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

[UConnJim]

I wouldn't be so sure of that.

The greatest asset that the Big East has is the Big East Tournament in Madison Square Garden. I don't think any Eastern Big East schools would consider going to the Big 12 and lose all of their rivals and the Big East Tournament. And, you do realize a number big donors donate to the schools to get access to BET tickets? For what? A couple of million extra in media revenues, but with increased travel cost for all sports.

Final point. None of us know what the value of the Big East media contract will be which will be a big factor in what happens to the Big East.

 

[Sole]

The greatest asset that the Big East has is the Big East Tournament in Madison Square Garden. I don't think any Eastern Big East schools would consider going to the Big 12 and lose all of their rivals and the Big East Tournament. And, you do realize a number big donors donate to the schools to get access to BET tickets? For what? A couple of million extra in media revenues, but with increased travel cost for all sports.

Final point. None of us know what the value of the Big East media contract will be which will be a big factor in what happens to the Big East.

And don’t forget the buyout…I heard earlier in the year the big east wanted it at 50 million

 

[Zissou]

For context, Kansas who hasn't missed a tournament since 1989, has only 14 Elite Eight appearances in that 33 season span.

Time to recalibrate. Kansas’ streak officially ended in 2018 and they have one less Elite Eight and Final Four.

As it turns out, Kansas will not only vacate wins but also have to take down their 2018 Final Four banner because of Silvio De Sousa, who played in 15 of Kansas’ wins that season, including the Big 12 Tournament they won that year, as well as their NCAA Tournament run, which ended with a loss to Villanova in the Final Four.

 

[John]

The greatest asset that the Big East has is the Big East Tournament in Madison Square Garden. I don't think any Eastern Big East schools would consider going to the Big 12 and lose all of their rivals and the Big East Tournament. And, you do realize a number big donors donate to the schools to get access to BET tickets? For what? A couple of million extra in media revenues, but with increased travel cost for all sports.

Final point. None of us know what the value of the Big East media contract will be which will be a big factor in what happens to the Big East.

The western portion of the Big East wouldn't be impacted by travel cost increases.

 

[JohnFSilver]

And don’t forget the buyout…I heard earlier in the year the big east wanted it at 50 million

There isn’t a $50 million buyout. Why would schools agree to that?

And, how much is the BET worth to a school? Is three days in NYC in March really worth their entire athletic department? We have to stop thinking so narrow.

You can be a hoops fans, most of us are, and don’t care about the inner workings of college athletics. But when it comes to these alignments, the factors you deem important are not as important as factors that you don’t care about.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Time to recalibrate. Kansas’ streak officially ended in 2018 and they have one less Elite Eight and Final Four.

As it turns out, Kansas will not only vacate wins but also have to take down their 2018 Final Four banner because of Silvio De Sousa, who played in 15 of Kansas’ wins that season, including the Big 12 Tournament they won that year, as well as their NCAA Tournament run, which ended with a loss to Villanova in the Final Four.

Hold on a minute there Zis, weren't you the one who made a big deal about how vacated accomplishments (in this case, specifically the title Louisville won in 2013) still count?

 

[upstater]

You do realize that it is the networks who dictate things? Why would the Big 10 and Big East discussing extending the Gavitt Games? Because FOX has the Big 10 and Big East media rights.

Football TV revenues were never controlled by the NCAA.

What is the point you're making?

I'm talking about the main conferences limiting participation in the tournies.

You mentioned football. How much more evidence do you need that those conferences want all the money? They think of ways of freezing out as many people as possible.

They can make a lot more money that way.

The Gavitt Games are a sideshow and distraction in this regard. We're talking about $1b a year here. If the B1G and SEC can have as much of that as they can, they will take it.

 

[Zissou]

Hold on a minute there Zis, weren't you the one who made a big deal about how vacated accomplishments (in this case, specifically the title Louisville won in 2013) still count?

Yep that’s me. It’s a joke. Vacated games as a punishment is a joke. Ban them from 2 tournaments or something.

Kansas and UNC would never get punished like UConn or others.

It is nice though that announcers will not be able to reference the consecutive tournament streak, at least without bringing up that they vacated 2018.

 

[Sole]

There isn’t a $50 million buyout. Why would schools agree to that?

And, how much is the BET worth to a school? Is three days in NYC in March really worth their entire athletic department? We have to stop thinking so narrow.

You can be a hoops fans, most of us are, and don’t care about the inner workings of college athletics. But when it comes to these alignments, the factors you deem important are not as important as factors that you don’t care about.

The 50 million was a rumor that was going on in the summer that the big east wanted to up the buyout

 

[billybud]

There isn’t a $50 million buyout. Why would schools agree to that?

And, how much is the BET worth to a school? Is three days in NYC in March really worth their entire athletic department? We have to stop thinking so narrow.

You can be a hoops fans, most of us are, and don’t care about the inner workings of college athletics. But when it comes to these alignments, the factors you deem important are not as mportant as factors that you don’t care about.

I hear in this post a neutral voice....like the calm cockpit computer voice..."terrain...pull up".

 

[JohnFSilver]

The 50 million was a rumor that was going on in the summer that the big east wanted to up the buyout

No one is signing a $50 mil buyout in that league .

 

[John]

No one is signing a $50 mil buyout in that league .

if anyone from UConn signed that they should be tossed into Mirror Lake.

 

[noeynox]

The 50 million was a rumor that was going on in the summer that the big east wanted to up the buyout

Does it make sense to have a 50 million dollar buyout in league that pays its members less than 4 million in TV money?

 

[shizzle787]

Does it make sense to have a 50 million dollar buyout in league that pays its members less than 4 million in TV money?

I actually would support the 50 million dollar buyout. Why? If we get an ACC parachute, we will pay it anyway (20 million extra than before). It also further prevents us from getting backdoored by the ACC or Big 12 inviting Villanova or St. John's in our place.

 

[noeynox]

I actually would support the 50 million dollar buyout. Why? If we get an ACC parachute, we will pay it anyway (20 million extra than before). It also further prevents us from getting backdoored by the ACC or Big 12 inviting Villanova or St. John's in our place.

Yeah except UConn ain't getting a full share to the ACC or Big12. A 50 million buyout would essentially lock us in our out depending on your perspective. SMU is playing for free, Calford, for 1/3, UW and OU for 1/2 of full payouts.

Not that i care all that much. The ships have left the dock and we are still sitting here, "oh so icy".

 

[Drew]

an interesting thing to note given the upcoming deal for the Big East

 

[Sole]

an interesting thing to note given the upcoming deal for the Big East

I think this is why the big east and fox have not come up with a deal yet…does anyone know if a basketball conference would be attractive to a apple or Amazon?

 

[Drew]

I think this is why the big east and fox have not come up with a deal yet…does anyone know if a basketball conference would be attractive to a apple or Amazon?

Apple’s model has been to buy the entire thing if it can.. I doubt the Big East wants to put their entire slate on the AppleTV paywall

FOX has no real incentive to overbid for the BE IMO.. I don’t see major competition for the rights. ESPN seems full outside of ESPN+ between the SEC, ACC, AAC and Big 12 agreements, FOX has B12 and B1G but can offer a very similar package to what they currently have.. NBC won’t do it, and I doubt CBS would be a major player. They know the BE would want to value linear exposure and FOX is really the only one in a position to give it to them.

 

[CL82]

Apple’s model has been to buy the entire thing if it can.. I doubt the Big East wants to put their entire slate on the AppleTV paywall

FOX has no real incentive to overbid for the BE IMO.. I don’t see major competition for the rights. ESPN seems full outside of ESPN+ between the SEC, ACC, AAC and Big 12 agreements, FOX has B12 and B1G but can offer a very similar package to what they currently have.. NBC won’t do it, and I doubt CBS would be a major player. They know the BE would want to value linear exposure and FOX is really the only one in a position to give it to them.

Given the fact that the Big East will be a relatively economical buy, I could see ESPN beating a fox lowball offer. It takes content away from their primary competitor, allows ESPN to cherry pick marquee matchups and buys decent content for ESPN+ that is likely to draw in subscribers. It seems like a smart play to me. The conference would be forced to decide between exposure and income.

 

[UConnJim]

Apple’s model has been to buy the entire thing if it can.. I doubt the Big East wants to put their entire slate on the AppleTV paywall

FOX has no real incentive to overbid for the BE IMO.. I don’t see major competition for the rights. ESPN seems full outside of ESPN+ between the SEC, ACC, AAC and Big 12 agreements, FOX has B12 and B1G but can offer a very similar package to what they currently have.. NBC won’t do it, and I doubt CBS would be a major player. They know the BE would want to value linear exposure and FOX is really the only one in a position to give it to them.

What people seem to forget is the Big 10 Network, SEC Network, and ACC Network have siphoned off a huge number of college basketball games. It’s what makes these networks viable. FOX needs the BE content.

 

[UConnJim]

I think this is why the big east and fox have not come up with a deal yet…does anyone know if a basketball conference would be attractive to an apple or Amazon?

The Big East contract with FOX has 2 more years remaining. Ackerman said in March that the BE would approach FOX early in “a few months” to talk about extending the contract. The earliest I would have expected an update is at Big East media day.

 

[upstater]

The conference would be forced to decide between exposure and income.

There are 2 kinds of exposure though. There's the no exposure at all because of ESPN+. And then there's the low exposure variety of FS1 and FS2. For UConn fans, Fox is great. For players wanting to showcase their skills, it's not so hot.

If ESPN taking the BE could guarantee the vast majority of UConn games on ESPN/2, that would be a huge bonus for the program.

Because, as we've seen, the Atlantic 10 tourney did better numbers than the BET, and that's solely because of the Fox/FS1/FS2 issue. Very few people turn to these channels.

 

[Sole]

The Big East contract with FOX has 2 more years remaining. Ackerman said in March that the BE would approach FOX early in “a few months” to talk about extending the contract. The earliest I would have expected an update is at Big East media day.

I think if the big east and fox don’t have a agreement by the start of basketball season then it means the big east feels they can do better in the open market or fox doesn’t want the big east.. because after the season the big east can negotiate with anyone .. if that is the case then it is very important that the big east have a big year

 

[CL82]

I think if the big east and fox don’t have a agreement by the start of basketball season then it means the big east feels they can do better in the open market or fox doesn’t want the big east.. because after the season the big east can negotiate with anyone .. if that is the case then it is very important that the big east have a big year

Either that or Fox has decided it's not a property at wants to pursue.

 

[Drew]

What people seem to forget is the Big 10 Network, SEC Network, and ACC Network have siphoned off a huge number of college basketball games. It’s what makes these networks viable. FOX needs the BE content.

Right.. but we’re not talking about that many windows on a nightly basis. These are 18 team leagues at this point and we’re talking about having at most 2 games on conference networks nightly.. which also show women’s games and other sports.

I’m just curious if FOX thinks it’s worth it to continue the production level it’s currently maintaining with the Big East. The tv numbers really are not that great comparing to the leagues you’d consider “peers” from a hoops perspective- even the BET doesn’t draw on TV like other tournaments do. Right now they broadcast essentially every single Big East game on FS1… could FOX determine there’s no value in putting DePaul, Butler, etc on tv 20 times a year versus potential alternate programming? Do they decide to make a run at the NBA who also has an expiring TV deal in 2 years? I have no idea.

Outside of the # of games on FOX and FS1, I’ll be curious to see if they’re still sending crews on-site to all games and whatnot going forwards