Interesting round table article

[WestHartHusk]

We have to be Texas of the NBE

That is fine, but who is OK, OK State, KU, KState, WVU or even Baylor or Tech for that matter?

 

[pj]

I think the "Texas of the NBE" observation is correct and it means that, in addition to dominating the league in the field of play, we have to create a market for our media rights independent of the league contract. It doesn't need to be anything as expansive as the Longhorn network but it needs to be distinct and capable of proving that we have value and draw an audience.

I hope Susan Herbst and Warde Manuel didn't abdicate their governance role and let Aresco give all UConn's media rights to the NBE and ESPN for a song. If UConn retains a significant share of its media rights, we can work out deals with SNY etc and build up a NE-NY audience for the school.

 

[noeynox]

That is fine, but who is OK, OK State, KU, KState, WVU or even Baylor or Tech for that matter?

Yeah, I'm tired of that argument myself. The cherry on a sundae. Its not like we have a choice. I REALLY worry about how we are going to recruit to this football conference Long Term.

Once the exit fees are settled we will have a couple of years to work our way out of this mess.

 

[huskypantz]

Frank doesn't pretend to know things he doesn't know. I find his positions to be logical and well explained but I know others disagree around here.

I think there are a few posters that disagree with him because they enjoy arguing on a message board. And the rest who disagree just don't like what he says about UConn. His analysis is generally well-structured and includes relevant data and/or insight from research done by conferences/institutions.

 

[Durks07]

If NBC was willing to put games on the network on Saturday's they would have bid enough to get the rights. They were never going to do that. They never had any interest - their bid proves it.

I have no idea what your point is. ESPN didn't take the league to block out a competitor. They took the rights to have more content for ESPN3 and make that property more valuable.

NBC Sports is a joke. ESPN doesn't make any decisions relative to them.

NBC bid enough to get the league. ESPN matched the offer. No other lleague wanted the Big East. NBC was not going to bid against themselves. They went bargain hunting. The Big East is better than the alternative (nhra racing). The only thing the offer proves is how little value the Big East has. This is confirmed by the fact that no one else wanted the Big East. If NBC didn't have any interest they wouldn't have made an offer at all.

ESPN had no incentive to match the offer other than to make sure the viewers who would choose Big East games had to watch ESPN. If improving the value of ESPN3 is the point it makes more sense to air worthwhile games on it. That way people would have to go to it to watch a good game. People are not going to ESPN3 to watch tulane play ecu unless they are fans of the teams. For a low price, ESPN got to shrink the viewer options in the viewer place. Simply because NBC is a joke doesn't change the fact that they presented an alternative for viewers to choose from. Now they are completely shut out.

 

[whaler11]

NBC bid enough to get the league. ESPN matched the offer. No other lleague wanted the Big East. NBC was not going to bid against themselves. They went bargain hunting. The Big East is better than the alternative (nhra racing). The only thing the offer proves is how little value the Big East has. This is confirmed by the fact that no one else wanted the Big East. If NBC didn't have any interest they wouldn't have made an offer at all.

ESPN had no incentive to match the offer other than to make sure the viewers who would choose Big East games had to watch ESPN. If improving the value of ESPN3 is the point it makes more sense to air worthwhile games on it. That way people would have to go to it to watch a good game. People are not going to ESPN3 to watch tulane play ecu unless they are fans of the teams. For a low price, ESPN got to shrink the viewer options in the viewer place. Simply because NBC is a joke doesn't change the fact that they presented an alternative for viewers to choose from. Now they are completely shut out.

I stopped at your first sentence. Since they didn't get the league NBC clearly didn't bid enough to get it. End of story.

 

[Durks07]

I stopped at your first sentence. Since they didn't get the league NBC clearly didn't bid enough to get it. End of story.

Essentially by that logic, no matter what amount of money they offered it wouldn't be enough if ESPN matched. That train on thought has no bearing on whether NBC was interested in the Big East. NBC had enough interest to offer any money. It was a low offer because no other league bid against them. What sense was there in making a high offer? It should have been higher than it was. It was begging ESPN to retain the rights which they did.

Where we seem to differ is why ESPN matched the offer. You believe that it is because ESPN can grow and make ESPN3 more valuable. ESPN would probably grow that network by putting games people actually want to see on it. Interesting games that people want to watch will grow that brand. People will be forced to go there to see them. I fail to see why putting Big East games (that only fans of those teams are interested in) there will grow anything. People are not going to seek those games out when the B1G and SEC are on the actual networks.

 

[CL82]

It's pretty clear that NBC didn't really want or have a plan for the Big East as configured for the term of the deal. We don't what they would have done if the Big East had stayed together.
.

 

[UConnDan97]

It's pretty clear that NBC didn't really want or have a plan for the Big East as configured for the term of the deal. We don't what they would have done if the Big East had stayed together.

EXACTLY!

All this talk about what the intentions of NBC were or weren't, what promotions or value NBC attributed or didn't attribute to the Big East; it all goes out the window once you tally up the fact that they were no longer bidding on a league that had Rutgers, ND, Louisville, Boise State, San Diego State, and the C-7. Those of us that believed that NBC would give us a good price and good promotion obviously knew that the likelihood of it happening "post defections" was very low indeed.

I do believe that when Aresco and the presidents took that meeting with NBC and FOX, prior to the ESPN exclusivity window and prior to many of the aforementioned defections, that the contract was shaping up to be pretty decent. But it's hard to sell a car when the CarFax report says it was in a three-car pile up a few hours ago...

 

[AZHuskiePop]

EXACTLY!

All this talk about what the intentions of NBC were or weren't, what promotions or value NBC attributed or didn't attribute to the Big East; it all goes out the window once you tally up the fact that they were no longer bidding on a league that had Rutgers, ND, Louisville, Boise State, San Diego State, and the C-7. Those of us that believed that NBC would give us a good price and good promotion obviously knew that the likelihood of it happening "post defections" was very low indeed.

I do believe that when Aresco and the presidents took that meeting with NBC and FOX, prior to the ESPN exclusivity window and prior to many of the aforementioned defections, that the contract was shaping up to be pretty decent. But it's hard to sell a car when the CarFax report says it was in a three-car pile up a few hours ago...

With the BB contract for next year as bad as is seems maybe the C7,LV,and ND are gone at the end of this year.

 

[UConnDan97]

With the BB contract for next year as bad as is seems maybe the C7,LV,and ND are gone at the end of this year.

Well if they are, I think they will have to do it "for a few dollars more." Just because the tv contract sucks doesn't mean that they aren't held to the 27 month waiting period like everyone else...

 

[whaler11]

Essentially by that logic, no matter what amount of money they offered it wouldn't be enough if ESPN matched. That train on thought has no bearing on whether NBC was interested in the Big East. NBC had enough interest to offer any money. It was a low offer because no other league bid against them. What sense was there in making a high offer? It should have been higher than it was. It was begging ESPN to retain the rights which they did.

Where we seem to differ is why ESPN matched the offer. You believe that it is because ESPN can grow and make ESPN3 more valuable. ESPN would probably grow that network by putting games people actually want to see on it. Interesting games that people want to watch will grow that brand. People will be forced to go there to see them. I fail to see why putting Big East games (that only fans of those teams are interested in) there will grow anything. People are not going to seek those games out when the B1G and SEC are on the actual networks.

ESPN matched because the contract is a rounding error to a legitimate network.

NBC chose to offer nothing. They could have offered three time as much and ESPN would have matched. Someone at NBC took the Big East for a ride. They would have been better off withouy the lowball NBC offer.

 

[uconnfan68]

ESPN matched because the contract is a rounding error to a legitimate network.

NBC chose to offer nothing. They could have offered three time as much and ESPN would have matched. Someone at NBC took the Big East for a ride. They would have been better off withouy the lowball NBC offer.

Good point. Maybe that shows up in the collusion trial.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Hopefully Malloy will take the $100 million he has given ESPN and the $60 million he has given NBC and instead find two companies that won't crap on Connecticut.

 

[HuskyHawk]

ESPN matched because the contract is a rounding error to a legitimate network.

NBC chose to offer nothing. They could have offered three time as much and ESPN would have matched. Someone at NBC took the Big East for a ride. They would have been better off withouy the lowball NBC offer.

Maybe. But consider if you work for NBC sports and want to make your mark in college sports. Does the NNBE do that in any way? Does it drive guaranteed viewers to your new cable network? No. Not even close. Maybe the old version did, at least for basketball. NBC is better off saving some money and makin a play for content that will really drive viewers. ESPN needs filler content. NBC needs to make a splash with something it can really showcase. Nobody will showcase this league. Nobody.

 

[whaler11]

Maybe. But consider if you work for NBC sports and want to make your mark in college sports. Does the NNBE do that in any way? Does it drive guaranteed viewers to your new cable network? No. Not even close. Maybe the old version did, at least for basketball. NBC is better off saving some money and makin a play for content that will really drive viewers. ESPN needs filler content. NBC needs to make a splash with something it can really showcase. Nobody will showcase this league. Nobody.

Sure I wouldn't propose they overpay. People were hot and bothered about NBC because there are no other options them. There is nothing out to bid soon worth having.