Raise the Exit Fee to $50m

[Pudge]

I am resigned to two things.

The Conference Realignment, in taking first BC ... then SU & Pitt, is NOT truly about some smart guy strategically targeting future Markets that will pay off the most in the long run. Swofford wouldn't have gone the way he did. Therefore ... UConn wasn't really higher on that ACC ladder.

And ... as long as there is a POSSIBILITY for one of the so-called NBE to go to one of the Big 5, we are inevitably going to get a far lesser Contract in this new TV deal. We can't offer stability.

As much as it is going to upset many here, I think UConn has to buy into the fact that we cannot leave an opening for Louisville, Rutgers or Boise to leave. We can fight it out as the NEXT New thing in College Football. Continue excellence in Basketball in many Olympic Sports. And get a reasonably good contract. As long as we pine away (with the Louisville folks/ the Rutgers mob/ the Boise ... even BYU) to be in some conference mostly located in North Carolina or Texas ... we will be lost in wilderness. I have confidence in UConn raising Football higher; in continuing are Winning Hoops. I think we need ... as in 2003 ... to see the SMUs Houstons UCFs rise. Even Memphis & Temple. #BegHarder aint' gonna work.

 

[Rumrunner]

Too low, make it $50,000,000 plus Nelson has to become a fan of the defecting member school and post on their board.

 

[uconndogs]

ain't happening...........

 

[sportsart]

I think you would get a unanimous vote.......for no.

 

[noeynox]

Too little too late. The time for the GoR's, and 5o million dollar exit fees was before the Big East was raided. Not now. Leadership of the conference could not be forward thinkers like the leaders of other conferences, despite the Big East being the least stable conference in the BCS. Too bad.

 

[uchusky32]

To late for raising the exit fee. We needed to do that 15 years ago. Need to lower it so when we leave won't cost us much. Obviously wishful thinking.

 

[Jericho]

The benefit (if any) of higher TV money that would stem from any grant of rights/exit fee would be more than offset by the possibility of leaving. You want to keep that window open and not tie yourself to an inferior league. Even if the possibility is remote, you have to keep that door open.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Too little too late. The time for the GoR's, and 5o million dollar exit fees was before the Big East was raided. Not now. Leadership of the conference could not be forward thinkers like the leaders of other conferences, despite the Big East being the least stable conference in the BCS. Too bad.

I don't think NBC will even bid without the Big East schools agreeing to sign a GOR. It just isn't worth it for them to do invest in a league that could evaporate in a year. Without NBC bidding, ESPN will offer peanuts, which will start a death spiral in the athletic program that we will never pull out of.

The time to get raided is right up to the point that NBC makes a credible offer. After that, UConn has to commit.

 

[mattp]

Why would we want to lock into the Big East now that it's fallen apart? It would be like forking over cash for a room upgrade on the Titanic after it hit the iceberg.

 

[mavblues]

The Big East discussing exit fees:

 

[OHusky]

Pudge - GREAT IDEA -Agree Big Eaast should increase exit fee to $50MM or perhaps even more. This action should take place immediately after UCONN exits the BE.

 

[Pudge]

Nelson & I can discuss this. I guess many are resigned to just hope.

Basically ... WE NEED the revenue from a solid TV contract. Why? Because we want to continue to keep abreast of the Big 5 conferences. Additional revenue gets us always within striking distance & gives us a chance to continue building our Brand. (after all ... we have only been this level since 2003. We have can be far broader than we are today ... (unless PP takes us continually on a flatline). We won't get the revenue today UNLESS we can prove to an NBC or whomever that we can keep our Prize Assets (SEE Boise/Louisville/Rutgers (yes); maybe BYU) from leaving. And Folks? UConn is not, imho, one of the top 3 Schools we need. Anchoring UConn to the BE (disintegrating or NOT) is the only hope we have. And, it might be one that we are 4X a CUSA or 5X a MAC in revenue per school.

Or ... we can #BegHarder. One or the other.

 

[whaler11]

Boise and Louisville are not signing, so it isn't even an issue - there is no decision to make.

 

[kbdiggity]

Just wanted to point out a misconception about the ACC's exit fee. It is not simply $50 million. It is 3 times the annual operating expenses. That currently is around $50 million. But as the annual operating expenses increase, as they do most years, the exit fee will continue to increase. Choosing to write the new exit fee rule with that specific language was a pretty smart idea.

 

[noeynox]

Boise and Louisville are not signing, so it isn't even an issue - there is no decision to make.

How do you know this? The only option for them appears the big 12, and the big 12, appears to have better options than those two.

 

[Rumrunner]

The extra million or two that a GOR might yield to member schoosl are not worth the legal constraint that would be placed on the University of Connecticut and its ability to react to the ever-shifting landscape of college athletics.

UConn's revenue with the addition of hockey will exceed $70 million in the next few years. Tell me how a rounding error in the purported additional revenue offered by a media partner in exchange for a GOR is worth it?

 

[whaler11]

How do you know this? The only option for them appears the big 12, and the big 12, appears to have better options than those two.

What better options than Louisville does the Big XII have?

 

[noeynox]

Byu if they can get around the whole not playing on Sunday thing.

 

[HuskyHawk]

If the exit fee goes up, leave now. Better the MAC or Indy than being locked into the BE.

Now is not the time to just accept this fate.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

If the exit fee goes up, leave now. Better the MAC or Indy than being locked into the BE.

Now is not the time to just accept this fate.

If the goal is to destroy the football and men's basketball programs while simultaneously killing any fan interest in UConn, then I think you just may be on to something here.

 

[whaler11]

Byu if they can get around the whole not playing on Sunday thing.

The Big XII needs two teams. Even if BYU were better they still need a second.

 

[Fishy]

The commissioner who proposes a $50M exit fee for the Big East is moments away from being the ex-commissioner.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

The ACC's new exit fee (3 x operating budget, which I imagine would mirror revenue) is viewed as exhorbitant. What would a fee that in most cases amount to six times revenue be viewed as.

Face it, there is nothing that will excite NBC enough to make them a legitimate option (ND took care of that) and as long ESPN knows we have no options, they will not move on their current $8mm per year for all sports participants.

The only hope any school with any true aspirations (we are one of the few) has is another conference and this proposal will end that hope.

 

[ZooCougar]

Starting point will be at or just above whatever a mid-major conference conference gets. The Big East will use hoop to leverage a little more money out of ESPN. And then that will be that.

The only way we go to NBC is if they are offering a much bigger chunk of change to offset the potential loss of exposure.

We need to stop putting lipstick on the ugly pig that is the Big East. We need to embrace the suck, and UConn needs to search for other ways of making revenue, improve our own school's standing and hope that the worse the conference looks, the better we will look. A good school in a bad conference, a cosmic accident, an anomaly, you pick.

Otherwise we'll end up being Colorado State or worse. Which believe it or not, once had a pretty damn respectable program.

 

[Pudge]

a bunch of Chuckleheads around here ...

So ...
1. We are left whining & hoping for an ACC invite? Ain't happening.
2. For the next 8 years ... like the last 8 years ... we are going to bitch & moan. Meanwhile, Rutgers & Louisville & Cincinnati & USF got far better. Who is to say that is not going to happen for a bunch of others - even Memphis?
3. We have the two guys you want to negotiate with the media. They are NOT Marinatto. In Bevilacqua & Aresco, we have a shot.

Could you read your lipstick on a pig quotes ... over & over again for years & years. That is where this board is going. And my point ... UConn, if you are looking at why Pitt & SU went to the ACC, deserves none of that. We don't have that solid a fanbase yet. We aren't driving Arbitron/Neilson. IMHO ... I think we are solidly behind Rutgers & Louisville now. Boise too. BYU.

If this conference doesn't figure out how to lock ... ALL ... in, then MY school UConn is sunk.