Major Announcement... TV? (Update>CBSSN)

[Chief00]

My question is why doesn't the university release the actual numbers? They are a taxpayer funded entity. The numbers should absolutely be public.

BTW, the entire Big East conference has a 12 year $500 million TV contract. That's $41 million a year divided among 12 teams. A little over $4 mil per. UConn football willl not be receiving a eight figure contract (minimum $10,000,000 which translates to $2.5 million a year).

My guess - they don’t want the low sticker price comparison bad optics. I agree, with those who argue it’s a more nuance situation but headlines don’t tell that story.

 

[Chief00]

I think maybe UConn was killing our Athletic Department. Honestly do you think if we had gone to the tournament in 2015, then again in 2016 and made a deep run in 17 when we allegedly had a top 10 recruiting class and if Diaco had followed up the bowl game with a conference championship challenge the next year, maybe built on that to become, ands it’s almost embarrassing to write this, Memphis or Temple, anybody would say the AAC was killing us? The problem wasn’t in our stars but in ourselves as the bard said. Ollie drove the hoop program off a cliff. Couldn’t identify talent if the all wore signs. Diaco could but unfortunately most of it was FCS talent. I didn’t love the AAC. Too spread out. If the Bic East football league was the 2nd school in each state the AAC was 3rd, but blaming it for the collapse of our athletic program is like blaming the bartender on the Titanic for the disaster. He didn’t help but the iceberg had a bit more to do with it. And fwiw our iceberg is now endangering the waters in Ann Arbor

Yeah, a few schools have used the AAC affiliation to booster their football (UCF, Houston, Memphis and maybe USF and Cincy) - so the decline of football is on UConn not the conference.

 

[MilliniumPrince]

We were the problem with the AAC. We were supposed to be the flagship athletic department, but we ran our ship into sharp rocks. If the Uconn they hoped for had delivered, the conference would have been in stronger position in negotiations.

 

[Exit 4]

 

[Chin Diesel]

No clue if this guy is legit or not...

Assuming SBJ = Sports Business Journal, then yes it's legit.

 

[huskymedic]

Be interesting to see out years as this year is only 4 games (@ best):

 

[Griggs]

A bowl tie-in would be the final piece of the puzzle.

 

[CL82]

I’d be OK with a half million a season for national linear TV coverage right now. When our on the field performance improves, this number should as well.

 

[Storrs South]

Be interesting to see out years as this year is only 4 games (@ best):

From the newsletter:

The deal with CBSSN, which covers four football games in 2020 and the full slate of home games from 2021-23, could pay as much as $100,000 per game, depending on the appeal of the matchup. Games against Power 5 programs are valued higher than games against FCS or Group of 5 teams. Taking all of that into account, the package could fetch around $500,000 a year.

EDIT: Should have included this as well

Indiana, Purdue, Syracuse, Boston College, Duke and N.C. State are among the Power 5 teams coming to UConn in upcoming seasons. “That incentivizes us to schedule well because the better our schedule is, the more money we're going to make,” said Benedict, who is aiming for at least six home games per season.

 

[Exit 4]

Again from the MA story yesterday; "Financial specifics weren’t available, but the CBS Sports deal, which is over seven figures for the four years, will benefit UConn in ways similar to the average of deals in place for teams in conferences such as Conference USA, the MAAC and Mountain West.

Looks like the "over" seven figures was a mistake by MA...but then again a dollar figure on par with the MTW would be more like $2.5 per year....unless the MTW schools need to cover production which would chop that figure down.

As for the variable compensation based on team status...well thats just a logical approach.

 

[Storrs South]

Again from the MA story yesterday; "Financial specifics weren’t available, but the CBS Sports deal, which is over seven figures for the four years, will benefit UConn in ways similar to the average of deals in place for teams in conferences such as Conference USA, the MAAC and Mountain West.

Looks like the "over" seven figures was a mistake by MA...but then again a dollar figure on par with the MTW would be more like $2.5 per year....unless the MTW schools need to cover production which would chop that figure down.

As for the variable compensation based on team status...well thats just a logical approach.

Over 7 figures is over $1 million, which $500k/4 years is coming in at $2 million

 

[Exit 4]

Over 7 figures is over $1 million, which $500k/4 years is coming in at $2 million

I deal with numbers for a living for over 20 years. Nobody would ever say "over" seven figures to reference seven figures. They would simply say "in the" seven figures or just say "seven figures."

Even your reference point link doesn't use the preposition "over" in the examples. Its a mistake to use the preposition "over" as it leads to the confusion we have here.

As for the $2 million, the MTW is getting over $3MM per school per year for a combined package of football and basketball. Now their basketball can't be worth anything at all, so its really $3MM for football per annum. So unless there is something missing, its hard to say this is on par with the MTW.

 

[HuskyAlum012]

I deal with numbers for a living for over 20 years. Nobody would ever say "over" seven figures to reference seven figures. They would simply say "in the" seven figures or just say "seven figures."

Even your reference point link doesn't use the preposition "over" in the examples. Its a mistake to use the preposition "over" as it leads to the confusion we have here.

As for the $2 million, the MTW is getting over $3MM per school per year for a combined package of football and basketball. Now their basketball can't be worth anything at all, so its really $3MM for football per annum. So unless there is something missing, its hard to say this is on par with the MTW.

 

[hardcorehusky]

The fact that DB got this deal done with the dumpster fire the program has been, is a good thing. Better opposition means bigger payouts. P5 will want to come to the Rent as it is another opportunity for exposure. RE has most of the tools needed to make this work. Once there are bowl tie ins, we will have everything needed outside a conference championship to be successful.

The key money drive ultimately will be fans- every 10,000 fans at $25 average a game is $250,000 to the bottom line and over a season of 6 games is $1,500,000. Get to 30K attendance which I think is doable in due time and now you are at $3M in attendance revenue increase. Get to close to a sell out and you are looking at over $4,500,000 minimum.

The game plan was to get teams in here that fans would want to see. And will also travel. So attendance is the key for UConn followed by the TV deal.

 

[Chin Diesel]

I deal with numbers for a living for over 20 years. Nobody would ever say "over" seven figures to reference seven figures. They would simply say "in the" seven figures or just say "seven figures."

Even your reference point link doesn't use the preposition "over" in the examples. Its a mistake to use the preposition "over" as it leads to the confusion we have here.

As for the $2 million, the MTW is getting over $3MM per school per year for a combined package of football and basketball. Now their basketball can't be worth anything at all, so its really $3MM for football per annum. So unless there is something missing, its hard to say this is on par with the MTW.

Don't assume the people writing the press releases and writing news articles have been dealing with numbers for over 20 years.

 

[Exit 4]

Don't assume the people writing the press releases and writing news articles have been dealing with numbers for over 20 years.

Listen, Maybe I am wrong..way wrong...but there is a reason nobody likes to use this form of phrasing...particularly when coupled with using "over."

Eventually this contract will be FOIA'd and we can see for ourselves....maybe.

 

[Chief00]

I like tying the contract $’s per game to competition. It’s a tough sell to make to a certain head coach but it’s good for the fans. Additionally, since you don’t have a huge TV deal - need to make $’s at the gate.

 

[Waquoit]

We were the problem with the AAC. We were supposed to be the flagship athletic department, but we ran our ship into sharp rocks. If the Uconn they hoped for had delivered, the conference would have been in stronger position in negotiations.

If that was true they would have treated UConn better.

 

[MilliniumPrince]

If that was true they would have treated UConn better.

They treated us just fine. What were you expecting, mandatory reach-arounds during media days?

We watched several football programs get better in the AAC. We watched several basketball programs get better in the AAC. If Uconn had ended the decade the way we started it, the entire picture would have been better. We dropped the ball and paid too heavy of a price.

But we are still alive.

 

[Waquoit]

We dropped the ball and paid too heavy of a price.

The ball got dropped on us. Happiness is the AAC in the RVW.

 

[Buffett10]

Agree, and we aren’t having conference games in FL and TX, so it will be more difficult for families of recruits in these target recruiting markets to see their kids. So at least they can catch some games on TV.

We won't have conference games there but the OOC games there are coming. Stay tuned.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

They treated us just fine. What were you expecting, mandatory reach-arounds during media days?

We watched several football programs get better in the AAC. We watched several basketball programs get better in the AAC. If Uconn had ended the decade the way we started it, the entire picture would have been better. We dropped the ball and paid too heavy of a price.

But we are still alive.

I didn't realize that some people were still defending the AAC. Joining that league was catastrophic for UConn athletics. There is no "but" about it.

 

[freescooter]

They treated us just fine. What were you expecting, mandatory reach-arounds during media days?

We watched several football programs get better in the AAC. We watched several basketball programs get better in the AAC. If Uconn had ended the decade the way we started it, the entire picture would have been better. We dropped the ball and paid too heavy of a price.

But we are still alive.

Exactly. Hurley’s recruiting proves Hurley can recruit. He recruited well at URI and at Wagner. We hired awful coaches who did lots of damage in their time here. In football we went from bad to remarkably hideous. In basketball we went to a guy who could’t evaluate talent and thought he didn’t have to work.
When the AAC was formed lots of people, me included, thought we had the opportunity to be the top program in both basketball and football with regular chances at big bowls and NCAA berths. We had the name, the facilities and the experiences to make that happen. We didn‘t because we had a horrible athletic administration. And as you said we paid a heavy price.

 

[Ajs120102]

What UConn's new TV deal means for FBS independents, and the future of UConn football

UConn bet on their own ability to generate linear exposure, and won. But now comes the hard part.

mattbrown.substack.com

really well done. Says a lot of positive things and some critiques. Bottom line: UConn football isn’t dead.

 

[Exit 4]

What UConn's new TV deal means for FBS independents, and the future of UConn football

UConn bet on their own ability to generate linear exposure, and won. But now comes the hard part.

mattbrown.substack.com

really well done. Says a lot of positive things and some critiques. Bottom line: UConn football isn’t dead.

He’s pretty frank - but certainly not off base with his take on the CBS deal. Basically the pressure is now on Randy to make us competitive on this new national platform. Got to be a 5 to 8 win team.