Non-Key Tweets

[DarthGrumpy]

If UConn rejected a B1G Hockey-only invite (that I have serious doubts of its validity) then everyone involved at UConn should be immediately fired. The ONLY scenario that would be acceptable is if Swofford is on line two with an all-sports invite in hand. Then you click back to line one and barter.

The question is with any such offer is if an hockey only invite is just a prelude to a all sports invite or not. if it is, then of course. If the B1G has no interest in adding UConn for all sports, then it is less clear as UConn hockey would be better off image, cost and competitive wise in Hockey East.

 

[HuskyHawk]

People who think that the B1G wouldn't take Kansas over us to go along with OU, if that were to happen, really make UConn fans look ignorant. I'm sorry, but if they're taking OU then they'll take Kansas too before taking UConn.

Yes, it's pretty obvious really. I'd rather find a way for OU to head to the SEC so that it is UConn and Kansas instead. But then I'm a little biased.

 

[Dooley]

I think that if UConn and the B1G are talking hockey, then UConn would surely communicate that moving hockey only to the B1G would be a step down for our program. The Hockey East is the unquestioned best conference in collegiate hockey and the travel costs to play in it are minimal, at best. If a market develops within SNY for UConn hockey, and it sure seems like it is, then that's lost "NYC opportunity".

The only way I see UConn moving its hockey program to the B1G is if it was a pre-cursor to becoming a full-time member.

 

[Kolumbo]

Temple would fill in a big geographic/market hole that the ACC has in between the Virginia and New York with the loss of Maryland and not taking Rutgers first. That said, for the PA market, Penn St > Pitt + Temple.

Agreed, of course Penn State is greater, but there are no other options and the ACC enjoys having little brothers (Louisville, Clemson, Pitt). Enrollment Penn State = 45k/97k; Temple = 38k; Pitt = 29k. B1G has Penn State, Rutgers, Maryland. How else can ACC fill that huge east coast gap? UCONN, Temple, Navy/Georgetown?

 

[nelsonmuntz]

People who think that the B1G wouldn't take Kansas over us to go along with OU, if that were to happen, really make UConn fans look ignorant. I'm sorry, but if they're taking OU then they'll take Kansas too before taking UConn.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

If the TV deal gets blown apart I hope UConn pushes to retain Tier 3 rights. Or at the very least retain the women's bball rights. If ESPN wants to flush everything down the toilet, then let them pay $1m to AAC (ala CUSA) but let UConn retain women's and tier 3 rights.

The only good thing about the TV deal being blown apart is that UConn may finally leave this hell hole of a conference.

 

[SubbaBub]

The question is with any such offer is if an hockey only invite is just a prelude to a all sports invite or not. if it is, then of course. If the B1G has no interest in adding UConn for all sports, then it is less clear as UConn hockey would be better off image, cost and competitive wise in Hockey East.

The answer would be, "We would love to partner with the B1G conference. UConn is the premier public flagship research university in the northeast. We believe UConn would add tremendous value to fellow conference members in terms of academic collaberation and regional exposure in New York and New England. We would graciously accept any all sports invitation, but our hockey program does very well as a member of Hockey East. We could entertain any number of transitional scenarios, including moving individual sports on an accelerated basis, but without the eventuality of full membership, moving a single program would not be in the best interests of the University."

In short, you can't do it without an agreement on a full invite.

 

[Stinger92860]

I hate to break it to the Dude, but AAU or not...if Oklahoma wants in the B1G, the B1G will take them. Their brand is too big for the B1G to ignore. They have the TVs, now they need the content. OSU vs OU would be a marquee matchup and add some much needed strength to the western part of the conference and a rival with Nebraska.

How many TV's does OK have in its footprint? Is there enough to pay for 2 schools? How many TV's in Kansas footprint?

 

[HuskyHawk]

How many TV's does OK have in its footprint? Is there enough to pay for 2 schools? How many TV's in Kansas footprint?

The answer is: (a) more than you think, and more than Nebraska and (b) not that important. OU flips on TVs nationwide for football in big numbers. It has has very good basketball and great baseball. Kansas had the most valuable tier 3 rights in the Big XII before the Longhorn Network and also flips on TVs for basketball nationwide at a higher rate than UConn. With KC included in its footprint, the markets are just a little below what UConn covers (including its share of the NY DMA).

 

[upstater]

The only good thing about the TV deal being blown apart is that UConn may finally leave this hell hole of a conference.

So leave behind 5 more years of $6-7 million in fees for less and kill football. That's your plan.

 

[upstater]

The answer is: (a) more than you think, and more than Nebraska and (b) not that important. OU flips on TVs nationwide for football in big numbers. It has has very good basketball and great baseball. Kansas had the most valuable tier 3 rights in the Big XII before the Longhorn Network and also flips on TVs for basketball nationwide at a higher rate than UConn. With KC included in its footprint, the markets are just a little below what UConn covers (including its share of the NY DMA).

Apples to oranges comparison. People are going to tune in for Kansas-Oklahoma St, but they're not going to tune in for UConn-Tulane.

Now, check out the ratings from last year. When UConn played P5 opponents, it got 1 million+ viewers.

 

[Dooley]

Apples to oranges comparison. People are going to tune in for Kansas-Oklahoma St, but they're not going to tune in for UConn-Tulane.

Now, check out the ratings from last year. When UConn played P5 opponents, it got 1 million+ viewers.

This right here is what bugs me most about ratings discussions. OF COURSE other good programs are going to provide better ratings than UConn. Other programs play other good programs. We play the dregs of the collegiate world. You could almost make the argument that UConn has close to 100% ratings pull for all of its games, meaning that almost every TV turned on to the UConn game is doing so because of UConn. When Kansas plays against Texas, there are healthy splits of TVs tuning in for each program (albeit moreso for Kansas, I would think). So that makes UConn's rating fairly equivalent to anything any other program posts. 90% of a .7 rating is about the same as 50% of a 1.4 in terms of a school's ratings weight. There is no question UConn is on par with every single P5 hoops program. Obviously some (Kentucky) carry more weight than UConn. But we go toe to toe with Kansas.

 

[Jerry27]

The only good thing about the TV deal being blown apart is that UConn may finally leave this hell hole of a conference.

And where exactly would they go? Rhetorical of course we all know your argument, it's tired. UConn doesn't decide where they're going to go, do you get that? You have to be invited, and no one has come knocking on our door. Your fantasy of going back to the BE is just that, they don't want us either; why because they know we wouldn't be with them for the long haul and at the drop of hat we would be gone. You want the whole athletic department to go down the drain to save basketball we get it. The only benefit at this time of the TV deal being blown up is the possibility of getting our tier 2/3 rights back.

 

[Husky25]

You want the whole athletic department to go down the drain to save basketball we get it.

...And contrary to this particular unpopular belief, basketball would blow up with the rest of the Ath. Dept. There is no saving basketball without football.

 

[Dooley]

Honestly, I would much rather sit through a Donald Trump "Ban Muslims" seminar than read another round of Nelson's strategy to crush our entire athletic department.

 

[The Viking]

Delaney has told us we will likely be added in the next five years.
He's calling back now to get hockey in to the big 10 before our other sports are added. But we don't have an official invite and we are leery of leaving our neighbors and the best hockey conference outside of pro hockey.
At least that's what AAC Man told me last night over dinner at Salute's

 

[businesslawyer]

If UConn rejected a B1G Hockey-only invite (that I have serious doubts of its validity) then everyone involved at UConn should be immediately fired. The ONLY scenario that would be acceptable is if Swofford is on line two with an all-sports invite in hand. Then you click back to line one and barter.

Yes. Because supplying people with milk is a great way to increase the market for cows.

 

[CL82]

The quid pro quo is that the B1G pays it's hockey schools somewhere around $2MM

So like twice the TV money we are currently getting for all sports?

Still, you can't give away the milk and expect them to buy the cow. [on edit-damn it, Bizlaw beat me to it]
The price to 1st tier access in Connecticut is full admission.

If Cinci and another school leaves, UConn should press Aresco to push for a vote to allow teams sell their own rights. UConn WBB is worth $1M, easily. UConn Men's Hockey is worth at least that. Certainly Men's BBall and football are each worth more. So UConn could sell its TV rights for $5-10M on SNY or YES. I think that that is very conservative. They'd be worth more to a national company. Yet when they are packaged with the rest of the AAC they worth less than $2 mil?

 

[NYUConn]

So like twice the TV money we are currently getting for all sports?

Still, you can't give away the milk and expect them to buy the cow. The price to 1st tier access in Connecticut is full admission. [on edit..damn it, Bizlaw beat me to it]

If Cinci and another school leave, UConn should press Aresco to push for a vote to allow teams sell their own rights. UConn WBB is worth $1M, easily. UConn Men's Hockey is worth at least that. Certainly Men's BBall and football are each worth more. So UConn could sell its TV rights for $5-10M on SNY or YES. I think that that is very conservative. They'd be worth more to a national company. Yet when they are package with the rest of the AAC they worth less than $2 mil?

I thought about this the other day and if the worst case scenario happens I think UConn could be in a strong position to force Aresco and the AAC to get our rights back. The AAC needs the UConn brand to get any kind of bball deal at all moving forward for that conference, let alone provide it with any kind of legitimacy come selection Sunday and if we could get our T1-3 rights we could probably get between $5-10 million on the open market for them.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Yes. Because supplying people with milk is a great way to increase the market for cows.

Sometimes it can be beneficial to provide a free sample however... Not sure how we do that...non conference scheduling deal?

 

[Stinger92860]

The answer is: (a) more than you think, and more than Nebraska and (b) not that important. OU flips on TVs nationwide for football in big numbers. It has has very good basketball and great baseball. Kansas had the most valuable tier 3 rights in the Big XII before the Longhorn Network and also flips on TVs for basketball nationwide at a higher rate than UConn. With KC included in its footprint, the markets are just a little below what UConn covers (including its share of the NY DMA).

Without numbers your position is a guess. The numbers are important. In the BTN model a large part of the revenue stream is directly related to carriage fees and advertising revenues (they get 50% from ads). So I ask again, what are the numbers?

 

[businesslawyer]

Sometimes it can be beneficial to provide a free sample however... Not sure how we do that...non conference scheduling deal?

There is no need for a sample. The Big Ten knows what we bring. If they want hockey but don't want everything else, the thought that we increase our chances of everything else by giving them hockey is -- to be blunt -- dumb.

 

[pj]

I think this is an academic discussion. Why would the B1G take UConn hockey without also taking UConn men's and women's basketball? If those three, why not the Olympic sports as a package?

UConn hockey is not a big draw for the B1G. Getting a foothold in New England is. They are not buying sports programs a la carte, they are buying a dominant position in major markets.

If this is a serious discussion, the discussion is probably about UConn all-sports except football, and some kind of scheduling arrangement to help sustain the football program, with a likely football invite when a partner is available.

 

[pj]

Yes. Because supplying people with milk is a great way to increase the market for cows.

On the other hand, providing incorporation services is a great way to increase the market for patent services, litigation services, and contract services.

Providing teeth cleanings is a great way to increase the market for root canals.

Sometimes, it pays to build a relationship.

 

[SubbaBub]

On the other hand, providing incorporation services is a great way to increase the market for patent services, litigation services, and contract services.

Providing teeth cleanings is a great way to increase the market for root canals.

Sometimes, it pays to build a relationship.

Except this is a market of one and it would cost UCONN a lot of money to do it. There are lots of ways to build relationships. Overextending oneself comes off as needy.

 

[NYUConn]

I think this is an academic discussion. Why would the B1G take UConn hockey without also taking UConn men's and women's basketball? If those three, why not the Olympic sports as a package?

UConn hockey is not a big draw for the B1G. Getting a foothold in New England is. They are not buying sports programs a la carte, they are buying a dominant position in major markets.

If this is a serious discussion, the discussion is probably about UConn all-sports except football, and some kind of scheduling arrangement to help sustain the football program, with a likely football invite when a partner is available.

I mean let's be real, if the B1G said yes to UConn at 15 it would take them approximately 30 seconds to grab team No. 16 out of the Big 12.

 

[UC1995]

So like twice the TV money we are currently getting for all sports?

Still, you can't give away the milk and expect them to buy the cow. [on edit-damn it, Bizlaw beat me to it]
The price to 1st tier access in Connecticut is full admission.

If Cinci and another school leaves, UConn should press Aresco to push for a vote to allow teams sell their own rights. UConn WBB is worth $1M, easily. UConn Men's Hockey is worth at least that. Certainly Men's BBall and football are each worth more. So UConn could sell its TV rights for $5-10M on SNY or YES. I think that that is very conservative. They'd be worth more to a national company. Yet when they are packaged with the rest of the AAC they worth less than $2 mil?

Problem is that you get more money for the athletic department but we lose any chance of national exposure without ESPN's monopoly. SNY and YES will only take you so far.

 

[Fishy]

Problem is that you get more money for the athletic department but we lose any chance of national exposure without ESPN's monopoly. SNY and YES will only take you so far.

That really is the problem.

ESPN at $0 a year is worth more than the Big East/Fox at $3M.

SNY is great for showing UConn games to UConn fans, but it doesn't do much to create exposure for the program.

 

[NYUConn]

That really is the problem.

ESPN at $0 a year is worth more than the Big East/Fox at $3M.

SNY is great for showing UConn games to UConn fans, but it doesn't do much to create exposure for the program.

Theoretically, if ESPN cuts the American TV deal by 50% it would free up some money to ink a small deal separately with UConn.

Is UConn men's and women's BBall worth $.5-$1M annually to the worldwide leader? I don't know, but I would think that given the national following of each of program it would be worth the conversation.

If the school could get it's media rights back, could they put together a piecemeal arrangement with a handful of networks to net $3-4M annually for their T1-3 rights?

 

[RustyHusky]

I'm sorry, but people are going to turn on the TV to watch a renewed OU vs. Nebraska football rivalry...or OSU vs. OU. Meanwhile, Michigan State vs. Kansas basketball would be premier television too. I'm not saying we don't offer anything, I'm just saying that OU and Kansas together as a packaged deal bring a hefty sum to the table that I don't think we can compete with. It's not ALL about TVs. You have to have content too, and both OU and Kansas are marquee brand names that people want to watch. They're national brands.