Notre Dame and ACC background discussion

[UConnSportsGuy]

I just had a discussion with someone here in Chicago who is in the industry who has done business with both Notre Dame and the Big East conference. We had a discussion after a meeting today and he said some interesting things to me. Some of it is based on first hand knowledge he had of what has been going on behind the scenes, but most of it is his conjecture based on what he has known to have happened in the past and the way that things most likely happened based on past behavior. So do not take this as fact and first-hand knowledge...but I thought it was an interesting perspective/opinion from someone somewhat "in the know."


He said that Notre Dame wanted a full football share of the upcoming Big East TV deal. They were told by the new commish that they will be treated just like the other non-football schools and would get the non-football share only. This is a significant shift in the tone and message from Big East leadership with the new commish from the relationship they used to have with the conference powers. Notre Dame insisted that they get the full football share, but he BE was not backing down.

Therefore, Notre Dame had discussion with the ACC and were given the money they were looking for from the BE by the ACC for their non-football membership. This move had to have been "assisted" by ESPN...as they are the ones who will have agreed to give the ACC the extra money to pay ND given the ACC contract. This is just another attempt to weaken the BE and eliminate quality content for competitors.

Everyone probably could have guessed the above part...but then we got into the discussion of next steps. What is the ACC end game in this? And Notre Dame's end game? This cannot be a permanent solution.

In his opinion, this is just a temporary step to eventual full ACC membership for Notre Dame. In his opinion, the ACC will next add Georgetown as a member to get to 16 non-football schools (plus give Syracuse their rival back and setup more attractive TV content). Then, the plan is to eventually have Notre Dame join as a full member, but only play 7 conference football games--allowing them to maintain many of their traditional rivals on their schedule. There would be two 8 team football divisions where only the 7 games against your division teams will count towards the standings and the determination of who goes to the ACC championship game. The rest of the ACC teams will play cr0ss-division games to get to a 9 game conference schedule, but they will not count towards the standings that determine who goes to the championship game. The 16th football team will be either UConn or Rutgers (he thought it was a 70/30 chance it would be UConn over Rutgers). The ACC would then add one more non-football member to get to 16 football schools and 18 basketball schools. He thinks that they will add St Johns or Villanova (again, a 70/30 chance it would be SJU over Vill). He thinks that the 16 football and 18 non-football is the eventual end state for the ACC as that would optimize both their TV and their scheduling for both football and the olympic sports.

So he thinks that Notre Dame and Georgetown will go to the ACC now, followed by UConn/St Johns at a later point when ND eventually joins as a full member (with 7 conference football games for ND).

Just thought I would share the discussion as it was interesting for me to hear his 'insider' opinion/knowledge.

 

[huskyjawz]

I don't understand, how could it even be considered to give them a football share, when they don't play football?

 

[CL82]

Interesting.

 

[TRest]

Because that's what ND do. I am fully prepared to give the BE 3 years notice we are leaving, btw.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Pure conjecture on my part but I fully believe this statement to be true:

He said that Notre Dame wanted a full football share of the upcoming Big East TV deal. They were told by the new commish that they will be treated just like the other non-football schools and would get the non-football share only.

ND felt that it was due to them that NBC was willing to give the BE anything and if they weren't getting a taste then there was no reason to make a deal. Great way to treat a group of schools who allowed them to spend seventeen years in a major conference while allowing them to remain indy in football for the entirety of their stay here.

Affiliation with the BE helps ND basketball and non revenue sports, great, affiliation with ND helps BE football, not unless they get a cut.

 

[CTGoonie]

If ESPN really is behind this you would think it behooves them to get to the 16/18 model within the next couple of months to weaken the BE even more.

 

[SubbaBub]

ND is a shallow, high maintenance, program who people still want to watch, but it's nearly as hot as it once was.

Kardashian-esque.

If not for leaving Uconn in a lurch, I'm glad they and their co-dependent relationship with the BE are gone.

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk 2

 

[businesslawyer]

You can't give them a football share just for being a basketball member. But, if they are playing 2.5 road games against a Big East or ACC foe, and the Big East or ACC is getting the benefit of that in their TV deal, why in the world wouldn't ND want to be paid for the extra bucks that its sort of partner gets?

 

[businesslawyer]

ND is a shallow, high maintenance, program who people still want to watch, but it's nearly as hot as it once was.

Kardashian-esque.



Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk 2

I'm sure that, every day they walk to the bank and make a deposit, the Kardashian's feel terrible that you don't think they deserve their money. So does ND.

 

[Jimdish255]

What a surprise. ND for ND. They run the AD like a corporate entity and if you want to pay them for promising nothing, signing nothing or even doing nothing they're happy to oblige. We're not going down that road any more and so they hit the road to soak the ACC and ESPN. If it works out for everyone great but we can't lose a FB team that was never really here.

 

[pj]

As bizlaw says, ND would get compensation for agreeing to play football games regular against conference members. The ACC outbid the BE. That isn't surprising given the willingness of ESPN to spend to sabotage the BE. The ACC might have won for equal money given ND's interest in the Atlantic seaboard.

But if they got a full football share for playing 5 games, why would they become full football members in the future? Would they get a double football share in that case?

 

[uconnbaseball]

If the ACC lets ND choose team #16, they would pick Navy. If Navy is not on the table, and the ACC says they have to take UConn or Rutgers, we probably get the last life raft.

CFB is VERY fluid. Those of you who have given up are being foolish.

 

[Jimdish255]

You can't give them a football share just for being a basketball member. But, if they are playing 2.5 road games against a Big East or ACC foe, and the Big East or ACC is getting the benefit of that in their TV deal, why in the world wouldn't ND want to be paid for the extra bucks that its sort of partner gets?

If they sign on the dotted line to actually give something of value they deserve to be paid. Assuming all these years that they were going to join the football league with no guarantee was naive. Now asking for a handout (IMO) with minimal committment might have caused remaining members to re-evaluate the relationship. Whatever promises were made in the past ran their course and they got a better deal we weren't willing to match. Apparently we didn't feel that whatever they were promising was equal to the price they were asking, especially since NBC already has their games. Why does NBC pay us more for what they already have? Basketball and soccer?

 

[EricLA]

Not sure why anyone would be surprised by this. I'm actually glad to read they would consider SJU and UCONN in the future after they add Georgetown but i'm not sure I understand the allure of SJU over Rutgers unless they like the SJU hoops program better and want to consider other schools from a non FB perspective. Either way the BE is on it's way out. If i were RU, I'd be knocking on every other major conferences' door begging to let them in.

My understanding is the BCU AD blocked UCONN the last time around but that he's going to be gone soon. hopefully that is correct.

 

[uconnell]

I can't believe that Maryland would be happy about Georgetown in the ACC.

 

[uconnbaseball]

According to Swofford, the ACC is staying at 15 for now. This brings into question the OP's sources, though I don't doubt the end game for the ACC is to add ND as a full time member.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I can't believe that any current ACC member would consider a non football member (save ND, and this is only under the delusion that one day ND will join for football).

 

[Kgun7]

According to Swofford, the ACC is staying at 15 for now. This brings into question the OP's sources, though I don't doubt the end game for the ACC is to add ND as a full time member.

Wow that's weird??? Swofford just told everyone that the ACC was staying at 14 for now ... oh well ... at least we definitely know he is staying at 15 for now ...

 

[bosco]

I just had a discussion with someone here in Chicago who is in the industry who has done business with both Notre Dame and the Big East conference. We had a discussion after a meeting today and he said some interesting things to me. Some of it is based on first hand knowledge he had of what has been going on behind the scenes, but most of it is his conjecture based on what he has known to have happened in the past and the way that things most likely happened based on past behavior. So do not take this as fact and first-hand knowledge...but I thought it was an interesting perspective/opinion from someone somewhat "in the know."


He said that Notre Dame wanted a full football share of the upcoming Big East TV deal. They were told by the new commish that they will be treated just like the other non-football schools and would get the non-football share only. This is a significant shift in the tone and message from Big East leadership with the new commish from the relationship they used to have with the conference powers. Notre Dame insisted that they get the full football share, but he BE was not backing down.

Therefore, Notre Dame had discussion with the ACC and were given the money they were looking for from the BE by the ACC for their non-football membership. This move had to have been "assisted" by ESPN...as they are the ones who will have agreed to give the ACC the extra money to pay ND given the ACC contract. This is just another attempt to weaken the BE and eliminate quality content for competitors.

Everyone probably could have guessed the above part...but then we got into the discussion of next steps. What is the ACC end game in this? And Notre Dame's end game? This cannot be a permanent solution.

In his opinion, this is just a temporary step to eventual full ACC membership for Notre Dame. In his opinion, the ACC will next add Georgetown as a member to get to 16 non-football schools (plus give Syracuse their rival back and setup more attractive TV content). Then, the plan is to eventually have Notre Dame join as a full member, but only play 7 conference football games--allowing them to maintain many of their traditional rivals on their schedule. There would be two 8 team football divisions where only the 7 games against your division teams will count towards the standings and the determination of who goes to the ACC championship game. The rest of the ACC teams will play cr0ss-division games to get to a 9 game conference schedule, but they will not count towards the standings that determine who goes to the championship game. The 16th football team will be either UConn or Rutgers (he thought it was a 70/30 chance it would be UConn over Rutgers). The ACC would then add one more non-football member to get to 16 football schools and 18 basketball schools. He thinks that they will add St Johns or Villanova (again, a 70/30 chance it would be SJU over Vill). He thinks that the 16 football and 18 non-football is the eventual end state for the ACC as that would optimize both their TV and their scheduling for both football and the olympic sports.

So he thinks that Notre Dame and Georgetown will go to the ACC now, followed by UConn/St Johns at a later point when ND eventually joins as a full member (with 7 conference football games for ND).

Just thought I would share the discussion as it was interesting for me to hear his 'insider' opinion/knowledge.

 

[businesslawyer]

If they sign on the dotted line to actually give something of value they deserve to be paid. Assuming all these years that they were going to join the football league with no guarantee was naive. Now asking for a handout (IMO) with minimal committment might have caused remaining members to re-evaluate the relationship. Whatever promises were made in the past ran their course and they got a better deal we weren't willing to match. Apparently we didn't feel that whatever they were promising was equal to the price they were asking, especially since NBC already has their games. Why does NBC pay us more for what they already have? Basketball and soccer?

You're missing the point. NBC already pays for Notre Dame home games. This would have gotten them Notre Dame road games (assuming the Big East contract ends up with NBC).

 

[UConnJim]

ACC is not inviting any other school that is not all sports. ND got the deal because they want them to eventually join in football. So forget about invites for Georgetown/Villanova/St John's/Navy. It ain't happening.

ACC waits for ND to join for football and then they will add #16.

 

[bosco]

I caught the tail end of the ACC press meeting and they reported that ND will only participate in the BB and olympic sports revenue. They allocate 20% to non football so they would get 1/15 of that. ND said the move was revenue nutural and they moved for other reasons. They will not be the ACC representative in the Orange Bowl but could wind up there an an opponent. Sorry but all I got was the question and answer portion so I don't know anything else as far as additional expansion goes. I take that back. They did say there was no need to expand right now since BB is is not divided into divisions like FB and therefore no immediate need for an equal number of teams. I assume they will play everyone 1x but not sure.
Just saw another question above. ND keeps it NBC contract in place and NBC will continue to broadcast all home games for them and ACC keeps all ESPN football revenue per the currant contract. They will talk to ESPN about a bump in the BB portion based on the addition of ND

 

[CL82]

I'm sure that, every day they walk to the bank and make a deposit, the Kardashian's feel terrible that you don't think they deserve their money. So does ND.

I once made a similar comment about someone mocking Jacoby and Meyers back in the day.

 

[HobokenHusky]

Wow that's weird??? Swofford just told everyone that the ACC was staying at 14 for now ... oh well ... at least we definitely know he is staying at 15 for now ...

HAHA, yeah, not sure what the guy is supposed to say "Well, we eventually plan to get to 16 football and 18 non football. . . so stay tuned!"

 

[upstater]

It is incredibly doubtful that in the eventuality of ND joining the league, they move to a clusterfrig of 18 teams, and compounded with that, a hare-brained scheme to have only 7 of the 9 ACC games a team plays count in the standings.

Schools will be looking at schedules to see which year is their best shot for a title.

It sounds preposterous, but with the ACC, you never know.

How would it even be divided?

Oh, fellas, by the way, this year, Florida St. v. Miami doesn't count!

Wonderful.

Hard to believe the ACC teams would go for that.

It's almost worth $50 million to leave that behind.

If this insider is on target, the ACC just imported a toxin that will poison it from the inside.