Toldedo newspaper: UConn success Clouds B1G pick

[Limbo Land]

Rutroh's continual missteps help IMO. The B1G hasn't accomplished what it set out to do and, thus, UConn is necessary to penetrate the NYC market. The ACC, a distant second choice for me, sees an opening to thwart the B1G's strategy in NYC by taking the only team left that matters in the market. Something is going to happen sooner than later, IMO. I just hope it's the B1G.

I am not sure change is imminent, I think we don;t get a sniff until our football team shows some marketed improvement… next year is key. I like to be wrong on this though!

 

[Sea Goat]

message to Rutgers - if you feel the need to argue that you're successful then you're not very successful afterall...

 

[uconndogs]

I am not sure change is imminent, I think we don;t get a sniff until our football team shows some marketed improvement… next year is key. I like to be wrong on this though!

Our next opportunity will come when there is another shake-up. Athletic performance matters only to the extent it drives and sustains market share. Again, if performance and academics mattered in the least, UCONN would already be in the ACC or B1G. Put another way, we could go undefeated this coming football season and play in a major bowl, we will not be going anywhere unless someone believes we bring incremental market share resulting in incremental dollars PER member.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Some one is trying, saw this on the PATH from Hoboken to Midtown the night of the Final.

 

[Ldandy]

Our next opportunity will come when there is another shake-up. Athletic performance matters only to the extent it drives and sustains market share. Again, if performance and academics mattered in the least, UCONN would already be in the ACC or B1G. Put another way, we could go undefeated this coming football season and play in a major bowl, we will not be going anywhere unless someone believes we bring incremental market share resulting in incremental dollars PER member.

This.

What matters is that any potential new members must add to the pie for the conference's current members, not deduct from it. Rutgers and UMD, with their larger population bases, were apparently able to demonstrate this potential. If Delany is truly serious about planting a B1G Flag in NYC, he will go after UCONN and another school to reach 16, before negotiating the next Tier 1 media deal. AAU is a desired status, not a required one.

 

[billybud]

This quote from article pretty well sums up what I had been thinking about New York...


“There’s a skewed perspective of college sports in the New York marketplace,” said Lee Berke, a New York-based sports media consultant who advises more than 30 pro and college teams.

“The reality is that if you take a look at television ratings for sports properties in New York, by far it’s the local teams that drive the agenda, and that’s the pro teams. They dominate the headlines, the back pages of the tabloids year-round.

“There’s certain instances where college basketball can grab attention for a while. You look at St. John’s in the 80s, UConn right now. But the reality is it’s still a pro sports town.”

Read more at http://www.toledoblade.com/College/...-clouds-Big-Ten-pick.html#8W4zVVuvmfMA1UBv.99

 

[Adios]

If RU's success is only periodic, what is UCONN's... since RU has had more overall wins, and a better winning percentage than UCONN...and less losing seasons than UCONN? Please answer that. You talk as if UCONN has had a more successful history than Rutgers, and that is flat out false.

RU has not historically played major college football. For the first 100 years or so, our biggest rivals were the IVY's , Colgate, Lehigh, Swarthmore, etc. Only in 1980 did we go full scholarship.

When was the last time Rutgers had a parade? Never? Whoops.

 

[uconndogs]

I know it's a football centric world, but the Rutgers just don't seem to realize how sick the athletic department is. When you can't put 1,000 fannies in the seats at a men's hoops game you have a problem that goes beyond football and CR.

 

[blitz8ru]

I think we can all stipulate that Rutgers has been half-assing its attempts at big time college athletics for years.

True. You don't only have 1 NCAA NC to your name in school athletics history unless you really just don't care about athletics. Thankfully we've started to get more serious about all sports over the past 5yrs (FB since 2000) but the changes will be slow due to no real capital to invest from donors (we really need a couple $100mill to turn things around in all sports). Thankfully we'll slowly accumulate the needed amount from big ten revenue and donor revenue over the next decade. We can only go up from here. Good thing about the big ten invite is that our school admin can't renege on athletic spending/focus (read, we can't half-ass it anymore).

 

[blitz8ru]

You are proud of this? Am I reading your response wrong?

No, I'm not proud of it. Just stating a fact. It is what it is. Spending or focusing on athletics was looked down upon for many decades. That kind of thinking has only started to change as new admin come in and the old ones retire.

Still there is a lot of backlash from faculty as I'm sure you have read from star ledger and NY Times articles on athletic spending. We've got to start spending and investing sometime and the initial money has to come from somewhere (the state isn't going to pitch in as they do in Connecticut, btw NJ gives RU about 18% of it's annual operating budget of around $2billion). We're decades behind where we should be in regards to athletics right now. So we're stuck playing the catchup game. I expect us to be an athletic power (across most sports) within 20yrs with our admin and AD on the same page with pursuing athletic success and with big ten and donor revenue flowing in.

 

[The Funster]

New York is a pro sports town. So is Boston and there is no denying it. However, there is no doubt that UConn fans will invade both those cities on a moment's notice to support our teams.

UConn's football value, re: NYC is that we can help bracket it with Rutgers for the B1G or help the ACC keep a strong presence in NYC along with ND.

Admittedly, the Pasqualoni years damaged our growth and recent reputation as a FB fast riser and it will take a while to rehab that slide. We can't count on a boost from football for a while, IMO. Diaco must be successful immediately and give us 3 years of steady success. Then, when inevitable poachers appear he either has to stay or, if he leaves, the next coach must continue that success. I figure 5-6 years of success must occur to offset the damage done by Pasqualoni.

OK, from a FB standpoint, it looks bleak. But don't give up hope. For a conference with it's own network UConn should be a near no brainer for the discerning commish. Why? Content.

UConn's women's team are regional favorites with fans in western Mass, Vermont, New Hampshire and into Maine. And while NE fans wouldn't warm up to Calhoun the way CT fans did who is not going to want to root for Kevin Ollie? Add in Field Hockey, Soccer, Baseball, Hockey and other emerging Olympic sports and UConn can be positioned as "New England's Team". If UConn were to build on it academic growth by culling the best and the brightest New England students we become "New England's Flagship Institution."

A certain conference commish would love to be able to extend his conference's footprint to all of New England and effectively lock up the entire eastern seaboard from Maine to DC and all the way back to the Midwest. Imagine the value of adding 6 entire states for the BTN?

How could Delany not wonder what could be? UConn to the B1G is a no brainer for the master conference builder. It could cement the B1G as the premier conference in the country.

 

[UCFBfan]

No, I'm not proud of it. Just stating a fact. It is what it is. Spending or focusing on athletics was looked down upon for many decades. That kind of thinking has only started to change as new admin come in and the old ones retire.

Still there is a lot of backlash from faculty as I'm sure you have read from star ledger and NY Times articles on athletic spending. We've got to start spending and investing sometime and the initial money has to come from somewhere (the state isn't going to pitch in as they do in Connecticut, btw NJ gives RU about 18% of it's annual operating budget of around $2billion). We're decades behind where we should be in regards to athletics right now. So we're stuck playing the catchup game. I expect us to be an athletic power (across most sports) within 20yrs with our admin and AD on the same page with pursuing athletic success and with big ten and donor revenue flowing in.

Are there any plans for demolishing/replacing the RAC? You guys upgraded the football stadium when you couldn't originally fill it so I was just wondering if there were plans to do the same to the RAC even though you guys don't fill that either. (Those remarks sound like jabs towards your attendance but I know you guys have increased FB attendance numbers and will continue to do so now that your in the B1G. The same might happen in bball?) Also, how long until you guys get full revenue from the B1G? This will obviously impact how quickly you guys can turn it around.

 

[TRest]

Are there any plans for demolishing/replacing the RAC? You guys upgraded the football stadium when you couldn't originally fill it so I was just wondering if there were plans to do the same to the RAC even though you guys don't fill that either. (Those remarks sound like jabs towards your attendance but I know you guys have increased FB attendance numbers and will continue to do so now that your in the B1G. The same might happen in bball?) Also, how long until you guys get full revenue from the B1G? This will obviously impact how quickly you guys can turn it around.

The problem with the "B1G will solve all our attendance issues" thinking is that RU was in the best basketball conference for years and never sniffed the tourney. The fan base has atrophied as a result. I doubt they show up now to see Michigan State or Indiana basketball, when they weren't showing up for UConn and Cuse.

 

[UCFBfan]

The problem with the "B1G will solve all our attendance issues" thinking is that RU was in the best basketball conference for years and never sniffed the tourney. The fan base has atrophied as a result. I doubt they show up now to see Michigan State or Indiana basketball, when they weren't showing up for UConn and Cuse.

Good point. I'd still be curious if they plan on replacing the RAC with all their new found money.

 

[huskyrob1]

http://www.toledoblade.com/College/2014/04/11/UConn-s-success-clouds-Big-Ten-pick.html

Who the hell is Nate Silver? 150,000 UCONN fans vs 607,000 RU fans the NY market is total BS. UCONN in the B1G would flood the NY market with upwards of 1,000,000 rabid fans. CT does not have a pro sports franchise, which is why UCONN is so big in the state of CT.

 

[tzznandrew]

Who the hell is Nate Silver? 150,000 UCONN fans vs 607,000 RU fans the NY market is total BS. UCONN in the B1G would flood the NY market with upwards of 1,000,000 rabid fans. CT does not have a pro sports franchise, which is why UCONN is so big in the state of CT.

It's football. And I don't think there are as many UConn football fans as there are UConn basketball fans. Many CT kids grew up rooting for other teams because UConn wasn't DI. A lot of the casual UConn basketball fans in CT are ND or Penn State football fans. That's changing, but it will take time.

 

[huskyrob1]

It's football. And I don't think there are as many UConn football fans as there are UConn basketball fans. Many CT kids grew up rooting for other teams because UConn wasn't DI. A lot of the casual UConn basketball fans in CT are ND or Penn State football fans. That's changing, but it will take time.

I'm talking football as well with respect to Silver's numbers. He's off by light years. The number of UCONN alumni (or friends and relatives of) in the tri state area are all potential football fans and putting a number like 150,000 on that is a joke. Their level of interest is so much more as well, compared to Rutgers fans, again because CT does not have a pro sports franchise.

 

[upstater]

This quote from article pretty well sums up what I had been thinking about New York...


“There’s a skewed perspective of college sports in the New York marketplace,” said Lee Berke, a New York-based sports media consultant who advises more than 30 pro and college teams.

“The reality is that if you take a look at television ratings for sports properties in New York, by far it’s the local teams that drive the agenda, and that’s the pro teams. They dominate the headlines, the back pages of the tabloids year-round.

“There’s certain instances where college basketball can grab attention for a while. You look at St. John’s in the 80s, UConn right now. But the reality is it’s still a pro sports town.”

Read more at http://www.toledoblade.com/College/...-clouds-Big-Ten-pick.html#8W4zVVuvmfMA1UBv.99

I made the point earlier that even a small sliver of New York is bigtime $$$.

The UConn women did a 4.6 rating in NYC, which is only 4% of the TV sets (23 million people). The top market (ratings-wise) for college basketball for the men's final was Louisville with a 45 rating (1.2 million people). This means that more people watched the women in New York than watched the men in the nation's top ratings market.

So, no matter what the experts tell you, never forget that there are a lot of people living in this market. It' like 7% of the entire nation's population.

 

[itgoeslike]

This quote from article pretty well sums up what I had been thinking about New York...


“There’s a skewed perspective of college sports in the New York marketplace,” said Lee Berke, a New York-based sports media consultant who advises more than 30 pro and college teams.

“The reality is that if you take a look at television ratings for sports properties in New York, by far it’s the local teams that drive the agenda, and that’s the pro teams. They dominate the headlines, the back pages of the tabloids year-round.

“There’s certain instances where college basketball can grab attention for a while. You look at St. John’s in the 80s, UConn right now. But the reality is it’s still a pro sports town.”

Read more at http://www.toledoblade.com/College/...-clouds-Big-Ten-pick.html#8W4zVVuvmfMA1UBv.99

Everyone knows that NYC is a pro sports town. What's more interesting is that in the article, Lee Berke states that there is ONLY one college team that elevates to the interest and exposure enjoyed by pro teams, and that is UConn. Fans and alumni have known this for some time. It's nice that others are getting clued in. UConn's game against Army at Yankee Stadium is another opportunity to grow our following, and there are other opportunities in the works. The exposure is real and the Big Ten or ACC would benefit from it. At the end of day, NYC loves winners.

“There’s certain instances where college basketball can grab attention for a while. You look at St. John’s in the 80s, UConn right now.”

"UConn, though, is a far bigger player in the other revenue sport. Its fans overtook Madison Square Garden for the Huskies’ recent Final Four-clinching win against Michigan State."

 

[itgoeslike]

Hartford reportedly had over 200,000 people show up for the victory parade. While we don't have the fan base or alumni numbers enjoyed by Michigan or Texas, we're not chopped liver either. I hope the outpouring of support translates into renewed interest in football this fall, win or lose.

 

[FAIRTIDES]

I made the point earlier that even a small sliver of New York is bigtime $.

The UConn women did a 4.6 rating in NYC, which is only 4% of the TV sets (23 million people). The top market (ratings-wise) for college basketball for the men's final was Louisville with a 45 rating (1.2 million people). This means that more people watched the women in New York than watched the men in the nation's top ratings market.

So, no matter what the experts tell you, never forget that there are a lot of people living in this market. It' like 7% of the entire nation's population.

Just as important: the 18-49 age group and it's gobs of disposable income.

 

[blitz8ru]

Are there any plans for demolishing/replacing the RAC? You guys upgraded the football stadium when you couldn't originally fill it so I was just wondering if there were plans to do the same to the RAC even though you guys don't fill that either. (Those remarks sound like jabs towards your attendance but I know you guys have increased FB attendance numbers and will continue to do so now that your in the B1G. The same might happen in bball?) Also, how long until you guys get full revenue from the B1G? This will obviously impact how quickly you guys can turn it around.

Not unless we find a $100mill lying around.

The current plans are to build an NEW indoor state of the art FB and Basketball facility (basically a new Hale Center) with MBB and WBB practice courts, indoor FB field, offices, state of the art rehab and training etc. This will be where the giant white practice bubble and some parking lots currently are. Then the Hale Center will be turned over to most of the other olympic sports (minus baseball, softball and gymnastics which are based on Livingston). The Hale Center will be renovated to have separate entrances for each sport housed there. The RAC will be renovated (already new sound and scoreboards have gone in) to bring it at least to be a passable arena. Softball and baseball and gymnastics will eventually also have facility upgrades.

Fundraising is currently being done for all of this (from private sources) which should cost more than $100mill (star ledger will likely have a field day even if the funding is all from private sources). I'd say all this will happen within the next 5-6yrs.

We get full big ten payout in 2021 iirc (rumored to be $40mill+). This season we'll make about $12mill from big ten TV revenue. Much more from FB and Wrestling attendance though. For FB we should have at least 3 home sellouts (PSU, Michigan, Wisconsin). Based on how we do in FB this season we could have more. BTW I think we'll surprise this season in FB with 7-8 wins including wins over Michigan, PSU, Indiana and Maryland.

Our 2014 FB schedule:
Washington State (A)
Howard (H)
Penn State (H)*
Navy (A)
Tulane (H)
Michigan (H)*
Ohio State (A)*
Nebraska (A)*
Wisconsin (H)*
Indiana (H)*
Michigan St (A)*
Maryland (A)*

Wrestling home schedule contains Minnesota, Iowa, PSU and Ohio St So the RAC should be sold out for those (B1G wrestling is analogous to SEC FB and those teams are annual top 10 wrestling teams/bluebloods). Wrestling is also really big and popular in NJ. We should also have more WBB and MBB attendance than last year starting out just because of the novelty of playing in the Big Ten. Anything more will be based on how competitive we are.

 

[UCFBfan]

Not unless we find a $100mill lying around.

The current plans are to build an NEW indoor state of the art FB and Basketball facility (basically a new Hale Center) with MBB and WBB practice courts, indoor FB field, offices, state of the art rehab and training etc. This will be where the giant white practice bubble and some parking lots currently are. Then the Hale Center will be turned over to most of the other olympic sports (minus baseball, softball and gymnastics which are based on Livingston). The Hale Center will be renovated to have separate entrances for each sport housed there. The RAC will be renovated (already new sound and scoreboards have gone in) to bring it at least to be a passable arena. Softball and baseball and gymnastics will eventually also have facility upgrades.

Fundraising is currently being done for all of this (from private sources) which should cost more than $100mill (star ledger will likely have a field day even if the funding is all from private sources). I'd say all this will happen within the next 5-6yrs.

We get full big ten payout in 2021 iirc (rumored to be $40mill+). This season we'll make about $12mill from big ten TV revenue. Much more from FB and Wrestling attendance though. For FB we should have at least 3 home sellouts (PSU, Michigan, Wisconsin). Based on how we do in FB this season we could have more. BTW I think we'll surprise this season in FB with 7-8 wins including wins over Michigan, PSU, Indiana and Maryland.

Our 2014 FB schedule:
Washington State (A)
Howard (H)
Penn State (H)
Navy (A)
Tulane (H)
Michigan (H)
Ohio State (A)
Nebraska (A)
Wisconsin (H)
Indiana (H)
Michigan St (A)
Maryland (A)

Wrestling home schedule contains Minnesota, Iowa, PSU and Ohio St So the RAC should be sold out for those (B1G wrestling is analogous to SEC FB and those teams are annual top 10 wrestling teams/bluebloods). Wrestling is also really big and popular in NJ. We should also have more WBB and MBB attendance than last year starting out just because of the novelty of playing in the Big Ten. Anything more will be based on how competitive we are.

Thanks for the info. Will be interesting to see if RU can take this gift of being in the B1G and actually do something right with their athletic program.