Val Ackerman

[Kolumbo]

She has gotten far and away the best TV deal for any conference not playing FB. Better in fact than some conferences that play FBS football. No other school in the conference seems unhappy about the job Val has done. No other school in the conference plays FBS football. Maybe our frustrations should be toward our leadership, that can't get us into a better conference where we fit better, but they always get the "what else can they do," pass.

Yes, and most of the Big East programs are on their knees thanking Val. I'm sure all the new additions are extremely grateful. UConn is the outlier square peg so of course we aren't happy.

 

[CL82]

Wasn’t Aresco good at getting media attention

Well, not positive attention...

 

[Ha Who]

Well, not positive attention...

At least somebody gets my humor

 

[CL82]

Yes, and most of the Big East programs are on their knees thanking Val. I'm sure all the new additions are extremely grateful. UConn is the outlier square peg so of course we aren't happy.

Actually, I'm not at all confident that this is accurate. I have seen a lot of complaints about Ackerman on other teams boards. Obviously that's just anecdotal.

 

[Kolumbo]

Actually, I'm not at all confident that this is accurate. I have seen a lot of complaints about Ackerman on other teams boards. Obviously that's just anecdotal.

I am confident that they should be on their knees. if anyone from DePaul or Butler or even most of the other programs is complaining about the deal, they are just clueless about what their programs are worth.

 

[CL82]

I am confident that they should be on their knees. if anyone from DePaul or Butler or even most of the other programs is complaining about the deal, they are just clueless about what their programs are worth.

Well, "should be" and "are" are two different things, right? I've seen a lot of commentary that Val is viewed as an 'absentee landlord' by a lot of fan bases. Again, though, that's just anecdotal.

We certainly can agree that Paul and Butler are nothing to write home about.

 

[Kolumbo]

Well, "should be" and "are" are two different things, right? I've seen a lot of commentary that Val is viewed as an 'absentee landlord' by a lot of fan bases. Again, though, that's just anecdotal.

We certainly can agree that Paul and Butler are nothing to write home about.

True. The complainers are usually more vocal than those who are happy and there will always be unhappy people.

 

[Hoophound]

Maybe. Meanwhile I'm quite sure the Power conference commissioners are turning down interviews and not asking for any. Someone opening a new restaurant? Sure, they have to pound the pavement to get the word out. A conference commissioner asking for interviews? You have got to be kidding me. You answered your own question as to why the Big East may be shunned like an Amish boy with a nipple ring (Miller). It's almost embarrassing that you are suggesting Val go begging for interviews. If they aren't asking Val for interviews, it's not because her card fell out of their rolodexes (old reference).

lol. You don’t understand how this stuff works. I have a friend in the same business I am working to close on the sale of his company for $75,000,000. He does the same thing I do in terms of interviews and press releases. He always has. You have to work at it to create an image.

This isnt fantasy. You have your assistants hit the phones and send emails to radio shows, podcasts etc and say “Val wants to talk about the recent developments in college sports and how the Big East intends to compete”. It’s necessary.

 

[ZooCougar]

I'll take your word for it.

Hard to do better than the best contract for a non FB playing conference and better than lower level FBS conferences. People were throwing out figures of 12, 13 million a year for where the BE contract was gonna come in on this board. In that context, she "under delivered". Right now the BE is UConn. Go back a bit and Nova was "it" school. Marquette and Creighton are nice but they don't move the needle much. The proof really is in the BE's ratings compared to the power conferences.

If the school presidents are happy with her, does it matter that fans boo at MSG?

There is no other Major conference that doesn’t play FBS football. There isn’t an apples to apples comparison. And we can only guess what their basketball valuations really are. So this isn’t much of an achievement.

She should be launched into the sun for being a totally useless and invisible leach.

 

[Hondo 77]

Wasn’t Aresco good at getting media attention

Because everything was falling apart around him.

 

[atom58]

She has gotten far and away the best TV deal for any conference not playing FB. Better in fact than some conferences that play FBS football. No other school in the conference seems unhappy about the job Val has done. No other school in the conference plays FBS football. Maybe our frustrations should be toward our leadership, that can't get us into a better conference where we fit better, but they always get the "what else can they do," pass.

I'm an outsider here but I think she's done what she can do so far ... short of filing a lawsuit which might be a long shot and counterproductive.

Actually this raises a question with regard to a subject about which I know nothing. How much does UConn get from TV broadcasts or streaming of home football games and away games?

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Yes, and most of the Big East programs are on their knees thanking Val. I'm sure all the new additions are extremely grateful. UConn is the outlier square peg so of course we aren't happy.

i think UConn is unique in that it has two basketball programs that get numbers as good or better than a majority of the other schools mens programs.
Does anyone believe were compensated for that fact?

Val did a decent job with the contract in fact it opened eyes to basketball potential.
But her job has been a walk in the park compared to with other Commissions have had to deal with .
The AAC lost its 7 top programs but is still doing pretty well
although their pretty fat with cash in the short term.
poor CUSA has been destroyed and rebuilt a number of times
The Pack commissioner failed miserably in the face of disaster. ,and the MW is in turmoil as the new PAC poaches it.
Do you think Val could handle that kind of adversity that these conferences have faced.?
She has only one poachable program, for now ,and she has done nothing to keep us. It seems her plan is everything is going pretty good so I won’t rock the boat .
Thats never a great plan for long term success

 

[Kolumbo]

lol. You don’t understand how this stuff works. I have a friend in the same business I am working to close on the sale of his company for $75,000,000. He does the same thing I do in terms of interviews and press releases. He always has. You have to work at it to create an image.

This isnt fantasy. You have your assistants hit the phones and send emails to radio shows, podcasts etc and say “Val wants to talk about the recent developments in college sports and how the Big East intends to compete”. It’s necessary.

I completely understand how it works, which is why I understand why the Big East is in a position of weakness vis-a-vis the power conferences. People are placing blame erroneously. For those thinking Val is so incompetent, I'll quote the great Stephen Stills:

"If you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with."

 

[billybud]

Oh yeah...some of my favorite philosophers are musicians...

The Stones..."you can't always get what you want...but if you try sometime, you'll find that you'll get what you need."

And the last year I have been humming Ferlin Husky"s.."If you don't believe that I'm leaving you, just count the days I'm gone".

Back to Val...the focus has been on the P4 and they are perceived as the national college sports policy movers and shakers. Sure..when Sankey talks, it is an event.. Might have national implications. My feel from a region far removed, is that there is a delineation in media demand between a national voice and what may be perceived as a regional voice...

 

[jostar1]

Actually this raises a question with regard to a subject about which I know nothing. How much does UConn get from TV broadcasts or streaming of home football games and away games?

UConn gets $500,000 a year from CBS Sports. The big thing is that we got a football TV contract on linear TV.

 

[Hoophound]

Oh yeah...some of my favorite philosophers are musicians...

The Stones..."you can't always get what you want...but if you try sometime, you'll find that you'll get what you need."

And the last year I have been humming Ferlin Husky"s.."If you don't believe that I'm leaving you, just count the days I'm gone".

Back to Val...the focus has been on the P4 and they are perceived as the national college sports policy movers and shakers. Sure..when Sankey talks, it is an event.. Might have national implications. My feel from a region far removed, is that there is a delineation in media demand between a national voice and what may be perceived as a regional voice...

Learned college basketball fans consider the Big East a major basketball conference. The networks have continually referred to the Big East as a major basketball conference. This isn’t about Val being on par with Sankey. It’s about informing the public that the Big East is a big boy conference paying big boy money. If you don’t try to control that narrative, you are irresponsible. The image has to be kept up so that players and fans respect the Big East brand.

Billybud is a perfect example of why this matters. He is saying nobody cares outside the Northeast. That’s not the issue. They may not care but they should know that when they lose a recruit to a Big East school, it’s because the Big East is legit. It pays well and it wins titles. If people start thinking we pay like a mid major well——-we all know perception is reality.
Nobody cares about the SEC in the Northeast either.

 

[noeynox]

There is no other Major conference that doesn’t play FBS football. There isn’t an apples to apples comparison. And we can only guess what their basketball valuations really are. So this isn’t much of an achievement.

She should be launched into the sun for being a totally useless and invisible leach.

I don't think she is great, like I don't think any of these people are great. Is Sankey great because he is selling Alabama and LSU and not Baylor and TCU? I don't think any school in the Big East would get more money in any other league besides UConn. I don't think there is anything else to judge her on. The presidents of Butler, DePaul, Seton Hall etc, must absolutely love her.

 

[John]

Because everything was falling apart around him.

he did have schools use the AAC as a stepping stone to P4, so the AAC must have been doing something right.

 

[Kolumbo]

I don't think she is great, like I don't think any of these people are great. Is Sankey great because he is selling Alabama and LSU and not Baylor and TCU? I don't think any school in the Big East would get more money in any other league besides UConn. I don't think there is anything else to judge her on. The presidents of Butler, DePaul, Seton Hall etc, must absolutely love her.

I recently saw some click bait article ranking Athletic Directors. Of course all the Big 10 and SEC guys were there. David Benedict was not. I am sure our AD Benedict's job is significantly more difficult and that he is doing a much better job than any of those P AD's.

 

[freescooter]

The sports media wouldn't care what she had to say anyway. It's a great BB conference but not a player as an overall conference.

It’s not actually. It has 1 great team and a few good ones but also has a bunch of absolute dreck. Or did you not realize that Seton Hall Butler, Georgetown and DePaul are in the league.

 

[billybud]

Learned college basketball fans consider the Big East a major basketball conference. The networks have continually referred to the Big East as a major basketball conference. This isn’t about Val being on par with Sankey. It’s about informing the public that the Big East is a big boy conference paying big boy money. If you don’t try to control that narrative, you are irresponsible. The image has to be kept up so that players and fans respect the Big East brand.

Billybud is a perfect example of why this matters. He is saying nobody cares outside the Northeast. That’s not the issue. They may not care but they should know that when they lose a recruit to a Big East school, it’s because the Big East is legit. It pays well and it wins titles. If people start thinking we pay like a mid major well——-we all know perception is reality.
Nobody cares about the SEC in the Northeast either.

In the basketball universe you are correct...In the football universe, the Northeast is rarely thought of.

We may have a split off...football...and then basketball....

 

[Hoophound]

In the basketball universe you are correct...In the football universe, the Northeast is rarely thought of.

We may have a split off...football...and then basketball....

Well, we are talking about basketball and the Big East so….

 

[Ldandy]

In the basketball universe you are correct...In the football universe, the Northeast is rarely thought of.

We may have a split off...football...and then basketball....

I wasn’t aware that I went to school in the Midwest. I guess we’ll have to return our 35 Lambert Trophies…

 

[cellocgg]

I wasn’t aware that I went to school in the Midwest. I guess we’ll have to return our 35 Lambert Trophies…

You know, I hear people refer to PSU as a northeastern University, but also Midwestern and Mid-Atlantic.

I thought only eastern PA (aka Philly corridor) was considered NE. PSU wouldn't be a northeastern U in my book

 

[Ldandy]

You know, I hear people refer to PSU as a northeastern University, but also Midwestern and Mid-Atlantic.

I thought only eastern PA (aka Philly corridor) was considered NE. PSU wouldn't be a northeastern U in my book

No one that went to Penn State considers it Midwest. That is why there was twenty plus years of discontent before other Eastern Schools started being added. In a perfect world Penn State would be in a real Big East Conference with other bell cows like Miami and ND who also might not “geographically” be NE but identify with it far more than they do the Midwest or Deep South.

Big East 2025

BC
UConn
Cuse
Rutgers
Penn State
Pitt
WVU
VPI
ND
Navy
USF
Miami

Multiple historic rivalries and blood feuds up and down the lineup. Add St John’s, Nova, Providence, and Gtown as Non Football Members to flesh out the basketball season. Plenty of easy road trips and plenty of overlap between fan bases. This would make tons of money and be a heck of a lot of fun therefore it will never happen.