And here is is latest column. Warning you know, he reads like Whaler11.
Why ESPN and Fox don't want to pay for any planned Big 12 expansion
Andy StaplesVerified account@Andy_Staples
Andy Staples Retweeted Del Abramson
Sheer population matters when selling subscriptions to X people for X cents a month. This is about owning your town.
I am sure that Big 12 people are looking into whether or not UConn can
really deliver the volume. Can we get XX cents a month from the NYC DMA? If we can, we are in and it's not close. No other candidate comes remotely close to bringing New York plus Connecticut sized population numbers.
Here is what we know about market share in the northeast:
1. UConn, without question, owns the Hartford/New Haven market. #30 DMA in the country is bigger than #34 Cincinnati...and there is no question that UC is #2 in their own home market. The same can be said about every single other AAC candidate. Memphis doesn't own Memphis. Houston doesn't own Houston. UCF/Orlando. USF/Tampa. ECU/yeah...I'm just joking. I *think* BYU's "home market is Salt Lake City...I would say they own that but I really don't know how much Utah/Utah St/BYU battles fall into line. So, really, there is one school that can 100% guarantee its home market.
2. We are a Top 5 followed football program in New York
and Boston. Do we deliver either of these cities based on that? Probably not. That would be like someone suggesting UMass could deliver Hartford/New Haven. Here's where the lines blur a bit though: basketball. UConn (and Syracuse)
own the New York city college basketball landscape. Our Big East roots at Madison Square Garden not only has given our NYC alumni opportunities to see live games, but it has grown a HUGE fanbase in the city as a result. The last time we played at MSG, tickets were more expensive than Final Four tickets that year. Iowa St and Michigan St fans did not stand a chance - the Garden was not going to let UConn lose. I will never forget how loud MSG was for the Michigan State game. I will never forget how a silly Mateen Cleaves vs Rip Hamilton videoboard showdown was the catapult that sparked our comeback. It was as if The Garden video guy was a UConn guy and needed to remind the arena just whose arena it belonged to. Now, don't you think that if UConn football played competitively again (like they are trending back towards doing), those same hoops fans wouldn't tune in a UConn football game? Of course they would. A Pinstripe Bowl with UConn in it (should an ACC/B1G school fail to fill their tie-in) sells out and gives a Penn State type of atmosphere against Boston College.
New York is far more of a college basketball town than it is a college football town. Yet, that hasn't stopped the B1G and ACC to battle over it relentless. And don't forget - the B12 used to have a tie-in to the Pinstripe Bowl only to be nudged out by the B1G/ACC. Wouldn't they want to get a sniff of it again? If one of the afore-mentioned conferences can't fill its spot, wouldn't a UConn/B12 game at Yankee Stadium be fun? You could guarantee 25-30K
at least UConn fans in the stands no matter who we play. Not to mention the swell in NYC ratings...for B12 football in New York.