Key tweets, and it's all gone to Hell.

[CL82]

But you're pitching it thru UConn colored glasses.

They don't care about UConn or the state of Connecticut. All they care about is driving viewers to +. Forcing UConn Women's Hoops fans to + is a HUGE win for them

Not so much, you pitch to your buyer which in this case is ESPN. All of those things are pluses to them. The question is whether they value it above have CT fans as a captive audience.

 

[CoastAtlantic]

 

[whaler11]

Not so much, you pitch to your buyer which in this case is ESPN. All of those things are pluses to them. The question is whether they value it above have CT fans as a captive audience.

So you think ESPN is going to sell one of the few things that has value in the package they bought?

It seems pretty unlikely there is going to be an SNY deal - it completely defeats the purpose of what they are doing. The CAA walked away because they wouldn’t leave the RCN deals in place.

 

[CL82]

So you think ESPN is going to sell one of the few things that has value in the package they bought?

It seems pretty unlikely there is going to be an SNY deal - it completely defeats the purpose of what they are doing. The CAA walked away because they wouldn’t leave the RCN deals in place.

Not really but if it is, that will be the analysis. Essentially is the cash up front worth giving up the real time broadcast rights. As noted above the question is does the dollar amount that SNY will pay worth more than having Connecticut fans as a captive audience. I agree that ESPN will consider the value of being the only game in town in deciding whether or not to sell. One interesting question is whether UConn WBB fans will buy and watch online content. I suspect that a lot of them may not. If ESPN believes that as well then selling those games to SNY may essentially be "found money." I'd give SNY about a 40% shot at getting some kind of UConn WBB package. What do you think?

 

[UConnJim]

So you think ESPN is going to sell one of the few things that has value in the package they bought?

It seems pretty unlikely there is going to be an SNY deal - it completely defeats the purpose of what they are doing. The CAA walked away because they wouldn’t leave the RCN deals in place.

I think it depends on how much you can sell the games to SNY for. Maybe you sell them 10 games and keep the rest. I think the key for SNY is what is the magic number of UConn women's basketball games that they have to show in order to maintain their subscribers in Connecticut.

Also, don't think that Disney is going to sit still on ESPN+ content. It is being reported that ESPN+ may bid on Direct TV's NFL Sunday ticket.

 

[whaler11]

Not really but if it is, that will be the analysis. Essentially is the cash up front worth giving up the real time broadcast rights. As noted above the question is does the dollar amount that SNY will pay worth more than having Connecticut fans as a captive audience. I agree that ESPN will consider the value of being the only game in town in deciding whether or not to sell. One interesting question is whether UConn WBB fans will buy and watch online content. I suspect that a lot of them may not. If ESPN believes that as well then selling those games to SNY may essentially be "found money." I'd give SNY about a 40% shot at getting some kind of UConn WBB package. What do you think?

Based on how it’s played out I think UConn knew the entire time there is no deal coming and played stupid through the annoucement. Then 90 minutes later they had their official statements ready to go because they were written a long time prior.

ESPN is clearly losing money on + in an attempt to grow the subscriber base - selling games to SNY is the complete opposite of their strategy with + to date.

Of course they could sell the games to SNY and make more than the $5 * marginals subs * months but that isn’t their calculus here.

 

[bobbyinaz]

Not really but if it is, that will be the analysis. Essentially is the cash up front worth giving up the real time broadcast rights. As noted above the question is does the dollar amount that SNY will pay worth more than having Connecticut fans as a captive audience. I agree that ESPN will consider the value of being the only game in town in deciding whether or not to sell. One interesting question is whether UConn WBB fans will buy and watch online content. I suspect that a lot of them may not. If ESPN believes that as well then selling those games to SNY may essentially be "found money." I'd give SNY about a 40% shot at getting some kind of UConn WBB package. What do you think?

I think 40% is a very high number.

ESPN isn't going to know what the % of Women's fans is until well into the season. They will likely see an increase in the numbers as the season goes on. Once fans realize the ONLY way to watch games is on + the likelihood of them jumping in increases.

There is probably a better chance of having some OTA broadcast in year 2 versus year 1 as the first year will be the test

 

[CL82]

Based on how it’s played out I think UConn knew the entire time there is no deal coming and played stupid through the annoucement. Then 90 minutes later they had their official statements ready to go because they were written a long time prior.

ESPN is clearly losing money on + in an attempt to grow the subscriber base - selling games to SNY is the complete opposite of their strategy with + to date.

Of course they could sell the games to SNY and make more than the $5 * marginals subs * months but that isn’t their calculus here.

So no chance in your view?

Once fans realize the ONLY way to watch games is on + the likelihood of them jumping in increases.

I think you over estimate the computer literacy of the fan base.

 

[whaler11]

So no chance in your view?



I think you over estimate the computer literacy of the fan base.

I guess never say never but pretty slim.

 

[UConnDan97]

Based on how it’s played out I think UConn knew the entire time there is no deal coming and played stupid through the annoucement. Then 90 minutes later they had their official statements ready to go because they were written a long time prior.

Bingo!

And this is what infuriates me the most about the whole deal. UConn's leadership clearly knew what was going to happen in the deal and chose to look the other way because they would get slightly more money, fan base be damned. That seems to consistently be their approach.

You can get away with that approach when times are good. But times haven't been good for quite some time. Cutting your arms off is not an effective way to lose weight...

 

[ClifSpliffy]

oh, then there's this

Disney takes full operational control of Hulu: What this means (so far)

Another big get for Disney.

ew.com

nothing to see here, movin on.

 

[whaler11]

Bingo!

And this is what infuriates me the most about the whole deal. UConn's leadership clearly knew what was going to happen in the deal and chose to look the other way because they would get slightly more money, fan base be damned. That seems to consistently be their approach.

You can get away with that approach when times are good. But times haven't been good for quite some time. Cutting your arms off is not an effective way to lose weight...

The herbst statement was days of crafting by communications people. They worked on every word of it.

 

[CL82]

Bingo!

And this is what infuriates me the most about the whole deal. UConn's leadership clearly knew what was going to happen in the deal and chose to look the other way because they would get slightly more money, fan base be damned. That seems to consistently be their approach.

You can get away with that approach when times are good. But times haven't been good for quite some time. Cutting your arms off is not an effective way to lose weight...

What would you have done in their place Dan, left the American? Held you breath until they releneted?

They had no leverage. This conference is a bad a fit for us, but we've got no where else to go.

 

[dogged1]

What would you have done in their place Dan, left the American? Held you breath until they releneted?

They had no leverage. This conference is a bad a fit for us, but we've got no where else to go.

Sometimes I really dislike the simply stated truth. You got a spoonful of sugar to go with that?

 

[UConnDan97]

What would you have done in their place Dan, left the American? Held you breath until they releneted?

They had no leverage. This conference is a bad a fit for us, but we've got no where else to go.

They had no leverage???

It's amazing to me how Navy got special consideration in this new deal and we didn't. It's also amazing to me how folks on this board believe that the #1 most valuable property in this conference had no leverage...

 

[CL82]

They had no leverage???

It's amazing to me how Navy got special consideration in this new deal and we didn't. It's also amazing to me how folks on this board believe that the #1 most valuable property in this conference had no leverage...

Navy had leverage, i.e., join or don't join. We didn't. Were we going to go to MAC or A-10?

This is how I see our negotiation going:

UConn: We like our relationship with SNY and we feel that we make more money selling our T3 independent of conference. We want our T3 rights.​

​

Aresco: No.​

​

UConn: Uh okay but we are going to write a very snippy statement indicating our disappointment with that decision.​

​

Aresco: Okay, good luck with that.​

​

So Dan, how would that have gone any different if you were in charge?

 

[Guapo]

Navy had leverage, i.e., join or don't join. We didn't. Were we going to go to MAC or A-10?

This is how I see our negotiation going:

UConn: We like our relationship with SNY and we feel that we make more money selling our T3 independent of conference. We want our T3 rights.​

​

Aresco: No.​

​

UConn: Uh okay but we are going to write a very snippy statement indicating our disappointment with that decision.​

​

Aresco: Okay, good luck with that.​

​

So Dan, how would that have gone any different if you were in charge?

And it’s all gone to hell

 

[whaler11]

They had no leverage???

It's amazing to me how Navy got special consideration in this new deal and we didn't. It's also amazing to me how folks on this board believe that the #1 most valuable property in this conference had no leverage...

they don’t care to try. this was always herbst’s goal. deemphasize sports. how it isnt obvious to people at this point is startling.

they couldnt wait to run off jim calhoun for god’s sake.

 

[CL82]

they couldnt wait to run off jim calhoun for god’s sake.

Lol. All part of the plan to bring in Kevin Ollie no doubt.

they don’t care to try. this was always herbst’s goal. deemphasize sports. how it isnt obvious to people at this point is startling.

SMH so how would you have negotiated this any differently? I don't see any options.

Blah, blah, blah didn't try, blah, blah Suzie lax, etc.

Okay but how do you think UConn could have forced their will on Aresco the other teams in the league? Because as shitacular as our new deal is, for vast majority of the league, it's good deal.

 

[bobbyinaz]

The herbst statement was days of crafting by communications people. They worked on every word of it.

The fact that the survey came out after the announcement was telling.

If they were really looking to gather data to provide to Aresco & ESPN the survey would've come once the season ended so the data could be used to help influence the contract. Sending the survey out after the TV contract was announced was essentially a CYA move by Herbst & Benedict so they could say "we tried"

 

[UConnDan97]

Navy had leverage, i.e., join or don't join. We didn't. Were we going to go to MAC or A-10?

This is how I see our negotiation going:

UConn: We like our relationship with SNY and we feel that we make more money selling our T3 independent of conference. We want our T3 rights.​

​

Aresco: No.​

​

UConn: Uh okay but we are going to write a very snippy statement indicating our disappointment with that decision.​

​

Aresco: Okay, good luck with that.​

​

So Dan, how would that have gone any different if you were in charge?

If I were in charge?

I would leverage the news that was leaking at the time that the NBE was looking at adding us. I would use that to get a deal that was right for us. And if they called that in, then I would have pulled the trigger on it, which would have thrown football into Independent status. While that is a long term death of football, so is not being on tv for your regional audience. And being by far the largest athletic department in the conference would have given me some basis for taking a stance.

Do I strike you as an overly pessimistic person??? This is NOT my m.o. So if I'm saying this, it's because it's the straw that broke the camel's back. Aresco can't claim that viewership was the key element of the first contract, only to turn around and land us primarily on streaming in the next one. SNY was a nice part of our regional impact. It's gone now. Anyone who isn't mad about that needs to wake up and smell the mountain laurels...

 

[CL82]

If I were in charge?

I would leverage the news that was leaking at the time that the NBE was looking at adding us. I would use that to get a deal that was right for us. And if they called that in, then I would have pulled the trigger on it, which would have thrown football into Independent status. While that is a long term death of football, so is not being on tv for your regional audience. And being by far the largest athletic department in the conference would have given me some basis for taking a stance.

Do I strike you as an overly pessimistic person??? This is NOT my m.o. So if I'm saying this, it's because it's the straw that broke the camel's back. Aresco can't claim that viewership was the key element of the first contract, only to turn around and land us primarily on streaming in the next one. SNY was a nice part of our regional impact. It's gone now. Anyone who isn't mad about that needs to wake up and smell the mountain laurels...

We could still do that right? That option is always on the table, so long as the NBE wants us of course. Of course that means taking less media money in the Big East than we are currently making in the American. Oh and very likely less Nike money and probably less IMG money as well.

Keep in mind that the NBE may not so long as we are playing football. Val Ackerman is on record as saying we'd have to knock the Rent down before the NBE would consider us. She apparently understands how different we are from the rest of the schools in that conference.

So let's see, your option results in getting less money and giving up any shot we have (limited though it may be) of going to a P5 conference. But it has the added bonus of taking us off the ESPN network (which will still will be under the current deal) and ABC and CBS, but gives us the opportunity to be FS1 and FS2, channels that people don't have or aren't aware of.

I love you buddy, but you are dead wrong on this.

 

[UConnDan97]

We could still that right? That option is always on the table, so long as the NBE wants us of course. Of course that means taking less media money in the Big East than we are currently making in the American. Oh and very likely less Nike money and probably less IMG money as well.

Keep in mind that the NBE may not so long as we are playing football. Val Ackerman is on record as saying we'd have to knock the Rent down before the NBE would consider us. She apparently understands how different we are from the rest of the schools in that conference.

So let's see, your option results in getting less money and giving up any shot we have (limited though it may be) of going to a P5 conference. But it has the added bonus of taking us off the ESPN network (which will still will be under the current deal) and ABC and CBS, but gives us the opportunity to be FS1 and FS2, channels that people don't have or aren't aware of.

I love you buddy, but you are dead wrong on this.

I love how you think the NBE wouldn't take us until we "knocked the Rent down". That's straight up comedy. We're talking about a league that has Creighton, DePaul, Marquette....but they won't take UConn unless the stadium is demolished. Okay, sure.

Plus, if you think that FS1 is less available to folks now than ESPN+ is, I have land to sell you in the Everglades. And I'm saying that even though I already have a subscription to it. No. We're going to lose penetration in NY and NJ with the loss of SNY, plain and simple. We had to fight to keep that going, and we apparently didn't fight at all...

 

[CL82]

I love how you think the NBE wouldn't take us until we "knocked the Rent down". That's straight up comedy. We're talking about a league that has Creighton, DePaul, Marquette....but they won't take UConn unless the stadium is demolished. Okay, sure.

Plus, if you think that FS1 is less available to folks now than ESPN+ is, I have land to sell you in the Everglades. And I'm saying that even though I already have a subscription to it. No. We're going to lose penetration in NY and NJ with the loss of SNY, plain and simple. We had to fight to keep that going, and we apparently didn't fight at all...

Well that's what their commissioner said so...

Think a minute about what Creighton, DePaul and Marquette all have in common that UConn does not and reread my paraphrase of what Ackerman said.

Plus, if you think that FS1 is less available to folks now than ESPN+ is, I have land to sell you in the Everglades. And I'm saying that even though I already have a subscription to it. No. We're going to lose penetration in NY and NJ with the loss of SNY, plain and simple. We had to fight to keep that going, and we apparently didn't fight at all...

Your point would be valid if our choice was our T1 content on ESPN+ versus our T1 content on FS1 and FS2 but that isn't choice. The bulk of T1 content will still be on ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNU That's infinitely better that having our T1 content on FS1 and FS2. Our T3 stuff will be ESPN+.

Believe me I'm am frustrated with the potential loss of SNY games (I haven't given up on it entirely, but I recognize it's more likely than not) but I just don't see any possible way to have avoided it.

 

[whaler11]

If I were in charge?

I would leverage the news that was leaking at the time that the NBE was looking at adding us. I would use that to get a deal that was right for us. And if they called that in, then I would have pulled the trigger on it, which would have thrown football into Independent status. While that is a long term death of football, so is not being on tv for your regional audience. And being by far the largest athletic department in the conference would have given me some basis for taking a stance.

Do I strike you as an overly pessimistic person??? This is NOT my m.o. So if I'm saying this, it's because it's the straw that broke the camel's back. Aresco can't claim that viewership was the key element of the first contract, only to turn around and land us primarily on streaming in the next one. SNY was a nice part of our regional impact. It's gone now. Anyone who isn't mad about that needs to wake up and smell the mountain laurels...

They should have jumped up and down screaming about UConn and UConn’s investment in women’s basketball built the gd sport and the inherent value in that program shouldn’t be dispersed to Tulsa and East FRIGGING Carolina.

 

[whaler11]

What the hell is the AAC going to do? Kick us out? Go for it chumps.

 

[CL82]

They should have jumped up and down screaming about UConn and UConn’s investment in women’s basketball built the gd sport and the inherent value in that program shouldn’t be dispersed to Tulsa and East FRIGGING Carolina.

Aresco's response: "No. Awesome tantrum though."

 

[whaler11]

Aresco's response: "No. Awesome tantrum though."

you are the perfect uconn fan. they fail and fail and fail some more and you just say oh well no leverage and excuse yet another debacle.

 

[CoastAtlantic]

 

[CL82]

Wow, that's really interesting. I'm surprised. I thought they had a better deal than that.

Equally interesting that ND's affiliation with the ACC is essentially what we will be getting for all of our rights in the American. Okay slightly more, but the take away is if all sports are worth $29.5M and everything but football is worth $7.9M then football must be worth $21.6M or @73% of the media deal. Useful info for the drop football crowd.