More trouble in ACC paradise?

[UConn Dan]

Dave and Dan asleep at the switch?

Beyond the compelling nature of the non-con games, the business arrangement is also unprecedented. The Duke/Amazon partnership is a multiyear agreement and the NIL opportunities for Duke will be huge — in the millions annually — sources told CBS Sports. In fact, other event organizers had been pursuing Duke for significant nonconference games, sources said, but none of those could match the payouts that will come with Prime Video's package. There is also the advantage of being able to independently control the teams. Because of that, Scheyer aggressively pursued the innovative deal for months. He has been among the most prominent tone-setters in ambitious nonconference scheduling since he took over the program in 2022.

The reality is Duke is just in a different universe than we are. They have a significant national following. Just compare Duke vs. UConn instagram followers as a data point.

Can UConn get this type of deal someday? Maybe. It would require the Big East and Fox to sell the rights for one, but I don’t think we have that cachet yet. I think we are the best program of the last 25-30 years but unfortunately we don’t have the Duke name pull. Yet!

 

[Hoophound]

The reality is Duke is just in a different universe than we are. They have a significant national following. Just compare Duke vs. UConn instagram followers as a data point.

Can UConn get this type of deal someday? Maybe. It would require the Big East and Fox to sell the rights for one, but I don’t think we have that cachet yet. I think we are the best program of the last 25-30 years but unfortunately we don’t have the Duke name pull. Yet!

Sort of. UConn needs deals like this to create that national following. A similar deal that doesn’t pay as well as theirs is a start.

I’d probably make it a men’s and women’s doubleheader in our case. As much as I dislike watching women’s basketball, it is clearly growing. UConn needs to keep a stranglehold on its royal status in women’s ball, even after Geno.

 

[Kolumbo]

The duke v UConn game is wednesday night before Thanksgiving in Vegas, T-Mobile Arnea, capacity 18k. I'm not sure if that is great or awful. I suppose it could be the biggest game with a lot of neutral fans? Or a big vacation destination. MSG will probably have a lot of duke and Michigan fans. MSG would have been much more exciting.

DUKE vs UCONN | T-Mobile Arena

www.t-mobilearena.com

Event Details​

DUKE vs UCONN at T-Mobile Arena this November - two giants, one court.

 

[Hoophound]

The duke v UConn game is wednesday night before Thanksgiving in Vegas, T-Mobile Arnea, capacity 18k. I'm not sure if that is great or awful. I suppose it could be the biggest game with a lot of neutral fans? Or a big vacation destination. MSG will probably have a lot of duke and Michigan fans. MSG would have been much more exciting.

DUKE vs UCONN | T-Mobile Arena

www.t-mobilearena.com

Event Details​

DUKE vs UCONN at T-Mobile Arena this November - two giants, one court.

I can almost guarantee you that Duke didn’t want to chance us taking over MSG and giving them a beating. They are known for having a big fan base in New York City but when they play UConn or St. John’s at MSG, they will have a real away game. They aren’t going to do that against us or a Pitino led SJU.

 

[John]

The duke v UConn game is wednesday night before Thanksgiving in Vegas, T-Mobile Arnea, capacity 18k. I'm not sure if that is great or awful. I suppose it could be the biggest game with a lot of neutral fans? Or a big vacation destination. MSG will probably have a lot of duke and Michigan fans. MSG would have been much more exciting.

DUKE vs UCONN | T-Mobile Arena

www.t-mobilearena.com

Event Details​

DUKE vs UCONN at T-Mobile Arena this November - two giants, one court.

all three games that they scheduled this year with the deal are inconvenient to both fan bases.

 

[Kolumbo]

all three games that they scheduled this year with the deal are inconvenient to both fan bases.

I guess the flipside to the vegas game is the tv ratings will be incredible which is why Amazon is doing it.

edit: I gotta say for a conference which has left us out, the ACC does a lot of scheduling with UConn. It is such a weird incomprehensible situation. They know UConn is far more valuable than the other northern schools they got themselves saddled with.

edit edit:
ACC - 1
Big 12 - 0

Brett Yormark must be taking notice. He's trying to be creative/proactive because it's the acc vs big 12 for the #3 spot and duke is playing Big East, Big Ten, and even the Pac 12.

 

[KryHavok]

edit: I gotta say for a conference which has left us out, the ACC does a lot of scheduling with UConn. It is such a weird incomprehensible situation. They know UConn is far more valuable than the other northern schools they got themselves saddled with.

They like to schedule us cuz they think they can beat us (and then rub it in our face that because we lost, we don't belong), but if/when we beat them...silence, cuz they know deep down we can compete, but they can't admit the fit is actually good. They love to hate us and hate to love us even though we would have competitive rivalries in football and basketball with their members.

 

[Kolumbo]

They like to schedule us cuz they think they can beat us (and then rub it in our face that because we lost, we don't belong), but if/when we beat them...silence, cuz they know deep down we can compete, but they can't admit the fit is actually good. They love to hate us and hate to love us even though we would have competitive rivalries in football and basketball with their members.

I'm not so sure about that take anymore. If we aren't important enough to be a member they wouldn't give two rats about beating us. They schedule UConn because it is a very good program on the east coast. Basketball is a no brainer. We have 10 football games scheduled over the 3 years and local to NY and Mass

 

[Hoophound]

They say Scheyer isn't afraid to play tough games. It serves a coach well to play a tough schedule. People really respect it as long as you win more than you lose most years. I think he sees it as a marketing opportunity but he also sees it like Hurley does, the ACC just hasn't been that good lately. He wants to play tough teams and get battle tested. Good for him, and us. Maybe, we can start playing each other almost yearly, even if we aren't in the same conference.