Why reunification between UConn and Big East has been 'win-win' for Val Ackerman: 'Great partners

[HooperScooper]

Article from Mike Anthony.

“It came together spring of ’19,” Ackerman said. “Susan [Herbst] was outgoing president. … It was an interesting discussion, internally. We had good debate about their profile and what the Big East had become. We were 10 private schools, nine of them Catholic schools [Butler the outlier]. And here they were, a public school playing football at the FBS level. But everything else matched. The history. They had been a charter member. The geography. The basketball, men’s and women’s. The rivalries. We were doing pretty well at the Garden, but we thought they could add. And that was the compelling case made.”

Why reunification between UConn and Big East has been 'win-win' for Val Ackerman: 'Great partners'

UConn returned to the Big East conference in 2020 and the men's basketball program has delivered two NCAA titles for the league.

www.nhregister.com

Alternate access:

Why reunification between UConn and Big East has been 'win-win' for Val Ackerman: 'Great partners​

 

[bendm]

shut up val

 

[HooperScooper]

Another article from the Register on this topic. Anthony interviewed Ackerman for an hour. TLDR though.

How Val Ackerman guided the Big East into 'new chapter' with UConn basketball front and center

Val Ackerman was previously the WNBA president when Connecticut landed a franchise and now heads the Big East with UConn a prominent member.

www.nhregister.com

Alternate access:

How Val Ackerman guided the Big East into 'new chapter' with UConn basketball front and center​

 

[B1GEast]

Yeah but for how long?

 

[Luna]

Val has proven herself with the new Big east deal … I think she’s done a great job

 

[bendm]

Val has proven herself with the new Big east deal … I think she’s done a great job

sarcasm is harder to detect in writing

 

[Luna]

The first tv deal back in 2012 was a good deal for the big east.. add a 33% increase from the last tv deal…ya this latest tv deal is pretty good.. and Val is getting input from Hurley which is a pretty smart thing to do

 

[king conn]

The first tv deal back in 2012 was a good deal for the big east.. add a 33% increase from the last tv deal…ya this latest tv deal is pretty good.. and Val is getting input from Hurley which is a pretty smart thing to do

The last TV deal was without UConn.

The league is getting 2012 money when you consider that, and that's with 4 national championships in the meantime, including the first program to repeat in almost 20 years. Plus now we have to stream multiple outlets.

 

[superjohn]

The last TV deal was without UConn.

The league is getting 2012 money when you consider that, and that's with 4 national championships in the meantime, including the first program to repeat in almost 20 years. Plus now we have to stream multiple outlets.

Val is a horrible commissioner. I thought she was actually going to be good when she took over, she had a good early start and has been totally useless since.

 

[CL82]

Val has proven herself with the new Big east deal … I think she’s done a great job

$4.5M increased by a third is $6 million. That isn't exactly lighting the world on fire in terms of conference distributions..

 

[shizzle787]

View attachment 102768
$4.5M increased by a third is $6 million. That isn't exactly lighting the world on fire in terms of conference distributions..

I think he has that wrong. Most outlets are reporting a little more than $7 million.

 

[JMick]

I think he has that wrong. Most outlets are reporting a little more than $7 million.

It's still not very good. 9 would have been satisfactory.

 

[Hoophound]

It's still not very good. 9 would have been satisfactory.

I just don’t know what you can really expect. You’ve got UConn and Nova and then a tier of lesser names with good teams like Creighton and Marquette, and has beens like Georgetown and SJU. After that, not much. I would have liked to get more, but in most analysis’ of the deal, it seems to be on par with the basketball portion of the contracts for other major conferences.

 

[ctchamps]

I just don’t know what you can really expect. You’ve got UConn and Nova and then a tier of lesser names with good teams like Creighton and Marquette, and has beens like Georgetown and SJU. After that, not much. I would have liked to get more, but in most analysis’ of the deal, it seems to be on par with the basketball portion of the contracts for other major conferences.

The BE may be good for UConn men’s basketball fans but it is a weak national brand as demonstrated by who bid for broadcasting rights and how much they were willing to pay for it.

Val may have her shortcomings but anyone who believes we should be getting more money is either ignorant to the way markets work or scapegoating Val for this deal because of their personal dislike of her. The only way we get more money is to be in a conference that is in demand with broadcasting companies.

 

[freescooter]

I’m kind of in agreement with ctchamps. It was about the best you could do. UConn, Villanova in transition and a bunch of “didn’t you used to be someones” and a few nobodies. And if you think what the deal is without UConn…Yikes! With us Schools get the low end of P4 money. $5-7 million. The killer is UConn doesn’t really benefit from the deal while bottom feeders like Georgetown DePaul and Butler get much more than they are worth.

 

[ctchamps]

I’m kind of in agreement with ctchamps. It was about the best you could do. UConn, Villanova in transition and a bunch of “didn’t you used to be someones” and a few nobodies. And if you think what the deal is without UConn…Yikes! With us Schools get the low end of P4 money. $5-7 million. The killer is UConn doesn’t really benefit from the deal while bottom feeders like Georgetown DePaul and Butler get much more than they are worth.

The BE is respected by many basketball fans including fans of teams in other conferences. But the number crunchers in broadcasting companies don’t believe that this admiration translates into a long term contract that deserves more money than we were just offered. That is the salient point. The recent conference basketball success does not move their checkbooks like we would like.

You can have the best house in one of the best neighborhoods for sale but if there are only a few buyers and they are not willing to pay your price than you won’t get it no matter what you or your neighbors believe it’s worth.

 

[huskymedic]

Assisted access <<

 

[gtcam]

Val can start looking at the quality of officiating in the NBE mens basketball.
Adding UConn to the NBE was a no brainer................................

 

[UConnTrumbull]

Assisted access <<

“UConn is in demand” - proceeds to take SNY away from us thus negating any financial gain from the new contract. Or am I missing something there?

 

[CL82]

“UConn is in demand” - proceeds to take SNY away from us thus negating any financial gain from the new contract. Or am I missing something there?

Did the university receive the SNY money since we've been in the big east? I think that those proceeds might have been distributed to the conference.

 

[UConnTrumbull]

Did the university receive the SNY money since we've been in the big east? I think that those proceeds might have been distributed to the conference.

I thought UConn kept those funds. Maybe I’m wrong.

 

[Umami Zen]

Would like to understand some math as a result of the new agreement. Hypothetically- UConn MBB runs the table for another NC. What kind of range of revenue could they expect to make over and above this new TV deal for the March Madness Tournament run of winning 6 games? I'm assuming its in addition to their share of this new deal and not shared with other BE teams in any way -shape-or form because of their success in the Tournament. Is the number based on attendance at games (usually sold out) ?

Any clarification is appreciated.

 

[Luna]

Every conference has it’s money making teams and teams that don’t contribute…the big east is no different

 

[uconnfan68]

I thought UConn kept those funds. Maybe I’m wrong.

I thought they were in a category that the school could negotiate on it's own. Tier 3? The sport was covered by the conference choice, but games not picked up by the choice were open to others.

 

[CL82]

I thought they were in a category that the school could negotiate on it's own. Tier 3? The sport was covered by the conference choice, but games not picked up by the choice were open to others.

That was definitely the case in the old big east, but I have a vague recollection of it not being the case when we joined the big east.

@UConnTrumbull