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

[BugsyCT]

Uh, Dave? You couldn't find a better stadium shot than that?

View attachment 54285

He did better than the Coach. Edsall tweeted this cool pic of the Rent and didn't notice he happened to be coaching the visiting team in it.

Not a big deal, just thought it was funny.

 

[Buffett10]

He did better than the Coach. Edsall tweeted this cool pic of the Rent and didn't notice he happened to be coaching the visiting team in it.

Not a big deal, just thought it was funny.

You think edsall cares when he just got a shiny new recruit?

 

[BugsyCT]

You think edsall cares when he just got a shiny new recruit?

No. As he shouldn't.

 

[Ajs120102]

SBJ College: UConn's Independent Study

www.sportsbusinessdaily.com

Some interesting nuggets
1- UConn should make around 500,000 a year
2- will be incentivized to schedule better home games
3- AD David Benedict says he will aim for at least 6 home games and schedule name brand opponents because they better the opponent the more money they will make

 

[huskymedic]

Some leaps here...

 

[Ajs120102]

Some leaps here...

The guy goes to NAVY and has a bias against UConn. Some truly bad writing. The owner of that site went to UCF as well.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Some leaps here...

Not too far off on the analysis but completely whiffs on the WBB which is a significant revenue stream for UConn compared to other programs and is significant for alumni engagement and donations. Making sure the women weren't relegated to ESPN+ is a real factor.
Throwing out the $7m AAC average without the context of it being a staggered payout is also disingenuous.

 

[Storrs South]

Some leaps here...

One advantage of the CBSSN deal is UConn not having to pay production costs for their telecasts. However, the accessibility of ESPN+ makes up for the production costs of schools to use the platform.

I don't even know where to start with poking holes through this article. Yikes.

 

[freescooter]

Not a totally unreasonable analysis. we aren’t way better off than in the AAC with this deal. Probably long term worse. OTOH it is better than we expected and opens the door to other possibilities. Maybe we have a shot at a 2 for 1 type deal with a
national brand for example. Plus we have a home schedule most years that is more palatable to our fans so with a few wins we could begin to see bodies in the seats again. To me the goal ought to be 30;000. FWIW I’d still try to get UMass as a season ended every year. If we have a rival it would seem a school we have played more than 100 times over the years and is located 50 miles away would at least be worthy of consideration.

 

[huskymedic]

The guy goes to NAVY

US Military Academy (West Point) but clearly not a UConn fan.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Not a totally unreasonable analysis. we aren’t way better off than in the AAC with this deal. Probably long term worse. OTOH it is better than we expected and opens the door to other possibilities. Maybe we have a shot at a 2 for 1 type deal with a
national brand for example. Plus we have a home schedule most years that is more palatable to our fans so with a few wins we could begin to see bodies in the seats again. To me the goal ought to be 30;000. FWIW I’d still try to get UMass as a season ended every year. If we have a rival it would seem a school we have played more than 100 times over the years and is located 50 miles away would at least be worthy of consideration.

The ability for visitors to have the games shown on CBSSN vice ESPN+ is what will allow for higher quality opponents and bigger crowds. You can go chicken or the egg as which comes first but you can't split them apart.
The TV deal makes it easier to schedule better (and more appealing) opponents than the AAC allowed.

 

[CL82]

Probably long term worse.

I don't think so, for a lot reasons that I've posted previously. Right now, on a net basis the BE and AAC deals are equivalent (at best.) Keep in mind the American deal is at the start of it's 12 year run. The BE is toward the end of its 12 year run. Their next deal should be better.

 

[Exit 4]

The BE is toward the end of its 12 year run. Their next deal should be better.

Fingers crossed. Lots of things moving against a bump up.

 

[CL82]

Fingers crossed. Lots of things moving against a bump up.

Yes and no. The Big East has turned out to be a much better product than was previously anticipated. Our joining shouldn't hurt things either. I'm cautiously hopeful.

 

[DoctorWho85]

Welcome to the Dog Pound, CBS!!!

That felt damned good to type...

Confirmed 14-0 next year

 

[freescooter]

Fingers crossed. Lots of things moving against a bump up.

This is what I think too. Maybe a modest bump maybe not. I know if I were negotiating the nex B E deal I would want to go shorter rather than longer. We are just at the beginning of the streaming era for example. I don’t think the AAC deal will be out of the ordinary in the next round fwiw. You are seeing P5 leagues look at it. But not sure I want to be the guinea pig either. The Big East as a basketball only league could well be easy to push in that direction. On the other hand you also don’t want to be locked into a linear platform for 12 years when by year 4 everyone is streaming and making big money for it. Finally remember ESPN has been hemorrhaging viewers. It has eased up due to Covid but will likely return after things return to normal. That will discourage huge bidding.

 

[jbdphi]

I “think” there are a few pieces still missing from any near-term analysis of UConn now vs random team still in the AAC:
1. A renegotiation of the AAC deal post-UConn departure - I had seen that this was going to happen but assume it won’t come with any big press release as it would likely involve a haircut from the previous version
2. Isn’t the Big East / Fox Sports contract either up soon or potentially going to be renegotiated with the addition of UConn?
3. The AAC contract is back-weighted so in the first few years the payout was supposed to be ~$4 million or so per team per year? Net of production costs, that would make the Big East contract superior right away without the CBS deal (although I don’t believe we start getting a full share right away).

 

[Ajs120102]

Yes and no. The Big East has turned out to be a much better product than was previously anticipated. Our joining shouldn't hurt things either. I'm cautiously hopeful.

I mean I think the next deal will be in the 650-750 mil range with more digital components. Either way it’ll be a bump up. However, it won’t be as big as we think.

 

[Storrs South]

I mean I think the next deal will be in the 650-750 mil range with more digital components. Either way it’ll be a bump up. However, it won’t be as big as we think.

We don't even know yet how much they are going to bump up the current deal. The upside for UConn is significantly higher both in the short and long term.

 

[LoyalFanCT]

Not a totally unreasonable analysis. we aren’t way better off than in the AAC with this deal. Probably long term worse. OTOH it is better than we expected and opens the door to other possibilities. Maybe we have a shot at a 2 for 1 type deal with a
national brand for example. Plus we have a home schedule most years that is more palatable to our fans so with a few wins we could begin to see bodies in the seats again. To me the goal ought to be 30;000. FWIW I’d still try to get UMass as a season ended every year. If we have a rival it would seem a school we have played more than 100 times over the years and is located 50 miles away would at least be worthy of consideration.

Better yearly rival may be Boston College. May be hard to schedule but if we can, would lead to fan interest.

 

[Exit 4]

1. A renegotiation of the AAC deal post-UConn departure - I had seen that this was going to happen but assume it won’t come with any big press release as it would likely involve a haircut from the previous version

Yeah, it seems its most likely they will try to get by without making an announcement regarding a reduction in the new ESPN deal for our exit. At a minimum that contract has to be reduced by whatever our pro-rata share was set to be - presumably 1/11th (Navy is largely carved out via their own CBS deal). And if the contract is reduced by our share, what's the need for a press release because that would be a "business as usual" type adjustment. Furthermore, ESPN and the AAC might keep the downward adjustment paper trail to a minimum (to minimize FOIA) by ESPN merely giving notice to AAC HQ of the UConn pro-rata reduction which might help keep it off the desk of any of the ADs.

Of course, UConn was worth far more than a simple 1/11th share. If ESPN ask for more than 1/11th back, they will find another way to bury the news. Probably layer in more charge backs to reduce the net payout while keeping the top line #.

 

[freescooter]

Better yearly rival may be Boston College. May be hard to schedule but if we can, would lead to fan interest.

Yeah but I think that is a tough sell to BC. they are not scheduling us annually I don’t think. We will most likely be playing UMass annually anyway. We should take advantage of it. I think we were their best home crowd last year, maybe second, and both teams were terrible. Imagine if both were pretty good or even one good and the other decent. Though fwiw the last time we played at BC we were the second largest crowd of the year At Alumni Stadium behind I think Clemson.

 

[AD DB Burner]

Though fwiw the last time we played at BC we were the second largest crowd of the year At Alumni Stadium behind I think Clemson.

From what I recall from being at that game, the crowd felt like it was at least 20-30% UConn fans as well.

 

[HartfordHank]

Better yearly rival may be Boston College. May be hard to schedule but if we can, would lead to fan interest.

Not going to happen!

 

[freescooter]

Agree Hank. In this era where conferences dominate BC wont schedule the same non conference team evvery year. With limited non league games you need to schedule multiple teams over a say 10 year period. You would do that even if scheduling the same ones would be advantageous to you In terms of attendance. If I were BC I wouldn’t do it.