like

By academics i'm assuming he means aau, but we know that AAU is not a requirement and we are better academically than most BIG10 schools

We will continue to support the AD as long as the basketball programs remain on a national stage because it is a marketing expense

He doesn't understand how TV markets are valued by the BIG and once we are in a pay for content stage (which is close) basketball in connecticut can be as valuable as football in Oklahoma. In fact UConn fans would most likely pay more money because the fan base for mens basketball, womens basketball, and football vary and each would pay $100+ per year for access to their sports content. A large portion of the state cold even afford to pay a few hundred per year for UConn sports content.

Again, he doesn't understand the model for BIG revenue by saying we don't have enough uconn football fans and also doesn't have accurate attendance numbers especially for games against P5 competition

 

[Fishy]

from the OU board, view on UConn:


Kind of sobering to be honest. Still think we're a good fit for B1G or ACC and while I'd rather be B1G I think our profile as a school is more ACC like

Are you stupid?

Serious question.

 

[Fishy]

The subsidy really is ugly but it doesn't come from the state.

In our defense the Pitt team that got buried by Utah was worse.

Here's what the subsidy is....

Take nearly every P5 school and replace the television money they're getting and have gotten over the years and it them with the money we've gotten and currently get.

There's your subsidy right there.

 

[housekeys]

screw him, what does he know?

LOL. Well, he seems to know that if UConn pisses off ESPN, we will be in trouble. You can't get a more astute observation than that, can you? Good thing ESPN has our back.

 

[itgoeslike]

from the OU board, view on UConn:

"UConn has been measured and weighed by conferences and TV partners.
Academics are what is likely going to prevent you from ever Joining the B1G. A great football program (OU/Nebraska) can overcome this. But a great BB/WBB can't.
Finances- You get nearly 1/3 of your AD budget as a subsidy becasue you lack things like ticket sales to help support the AD. Once Connecticut pisses off ESPN and others by cutting tax breaks they will be gone and at some point the state won't keep pumping 30 million a year to support the AD in the AAC.
The TV market argument is worthless as it pertains to football. The UConn/Memphis game last year had a 0.0 TV rating. UConn football does not bring any TV market. There are millions of people in and around Connecticut but unfortunately few are college football fans.
Fan base-Fans are the real reason UConn is where it is. Fans simply don't care about football. This is why you played FCS ball until the 90's. This is also why you currently play games in a half full stadium owned by the state an hour from campus. Even games in the teens and 20's regularly. That's not p-5 support.
Your past success in football consist of a 4 loss co-championship from the Big East where you are arguably the worst team to ever play in a BCS game. Hardly impressive."


Kind of sobering to be honest. Still think we're a good fit for B1G or ACC and while I'd rather be B1G I think our profile as a school is more ACC like

That post is riddled with inaccuracies and cherry-picked data. As an FBS program, UConn accomplished more in its first decade than a quarter of P5 teams have in the last 25 years. In 2009, UConn averaged higher attendance than both Louisville and TCU. To their credit, they got busy. UConn, unfortunately, had a leadership team in flux and adrift, at the worst possible time. UConn is back on track and excelling on many fronts, albeit still digging out of a football hole. The guy who posted on the OK board doesn't know his ass from his elbow. Wouldn't surprise me if it was Okielite.

 

[whaler11]

Here's what the subsidy is....

Take nearly every P5 school and replace the television money they're getting and have gotten over the years and it them with the money we've gotten and currently get.

There's your subsidy right there.

Yes I know on paper you can fill most of the gap with Wake's television money.

I also know that the financial support and attendance from UConn's fan base lags behind the on field/court results.

A good amount of that post is nonsense - right or wrong the optics of the subsidy are bad.

 

[noeynox]

A couple of years ago, Rutgers subsidy was twice ours.

Our biggest problem is the football has become unwatchable. The games last year were worse than watching paint dry. I know you get this because like me you have found that you cannot give the tickets away. We were awful, but worse we are just incredibly boring while being awful.

You have to be a die hard to sit through that.

 

[Fishy]

You can't be an ambitious G5 program and not have the "optics" of a subsidy.

 

[CTMike]

We can talk amongst ourselves that the post is off base... What's UConn doing to change perceptions amongst folks that matter...?

 

[noeynox]

We can talk amongst ourselves that the post is off base... What's UConn doing to change perceptions amongst folks that matter...?

To me that subsidy just shows UConn is committed to competing at the highest level, so while I could understand the "bad optics" viewpoint, the good optics are MSG during our game against Michigan State with spot in the FF on the line and sheer volume of athletic achievements and for those that care about that kind of stuff, the number of players were putting into the NFL and NBA since those things seem to matter to "fans" of other schools.

As to what UConn is doing behind the scenes, well who knows, but I bet/hope their just not sitting by the phone.

 

[specialisthusky]

It was okielite. I don't think anyone that has spent 5 minutes on a message board takes thay guy seriously. His comments are not the general consensus of other fanbases.

We need to start winning so the knuckleheads like him will have far less material to work with - and so I can enjoy actually going inside the Rent again.

 

[whaler11]

You can't be an ambitious G5 program and not have the "optics" of a subsidy.

Are the optics of empty seats a requirement as well? Or do we need to pretend the attendance isn't embarrassing at times?

Conspiracy theories and excuses. That's what Connecticut does.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

It was okielite. I don't think anyone that has spent 5 minutes on a message board takes thay guy seriously. His comments are not the general consensus of other fanbases.

We need to start winning so the knuckleheads like him will have far less material to work with - and so I can enjoy actually going inside the Rent again.

What started the vitriol on TOS with someone from OK?

 

[noeynox]

Are the optics of empty seats a requirement as well? Or do we need to pretend the attendance isn't embarrassing at times?

Conspiracy theories and excuses. That's what Connecticut does.

Eh, are the empty seats at Pitt FB games or Miami better optics? My point is there is always a moving line in the sand when it comes to UConn. We have a better market then Louisville, the argument was they genrate more revenue and have better football, The argument in favor of RU was better market even though their subsidy was more than twice ours when they went to the BiG.

The attendance at the FB games the past couple of years has been deplorable but this where the administration at UConn has to look in the mirror. The powers that be signed off on the PP hire, I don't want to be too critical of the Diaco hire, but the early returns aren't good, and a lot of it are comments like after the BYU game and game planning that totally shuts down a passing game like USF. Unless people are invested like us boneyarders are, people are not going to sit through that. Call it an excuse, but they have to give people a reason to show up. I hope to hell it starts this year, in game one against Villanova. Lose that game and oh my, when it comes to attendance.

 

[whaler11]

Eh, are the empty seats at Pitt FB games or Miami better optics? My point is there is always a moving line in the sand when it comes to UConn. We have a better market then Louisville, the argument was they genrate more revenue and have better football, The argument in favor of RU was better market even though their subsidy was more than twice ours when they went to the BiG.

The attendance at the FB games the past couple of years has been deplorable but this where the administration at UConn has to look in the mirror. The powers that be signed off on the PP hire, I don't want to be too critical of the Diaco hire, but the early returns aren't good, and a lot of it are comments like after the BYU game and game planning that totally shuts down a passing game like USF. Unless people are invested like us boneyarders are, people are not going to sit through that. Call it an excuse, but they have to give people a reason to show up. I hope to hell it starts this year, in game one against Villanova. Lose that game and oh my, when it comes to attendance.

Of course they have weak attendance. Right or wrong they are over the line right now.

If you are an Oklahoma fan and considering who you'd like to add I think it's fair to consider our fanbase small and less than passionate.

 

[noeynox]

Of course they have weak attendance. Right or wrong they are over the line right now.

If you are an Oklahoma fan and considering who you'd like to add I think it's fair to consider our fanbase small and less than passionate.

If that's the metric, you have byu and no one else to consider because the fan bases of all the other candidates suck at attendance when their product sucks. Cincinnati, UCF, Memphis, Houston, take your pick and look at their attendance during down years.

 

[06029]

Say what you like about our markets, they're bigger than Oklahoma's markets.

But what share/total eyeballs watch Uconn versus OK? Both on a local and national basis? I think they get more total eyeballs than Uconn on a consistent basis. And that is what he probably means.

 

[whaler11]

If that's the metric, you have byu and no one else to consider because the fan bases of all the other candidates suck at attendance when their product sucks. Cincinnati, UCF, Memphis, Houston, take your pick and look at their attendance during down years.

Well of course it's not the only metric and it's just the opinion of some.

I'll believe they'll invite an AAC team when I see it. I don't think any of them add much for the conference.

 

[06029]

We can talk amongst ourselves that the post is off base... What's UConn doing to change perceptions amongst folks that matter...?

This is the key. The people that make decisions have all of the numbers when it comes to TV and when Uconn is equivalent to other teams in terms of TV (see Pitt and Lville), they come up on the short end so far because of other factors and perceptions. What is Uconn doing to change their mind? What are they doing to overcome the weaknesses? I doubt any of that is or will be public. Besides creating a one sided rivalry game.

 

[noeynox]

Well of course it's not the only metric and it's just the opinion of some.

I'll believe they'll invite an AAC team when I see it. I don't think any of them add much for the conference.

With the trend of ESPN (and by default, I'm sure others) wanting to spend less, there is zero reason for any conference to add anyone. The Big 12 may add some as a result of some infighting of cock measuring proportions. They may be sending out the only life rafts going out for quite some time. If we don't get one, it may be game, set, and match for us. It has been almost three years since the last raft went out. I know we are a longshot, but so was Louisville to the ACC at one point. Whatever the negative narrative out there I hope to hell were trying to change it behind the scenes, not sitting back conceding that anyone else is a "better fit".

 

[Jimdish255]

A bad football team sold plenty of tickets vs Iowa State, Maryland and Michigan. What league are those guys in?

 

[CTGoonie]

We should remind him that RGIII said the loudest place he played was not anywhere in Texas or Oklahoma. Also, the Rent is not an hour away from campus. On a good day you can go on 44 and 384 and get there in 20 minutes.

 

[pj]

But what share/total eyeballs watch Uconn versus OK? Both on a local and national basis? I think they get more total eyeballs than Uconn on a consistent basis. And that is what he probably means.

Yes, and for advertising based TV, eyeballs are what matter. But for cable networks, household subscribers matter, and a higher fraction of Connecticut households will pay for cable than Oklahoma households. Even including a national audience, it's possible UConn might bring more to a cable network than Oklahoma. (Not saying it's so, but it's possible.)

The trouble is the B12 is a long way from having a conference network.