Why would ESPN deliberately try to destroy UConn athletics?

[upstater]

What additionally fuels the ESPN conspiracy theorists was the wording of the Boston College AD...

His words were construed to fit the fantasy...and because he admittedly did not want NE competition, folks took off with it and forgot the context.


“We always keep our television partners close to us,’’ he said. “You don’t get extra money for basketball. It’s 85 percent football money. TV - ESPN - is the one who told us what to do. This was football; it had nothing to do with basketball.’’

Sure...ESPN said.."look, the money is now in football"....Swofford has said the same. Don't think that all media contract partners do not advise on value of proposed entrants.

And, UConn was known as a basketball school and the football was not that highly considered. Syracuse was a Miami "must"...thier football wasn't great.

I know, I know..Huskies think that the football was good....but I have listed how an outsider might see it....

The football sucked. Syracuse football sucked. Pitt football sucked. This is why UConn went 7-3 and 6-4 against them. What are you talking about?

 

[Fishy]

UConn knows that. Exactly why all the "we'll take our talents to a Fox controlled league" rumors have popped up in the past week.

Agree - that is not an accident.

 

[Fishy]

The football sucked. Syracuse football sucked. Pitt football sucked. This is why UConn went 7-3 and 6-4 against them. What are you talking about?

He doesn't know.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

1.Primary benefit
ESPN best case

The American is viable for ESPN as long as UConn is in it.

That scares me.

Is UConn smart enough to float the Big East story to discourage ESPN from that objective .
The Chioce we want to present them with is
If you can't prevent the Big 12 from exspanding you get significant additional value at incremental costs by adding UConn.
Because the alternative is UConn going 100% to Fox
That's what our guy is telling the folks in Bristol
Obviously the status quo is ESPN favorite outcome

 

[06029]

I can think of three reasons:

3 They are only trying to "destroy UConn" in the imagination of some BYers.

You chose the correct answer.

Heresy!

 

[06029]

I worked there as a production assistant about 10 years ago and I can confirm this. We had to go around and meet with coordinating producers and it seemed every other one was a Syracuse grad and even some St. John's (the guy from Stump the Schwab). Many of the PA's came from midwest/south schools. I remember a lot of Notre Dame, Michigan State, UNC, UCLA, and smaller northeast schools like Quinnipiac. So while the company is located in CT, the makeup of many of the employees including the higher ups comes from all over the country where there would not be a interest in UConn's future.

Can say the same about UTC, all of the hedge fund/investment banking industry and most of senior management at the larger banks. The best Uconn grads tend to move out of state.

ESPN makes decisions based on cold, hard economic/profitability analyses. No different than any other company.

 

[UConn Dan]

The best Uconn grads tend to move out of state.

Nah, I'm still here bro.

 

[HoopsFan21]

What additionally fuels the ESPN conspiracy theorists was the wording of the Boston College AD...

His words were construed to fit the fantasy...and because he admittedly did not want NE competition, folks took off with it and forgot the context.


“We always keep our television partners close to us,’’ he said. “You don’t get extra money for basketball. It’s 85 percent football money. TV - ESPN - is the one who told us what to do. This was football; it had nothing to do with basketball.’’

Sure...ESPN said.."look, the money is now in football"....Swofford has said the same. Don't think that all media contract partners do not advise on value of proposed entrants.

And, UConn was known as a basketball school and the football was not that highly considered. Syracuse was a Miami "must"...thier football wasn't great.

I know, I know..Huskies think that the football was good....but I have listed how an outsider might see it....

Outsiders should do some research first. If you go back over the past 6 or 7 season, despite Pasqualoni being the coach for much of that time, UConn still managed to beat teams that are today in the P5 35% of the time beating teams like Rutgers, Pitt, Maryland, South Carolina, ND, and Louisville (who ironically got their bid to the ACC because their football was better than ours despite having trouble beating us). Some of our P5 losses were also close such as losing to Missouri last year 9-6. Please stop telling us we don't belong, because we've been competitive in football with P5 teams for a while now despite being a newcomer to this level of competition. The uninformed act like we go 1-11 every season and any time we play a team with a pulse get blown out 62-10. There are plenty of P5 teams that don't win 35% of their games against other P5 teams. I've seen some god awful P5 conference games that should be called for mercy at halftime. At least we've shown an upward trajectory and can also offer a conference the most prominent basketball program in the country, a good academic profile, and a healthy media market. Now we hear about how awesome Houston is and because their football is better than ours they should be selected to a P5 conference ahead of us... despite losing to us just last season. Much like the current political climate in this country, it's like we're living in a twilight zone where facts don't matter and even if you show someone the facts their only response is that it is their opinion despite being obviously incorrect. The fact that we even have to argue whether or not UConn is a P5 team is proof that something beyond the control of the university is at work because on the basis of traditional factors, we're no worse than a middle of the pack P5 team.

 

[TRest]

Agree - that is not an accident.

So is someone from UConn talking to Blauds, or someone in the BE still pining for us, or both?

 

[billybud]

The football sucked. Syracuse football sucked. Pitt football sucked. This is why UConn went 7-3 and 6-4 against them. What are you talking about?

As I have posted..and folks scream..but an outsiders view of UConn football is different.

1...UConn has never beat a team in the ACC who had a winning conference record

2...UConn has never finished the year ranked

3....UConn has never had a double digit win season

3...the year UConn went to a BCS bowl...they were 8-5 in a three way tie for the conference championship (along with Louisville, WVU).

...Syracuse was a 5 time Conference Champ (twice alone and three shared)
...Cuse had finished AP ranked 5 times since 1990..last in 2001 (#14)
...Shalala was a Cuse grad and Miami had to have them (most of the reason)

...Pitt finished AP ranked in 2004, 2009...as high as #15 in 2009
...granted that Pitt isn't a great football program...but they have tradition, a brand, and finished AP ranked in the years before coming to the ACC.

 

[HoopsFan21]

Can say the same about UTC, all of the hedge fund/investment banking industry and most of senior management at the larger banks. The best Uconn grads tend to move out of state.

ESPN makes decisions based on cold, hard economic/profitability analyses. No different than any other company.

Connecticut has a sizeable hedge fund/financial services industry. There's a hedge fund every 10 feet in Greenwich, and a lot of big recognizable companies have buildings in Stamford from RBS to UBS to Thomson Reuters just to name a few that you can't miss as you're passing through on I-95.

 

[UC313]

This whole situation smacks of "just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you".

It's certainly the case that, at this point, ESPN has a pure business interest in keeping us for cheap. I could also believe that keeping us in the BE/AAC served their business interests in the past.

It's just a little too coincidental that these supposed business interests also happen to align with the personal desires of their smug, Syracuse-grad workforce.

If ya wanna go full conspiracy theory we should check and see if Edsall's account was funded by the world wide leader.

 

[The Funster]

As I have posted..and folks scream..but an outsiders view of UConn football is different.

1...UConn has never beat a team in the ACC who had a winning conference record

2...UConn has never finished the year ranked

3....UConn has never had a double digit win season

3...the year UConn went to a BCS bowl...they were 8-5 in a three way tie for the conference championship (along with Louisville, WVU).

...Syracuse was a 5 time Conference Champ (twice alone and three shared)
...Cuse had finished AP ranked 5 times since 1990..last in 2001 (#14)
...Shalala was a Cuse grad and Miami had to have them (most of the reason)

...Pitt finished AP ranked in 2004, 2009...as high as #15 in 2009
...granted that Pitt isn't a great football program...but they have tradition, a brand, and finished AP ranked in the years before coming to the ACC.

S T F U and go away.

 

[06029]

Connecticut has a sizeable hedge fund/financial services industry. There's a hedge fund every 10 feet in Greenwich, and a lot of big recognizable companies have buildings in Stamford from RBS to UBS to Thomson Reuters just to name a few that you can't miss as you're passing through on I-95.

How many are run by Uconn grads? Not any off the top of my head.

Uconn has great grads and great programs but to state ESPN is killing Uconn because of Cuse grads is pretty inane.

 

[HoopsFan21]

How many are run by Uconn grads? Not any off the top of my head.

Uconn has great grads and great programs but to state ESPN is killing Uconn because of Cuse grads is pretty inane.

Probably not many, but to be fair, those types of companies tend to be run by folks with Ivy heavy resumes. While not a lot of UConn grads are running them, neither are a lot of Syracuse grads or BC grads. The taxes are better in CT than NY which is why a lot of them set up shop here, and also, places like Greenwich/Stamford/Darien/New Canaan are very commutable to the city while allowing one to own property with a low tax rate compared to say Westchester or Long Island.

 

[06029]

Probably not many, but to be fair, those types of companies tend to be run by folks with Ivy heavy resumes. While not a lot of UConn grads are running them, neither are a lot of Syracuse grads or BC grads. The taxes are better in CT than NY which is why a lot of them set up shop here, and also, places like Greenwich/Stamford/Darien/New Canaan are very commutable to the city while allowing one to own property with a low tax rate compared to say Westchester or Long Island.

Preaching to someone who markets services to them.

Point is, that very few major corps in CT are run by Uconn grads and that makes ESPN one of the crowd and not unique. ESPN makes cold calculating decisions and where the execs went to school has no impact on their decisions.

 

[Sea Goat]

As I have posted..and folks scream..but an outsiders view of UConn football is different.

1...UConn has never beat a team in the ACC who had a winning conference record

2...UConn has never finished the year ranked

3....UConn has never had a double digit win season

3...the year UConn went to a BCS bowl...they were 8-5 in a three way tie for the conference championship (along with Louisville, WVU).

...Syracuse was a 5 time Conference Champ (twice alone and three shared)
...Cuse had finished AP ranked 5 times since 1990..last in 2001 (#14)
...Shalala was a Cuse grad and Miami had to have them (most of the reason)

...Pitt finished AP ranked in 2004, 2009...as high as #15 in 2009
...granted that Pitt isn't a great football program...but they have tradition, a brand, and finished AP ranked in the years before coming to the ACC.

BB - I wish only the best for you, but you can go the away...

 

[Husky Pete]

As I have posted..and folks scream..but an outsiders view of UConn football is different.

1...UConn has never beat a team in the ACC who had a winning conference record

2...UConn has never finished the year ranked

3....UConn has never had a double digit win season

3...the year UConn went to a BCS bowl...they were 8-5 in a three way tie for the conference championship (along with Louisville, WVU).

...Syracuse was a 5 time Conference Champ (twice alone and three shared)
...Cuse had finished AP ranked 5 times since 1990..last in 2001 (#14)
...Shalala was a Cuse grad and Miami had to have them (most of the reason)

...Pitt finished AP ranked in 2004, 2009...as high as #15 in 2009
...granted that Pitt isn't a great football program...but they have tradition, a brand, and finished AP ranked in the years before coming to the ACC.

Three way tie was with WVU and Pitt. Two great games that UConn won at home.

2010 Big East football standings
Conf Overall
Team W L W L
Connecticut $+ 5 – 2 8 – 5
West Virginia + 5 – 2 9 – 4
Pittsburgh + 5 – 2 8 – 5
Syracuse 4 – 3 8 – 5
South Florida 3 – 4 8 – 5
Louisville 3 – 4 7 – 6
Cincinnati 2 – 5 4 – 8
Rutgers 1 – 6 4 – 8

• $ – BCS representative as conference champion
• + – Conference co-champions

 

[upstater]

As I have posted..and folks scream..but an outsiders view of UConn football is different.

1...UConn has never beat a team in the ACC who had a winning conference record

2...UConn has never finished the year ranked

3....UConn has never had a double digit win season

3...the year UConn went to a BCS bowl...they were 8-5 in a three way tie for the conference championship (along with Louisville, WVU).

...Syracuse was a 5 time Conference Champ (twice alone and three shared)
...Cuse had finished AP ranked 5 times since 1990..last in 2001 (#14)
...Shalala was a Cuse grad and Miami had to have them (most of the reason)

...Pitt finished AP ranked in 2004, 2009...as high as #15 in 2009
...granted that Pitt isn't a great football program...but they have tradition, a brand, and finished AP ranked in the years before coming to the ACC.

You don't get it. UConn won 67% of the games against the teams you are touting. Te heyday of those teams has come and gone. UConn was taking players from the same New England and New York schools that Syracuse used to feast on.

You're probably not even aware that All-Pro NFL guys like Floyd Little, Dwight Freeney, Tebucky Jones, came from Connecticut HS and they went to Syracuse because they didn't have a good alternative at home. Heck, current Kansas City Chief and Pro Bowler Tyvon Branch chose UConn and he grew up in Syracuse. When UConn came into the league, Syracuse experienced a huge dent in recruiting, and it hurt them badly.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Based on ESPN's press on UConn's during the probation, lack of positive press during each realignment phase, and how quick they switched from UConn winning the 2014 championship to Kentucky's latest recruiting class in comparison to ESPN's press (or lack there of) with respect to what has taken place at UNC, Louisville, Syracuse, etc. and propping-up various other programs during realignment, I would say YES.

 

[JeepCSC]

This is my rough understanding of what has transpired. Feel free to tell me where I err.

- Miami was the center of of the 2003 expansion, and they wanted BC and Syracuse. Virginia threw it's considerable weight around and got VPI in over Syracuse.

- Syracuse was always in the ACC's mind since 2003, so when time came a decade later, the ACC reached for them. UConn was well-positioned, but BC pushed Pitt for their own reasons and no one felt the need to push back.

- In the aftermath of Maryland leaving, UConn again was well-positioned. But this time FSU was calling the shots and they demanded Louisville for football reasons.

Granted I'm not fully aware of all the issues, but I'm unsure where ESPN fits in outside the obvious of helping lay the dynamite to blow up the BE. I don't think they've been blocking UConn's exit, simply have been bowing to school politics which have conspired against UConn.

 

[MattMang23]

This is my rough understanding of what has transpired. Feel free to tell me where I err.

- Miami was the center of of the 2003 expansion, and they wanted BC and Syracuse. Virginia threw it's considerable weight around and got VPI in over Syracuse.

- Syracuse was always in the ACC's mind since 2003, so when time came a decade later, the ACC reached for them. UConn was well-positioned, but BC pushed Pitt for their own reasons and no one felt the need to push back.

- In the aftermath of Maryland leaving, UConn again was well-positioned. But this time FSU was calling the shots and they demanded Louisville for football reasons.

Granted I'm not fully aware of all the issues, but I'm unsure where ESPN fits in outside the obvious of helping lay the dynamite to blow up the BE. I don't think they've been blocking UConn's exit, simply have been bowing to school politics which have conspired against UConn.

Tax credits.

 

[psilotic]

surprised we're this deep into thread and no mention of ex-ESPN exec John Wildhack now back at alma mater Syracuse as AD.

 

[jostar1]

This is my rough understanding of what has transpired. Feel free to tell me where I err.

- Miami was the center of of the 2003 expansion, and they wanted BC and Syracuse. Virginia threw it's considerable weight around and got VPI in over Syracuse.

- Syracuse was always in the ACC's mind since 2003, so when time came a decade later, the ACC reached for them. UConn was well-positioned, but BC pushed Pitt for their own reasons and no one felt the need to push back.

- In the aftermath of Maryland leaving, UConn again was well-positioned. But this time FSU was calling the shots and they demanded Louisville for football reasons.

Granted I'm not fully aware of all the issues, but I'm unsure where ESPN fits in outside the obvious of helping lay the dynamite to blow up the BE. I don't think they've been blocking UConn's exit, simply have been bowing to school politics which have conspired against UConn.

October 10, 2011
An article in The Boston Globe on Sunday became the talk of college athletics, as it reported just how brazen and blatant Boston College’s blocking of Connecticut’s move to the Atlantic Coast Conference was.
“We didn’t want them in,” Boston College’s athletic director, Gene DeFilippo, told The Globe. “It was a matter of turf. We wanted to be the New England team.”
The most stunning comment in the article was DeFilippo’s public admission that ESPN guided the A.C.C.’s decision to add Syracuse and Pittsburgh last month. “We always keep our television partners close to us,” DeFilippo told The Globe. “You don’t get extra money for basketball. It’s 85 percent football money. TV — ESPN — is the one who told us what to do. This was football; it had nothing to do with basketball.”
DeFilippo’s comments give credence to the popular theory that ESPN encouraged Pittsburgh and Syracuse’s exit from the Big East in the wake of the Big East’s turning down ESPN’s billion dollar television deal in May during an exclusive negotiating window. ESPN has a billion dollar deal with the A.C.C., making that move either savvy business or collusion, depending on one’s perspective.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/10/s...-next-level.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&ref=sports

 

[Jimdish255]

Preaching to someone who markets services to them.

Point is, that very few major corps in CT are run by Uconn grads and that makes ESPN one of the crowd and not unique. ESPN makes cold calculating decisions and where the execs went to school has no impact on their decisions.

Everybody's cold and calculated until they throw back a few and tell you what they really think. But if that is the case we need to present a consequence that makes our A.D. being held captive by their business plan a little less financially appealing.

 

[djct1999]

#EnjoyCharlotte

 

[Kolumbo]

This is my rough understanding of what has transpired. Feel free to tell me where I err.

- Miami was the center of of the 2003 expansion, and they wanted BC and Syracuse. Virginia threw it's considerable weight around and got VPI in over Syracuse.

- Syracuse was always in the ACC's mind since 2003, so when time came a decade later, the ACC reached for them. UConn was well-positioned, but BC pushed Pitt for their own reasons and no one felt the need to push back.

- In the aftermath of Maryland leaving, UConn again was well-positioned. But this time FSU was calling the shots and they demanded Louisville for football reasons.

Granted I'm not fully aware of all the issues, but I'm unsure where ESPN fits in outside the obvious of helping lay the dynamite to blow up the BE. I don't think they've been blocking UConn's exit, simply have been bowing to school politics which have conspired against UConn.

First round was Miami and VPI at a 45 degree angle. BC came a year later.

 

[pj]

This was posted on Landthieves a couple of weeks ago. I thought it was interesting because it was the first time I've read the theory that the lawsuit ticked off ESPN:

"That's essentially true, although I would quibble with the destruction part. ESPN did pick it apart. But, they did so because at the time the BTN was still independently owned and Delany was eyeballing those markets. So ESPN picked off what they perceived to be the most likely targets of the Big 10 and stored them in the only conference in which they owned 100% of the rights and one that was the the lowest paid of the power conferences, the ACC. They took Syracuse to keep the BTN directly out of New York. They took Pittsburgh rather than W.V.U. because they both are in that market area but Pitt was AAU. They took Boston College because of the large market and the number of Big 10 alums in the area. Miami was a market move but was not a move against the BTN as much as it was the taking of what was then a stronger brand. Remember, Delany had balked at an ESPN offer as well and that was part of the impetus for the BTN. ESPN figured that by sewing up that product they would gain more leverage over the Big 10, and if not it would prevent them from expanding into a more profitable area for marketing. But anyway you choose to look at it ESPN clearly muscled conferences and schools.

When the B.C. president spoke about these matters a lid suddenly shut off all talk directly implicating the WWL. UConn's lawsuit was more of an offense to ESPN than it was to ACC although the ACC was pretty ticked too. Naming the ACC was a round about way to implicate ESPN without naming one of the important businesses in the state of Connecticut directly. I would say since that move hasn't helped the Huskies. So not only did the Big East suffer the ire of the Mouse, but so has the Big 10, and Connecticut."

If ESPN was trying to block B10 expansion, they did a lousy job. The two best Big East properties for the B1G were Rutgers and UConn. They got Rutgers and UConn is still available.

 

[Jimdish255]

If ESPN was trying to block B10 expansion, they did a lousy job. The two best Big East properties for the B1G were Rutgers and UConn. They got Rutgers and UConn is still available.

Can't blame them for not wanting Rutgers back then. But it does highlight the possibility that all these Cuse grads maybe don't have such a great business savvy despite the calculating and objective analysis we give them credit for. Aside from Cuse Hoops, the schools they expanded with in the NE haven't had a great market or athletic impact. You have to place some responsibility on the ACC Presidents themselves, but to the extent that ESPN guided the decision it was a lot of wishful thinking and looking in the rear-view mirror instead of anticipating future value. The leagues need to realize that networks will dress up a proposal to make it appear it is in their best interest, but the primary interest they serve is their own.

 

[CTMike]

The state of CT did not elect ESPN. It is a company. We did elect Gov. Malloy -- so we should be demanding answers from him -- and find out what he is doing in connection with ESPN.

If Malloy has been a secret BCU operative this entire time it would be so ruthless that I'd almost have to respect it.