John Marinatto resigns as Big East Commish | Page 4 | The Boneyard

John Marinatto resigns as Big East Commish

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Jimmy Serrano said:
"One of the biggest stumbling points has been how the television money would be divided among the basketball and football schools. Last year at the spring meetings in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., one proposal suggested a 75/25 split -- 75 percent of the money going to football schools, and 25 percent going to basketball schools. One athletic director at a basketball school raised his hand and wondered why the numbers were not flipped, since hoops is the reason the Big East exists in the first place."

I've advocated for a split for 2 years. The time is now. Noone that's qualified for this job in their right mind would accept it.
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Every CC in the country has a diverse constituency and while the presence of FB only and non-football schools adds layer to BE challenges, it will not deter an ambitious, MEDIA SAVVY, reasonably young go-getter. I wouldn't want a CC that fears a challenge. What I hope for is a person that will see and address the challenges and, most importantly, sell and change the perception of the BE FB product.

On another note, I hope someone reached out to the new/about to become members so that they didn't learn of the resignation from the media. A simple, but important, courtesy.
 
UConn's athletic program is finished if the basketball schools split. Absolutely finished. We will be in a league with UMass, UNH, Rutgers, Temple, Buffalo and a few CAA upgrades within 5 years.

If the hoops schools leave, and Louisville leaves, there is really no reason for UCF, SMU, Houston, Boise, SDSU and Memphis to join us. I have no idea what happens after they reach that conclusion, but 90% likely, it is very bad for UConn.
 
Marinatto is nothing more than a scapegoat. Anybody here who thinks they somehow have some brilliant plan to make the Big East immune to raids by superior conferences or can somehow prevent Universities from jumping ship for better TV deals is deluding themselves.

As long as we are a conference full of teams who don't even share the same interests, nevermind lack the football culture to draw the kinds of dollars being thrown at the PAC 12 or SEC, we'll always have this problem regardless of who is in charge.

Think of the competing interests:

  • Basketball-only schools
  • Football-only schools
  • Full-fledged members
  • Notre Dame
They all have competing interests and the only thing they can agree on is that THEIR interest hasn't been served.
Marinatto leaving doesn't change anything, really.
 
upstater said:
I don't think anyone pushed for two separate conferences more than me over the last four years, back when WV, Cuse and Pitt were in the conference. No way I want to see UConn up against a slate of Rutgers, SMU, Houston, UCF, Memphis now. The bball games with any juice to them will be against Louisville, Cincy and the Catholics.
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From 1997 to 2011, I wnated a split of conference. I only wanted to stay in, if football became a priority over basketball. I've said repeatedly, that I believe that football did begin to take precedence over basketball, and I've wanted to stay in conference - and the addition of the naval academy solidified that for me. But in reality - putting football over basketball? That's not fair to the basketball only interests in teh league, and isn't a positive change.

If what i believe to be happening, is actually happening, the conference itself is finally working to set itself up as a hybrid business structure in intercollegiate football and men's basketball, such that you don't need a commissioner that has to fight the battles that Tranghese and Marinatto fought......in constantly having to manage members with different agendas - in competition - rather than working together to create a better product.

We shall see.
 
Jimmy Serrano said:
"One of the biggest stumbling points has been how the television money would be divided among the basketball and football schools. Last year at the spring meetings in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., one proposal suggested a 75/25 split -- 75 percent of the money going to football schools, and 25 percent going to basketball schools. One athletic director at a basketball school raised his hand and wondered why the numbers were not flipped, since hoops is the reason the Big East exists in the first place."

I've advocated for a split for 2 years. The time is now. Noone that's qualified for this job in their right mind would accept it.
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If that quote is accurate, that just confirms just how out of touch these guys were. And how screwed up this conference is...
 
nelsonmuntz said:
UConn's athletic program is finished if the basketball schools split. Absolutely finished. We will be in a league with UMass, UNH, Rutgers, Temple, Buffalo and a few CAA upgrades within 5 years.

If the hoops schools leave, and Louisville leaves, there is really no reason for UCF, SMU, Houston, Boise, SDSU and Memphis to join us. I have no idea what happens after they reach that conclusion, but 90% likely, it is very bad for UConn.
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Take it easy, nobody is splitting anything up except for Businesslawyer's post on his three possible scenarios.

A split of the big east conference in 2012 along football/basketball lines is counterproductive to every member institution of the Big EAst - now and coming - including Notre Dame.
 
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nelsonmuntz said:
UConn's athletic program is finished if the basketball schools split. Absolutely finished. We will be in a league with UMass, UNH, Rutgers, Temple, Buffalo and a few CAA upgrades within 5 years.

If the hoops schools leave, and Louisville leaves, there is really no reason for UCF, SMU, Houston, Boise, SDSU and Memphis to join us. I have no idea what happens after they reach that conclusion, but 90% likely, it is very bad for UConn.
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Wrong. If the hoops school's split they will offer UCONN the opportunity to join them. UCONN would then just have to find a football only league for the football team. Hopefully that football only conference will be a national conference that includes the names we are currently tied to. The only real difference will be that the football only league has no ties to the Big East and of course Memphis, Houston, SMU etc will have to find another basketball league to join.
 
metsfan2323 said:
Wrong. If the hoops school's split they will offer UCONN the opportunity to join them. UCONN would then just have to find a football only league for the football team. Hopefully that football only conference will be a national conference that includes the names we are currently tied to. The only real difference will be that the football only league has no ties to the Big East and of course Memphis, Houston, SMU etc will have to find another basketball league to join.
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If the Hoops schools walk, they are washing their hands of the football schools completely and irrevocably. They aren't going to open a hybrid relationship with UConn.

The best realistic solution is that the current Big East, this island of misfit toys, hangs together. Any other outcome is disastrous.
 
nelsonmuntz said:
If the Hoops schools walk, they are washing their hands of the football schools completely and irrevocably. They aren't going to open a hybrid relationship with UConn.

The best realistic solution is that the current Big East, this island of misfit toys, hangs together. Any other outcome is disastrous.
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So the Hoops schools will cut off their nose to spite their face. I doubt it. I'm pretty sure that UCONN was in fact a founding member of the league. No way will they just toss us aside when having us there will help maintain the dignity of the conference

And in my scenario there is no Hybrid relationship for the Big East, they will have the same relationship they have with all of their other members, one that does not include football.
 
Carl Spackler said:
Nope, not two separate conferences. A hybrid conference that makes sense.

If your quote Jimmy, about the b-ball AD is accurate - don't know where it came from, you didn't post citation, it's all you need to know. I'm confident in saying that the context/meaning of that quote is an accurate reflection of things that can happen in the current Big East business structure when it comes to internal decision making.

The hybrid conference can work, and can be quite powerful actually, MORE powerful than an all sports conference - with the power of basketball AND football in revenue generating, but it all depends on having a structure that doesn't allow for exactly what you quoted to be happening with internal decision making.
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the structure you're looking for is called two separate conferences.
 
THis split talk is nonsense.

Marinatto can't be at the table when negotiations start. Period. It's not a reflection on his abilities to negotiate, or do business, or how he or any other school in the big east feels about football and/or basketball.

It's the simple fact that his presence there, is enough for the opposing side to begin to manipulate the big east internal conflicts b/w basketball and football.

I said it before, say it again. The big east conference, and ESPN have a long history that dates back to when both were in trailers in 1979, and their success over the years is intertwined.

ESPN no longer has people in charge with personal ties to any of it, or personal connections and personal interest in seeing both ESPN and the Big EAst mutually succeed in win/win scenarios.

The big east? It's all personal with ESPN still going all the way back to the beginning of both corporate entities. The same people all along.

YOu can't have that kind of dynamic at the bargainaing table in September, because come September, ESPN is the only broadcasting company that the Big East can deal with until the contracts officially run out.

We need a clean slate at the table, ready to business and keep personal feelings separate, ideally, representing a better business structure than we've got, but even with same internal muddling system wev'e got in the big east, a clean slate at the bargaining table is what this is all about.

The rest of this talk is interesting, but nothing more than all of us BS'ing.
 
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nelsonmuntz said:
UConn's athletic program is finished if the basketball schools split. Absolutely finished. We will be in a league with UMass, UNH, Rutgers, Temple, Buffalo and a few CAA upgrades within 5 years.

If the hoops schools leave, and Louisville leaves, there is really no reason for UCF, SMU, Houston, Boise, SDSU and Memphis to join us. I have no idea what happens after they reach that conclusion, but 90% likely, it is very bad for UConn.
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I see the same facts and think this is potentially great for UConn. Anything to avoid being in a conference with Memphis, Houston et al. Those of you who have been convincing yourselves that the NBE was something other than a looking disaster will of course feel differently. But my guess is that this isn't happening in a vacuum. It is very unlikely that the unraveling of the NBE doesn't trigger another feeding frenzy, resulting in UConn probably landing in the ACC.

The worst case scenario is UConn playing all non-football sports with some new BE-A10 combo conference, and going independent for football. More likely, academics and basketball are enough to garner an invite to one of the surviving big conferences.
 
Marinate is Out! THANK God and Praise the Pigskin! :D
Hmm I'm thinkin Herbst would be a nice leadership upgrade for the Big East!
 
HuskyHawk said:
I see the same facts and think this is potentially great for UConn. Anything to avoid being in a conference with Memphis, Houston et al. Those of you who have been convincing yourselves that the NBE was something other than a looking disaster will of course feel differently. But my guess is that this isn't happening in a vacuum. It is very unlikely that the unraveling of the NBE doesn't trigger another feeding frenzy, resulting in UConn probably landing in the ACC.

The worst case scenario is UConn playing all non-football sports with some new BE-A10 combo conference, and going independent for football. More likely, academics and basketball are enough to garner an invite to one of the surviving big conferences.
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This all came as a big surprise to me this morning, but it all makes sense. It's just the next step in the process of re-establishing the Big East as a top flight intercollegiate athletic league.

I'm reminded of Mario Puzo and the GodFather. The italians know how to do business. When it was time for Michael Corleone to shore up the community and pick up the business and relocate headquarters, the family lawyer couldn't be involved, because he was a good guy, and things needed to be done, that he couldn't do.

Now - going to the negotiation tables with ESPN, isn't the business of mafia hit men, but John Marinatto is a good guy, that we can't involved in the business that needs to get done.

Wouldn't surprise me in the least to see Marinatto resurface in league offices on the other side of this media deal.
 
This is a pretty long thread but I'm sure of one thing...Carl's company does not drug test.

It's a blend of Kentucky Blue Grass and California Sensamilla. The best part about it is that you can play 18 holes on it and then get high to the bejeezus belt
 
I know I live in SEC country but for what it is worth this is what I hear. The BB presidents really do not want to be associated with BSU, SDSU, Mem, etc. They don't think the potential pay day under the new contract will be enough for them to defend association with a group of third tier schools to their faculties, alums & donors. They also believe (rightly or wrongly) that a lot of the value of a new contract would be on the BB side and are therefore willing to push split if necessary. Marinatto was placed in the same position as Tranghese when BC tried to push a split in 2003. Tranghese was able to smooth it over, Marinatto not so much. Next step BB schools, including ND, announce a meeting to "examine options".
 
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John Greene said:
I know I live in SEC country but for what it is worth this is what I hear. The BB presidents really do not want to be associated with BSU, SDSU, Mem, etc. They don't think the potential pay day under the new contract will be enough for them to defend association with a group of third tier schools to their faculties, alums & donors. They also believe (rightly or wrongly) that a lot of the value of a new contract would be on the BB side and are therefore willing to push split if necessary. Marinatto was placed in the same position as Tranghese when BC tried to push a split in 2003. Tranghese was able to smooth it over, Marinatto not so much. Next step BB schools, including ND, announce a meeting to "examine options".
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No one wants to associate with BSU, SDSU, and Memphis, yet here we are. The hoops schools will not be playing 2 of them in any sports and ND was the head of the expansion committee, saddling us with these new schools. ND wants to be in a hoops conference with UL and UConn.
 
TRest said:
No one wants to associate with BSU, SDSU, and Memphis, yet here we are. The hoops schools will not be playing 2 of them in any sports and ND was the head of the expansion committee, saddling us with these new schools. ND wants to be in a hoops conference with UL and UConn.
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Agreed that we also may not want to be associated either but at this point we have little choice since we have a higher level FB program. They feel they have a viable option. Also the key is the word associated not play. Many poh-poh the academic perception angle of conference membership but to some it has a high priority. As far as the ND angle goes, who know what ND wants from day to day except what they think is best for ND. Wanting to be in a BB conference with UL and UConn is nice but they may have decided it is not worth the baggage of the new teams.
 
John Greene said:
I know I live in SEC country but for what it is worth this is what I hear. The BB presidents really do not want to be associated with BSU, SDSU, Mem, etc. They don't think the potential pay day under the new contract will be enough for them to defend association with a group of third tier schools to their faculties, alums & donors. They also believe (rightly or wrongly) that a lot of the value of a new contract would be on the BB side and are therefore willing to push split if necessary. Marinatto was placed in the same position as Tranghese when BC tried to push a split in 2003. Tranghese was able to smooth it over, Marinatto not so much. Next step BB schools, including ND, announce a meeting to "examine options".
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The faculty can give a hoot less. I'm sure Vandy's faculty is up at arms at their association with Arkansas.
 
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Brett McMurphy:
Marinatto easy to target for Big East woes, but he's hardly alone


With conference realignment sweeping the country, Marinatto still was able to convince TCU in November of 2010 to join the Big East, to help bolster an inconsistent football league. People mocked a Texas team joining the Big East, but it gave the league a solid football addition. That would have given the Big East nine football members in 2012. There was even speculation the Big East might be able to attract an ACC school to join the Big East, which was in the midst of negotiating a huge upcoming media rights deal.

"At that point when the Big East was intact, the only school the Big East could have legitimately added that made sense was UCF," an industry source said. "Maryland and Boston College? They wouldn't even return the Big East's calls. But the Big East couldn't add UCF because [South Florida president] Judy Genshaft kept shooting down UCF."

Genshaft's continuing insistence to block UCF from the league was a huge contributing factor which ultimately led to the league's current instability, a league source said. That's because in April of 2011, with TCU on board, Marinatto and the league negotiated a nine-year deal worth $1.4 billion for its new media rights deal. Marinatto recommended to his presidents that they accept the offer and they promptly voted against it.

"I think that was the stupidest decision ever made [to turn it down] in college athletics," a league source said. "To have the equity of ESPN as your brand and the stability that would have gone with it."

...

"If the TV deal was accepted and UCF had been added [as a 10th football member], who knows if Pitt and Syracuse ever leave," an industry source said.

"Everyone left because of stability and right there was your stability with that TV deal." A month after Syracuse and Pittsburgh announced they were leaving, Marinatto -- to help stabilize the league -- recommended on Oct. 2 to the league's presidents that the Big East should increase its exit fee from $5 million to $12 million-$15 million, according to documents obtained by CBSSports.com.

And surprise, surprise: the league's presidents refused to increase the exit fee. Four days later, TCU announced it was headed to the Big 12 and two weeks after that, West Virginia announced it was leaving for the Big 12.
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Does anyone else notice that Marinatto looks like twiddle-dee and acts like twiddle-dumb? I wish I could find an animation that depicts him frowning and how Lewis Carol saw the future. Good riddens and I hope we finally move the headquarters to where it rightfully belongs, NYC.

Maybe he was a nice guy and worked hard at times, but i dont understand how his decision-making could make anyone comfortable. He just doesn't have what it takes to lead this conference and blunder after blunder only leads me to believe that a vote of no confidence was only necessary to move ahead rather than 4 steps back.
 
nelsonmuntz said:
If the Hoops schools walk, they are washing their hands of the football schools completely and irrevocably. They aren't going to open a hybrid relationship with UConn.

The best realistic solution is that the current Big East, this island of misfit toys, hangs together. Any other outcome is disastrous.
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With this position are you claiming that ND will also get shoved aside by the non FBS Big East members or are you claiming that NDs catholic leadership will be enough for the remaining catholic schools to make an exception in their case?

You've made many narrow minded, unfounded assertions over the years but this one is as rich as any have been.
 
Anyone that blames JM for the Big East's failures, please post what he could have done to have 'saved' the BE.

I don't see what the guy could have possibly done to save this sinking ship.
 
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