Is the Big East now a mid-major? Gottlieb thinks so

[Natty]

I don't think the new Big East will be mid-major, but I do think there is something in that NYC Buckets article that's worth worrying about (article here: http://nycbuckets.com/2013/06/diving-in ... ings-game/ )

Not to oversimplify, but scroll down to the chart in the middle of the page. It basically highlights what I call the Jim Rome example. What happened with Jim Rome is he left ESPN for CBS Sports Net only to see his ratings plummet...

Instead of Jim Rome, focus on The Daily Show and Colbert Report. Both shows' ratings have steadily improved even though Comedy Central is a wasteland. People will go to less popular channels if it has a good product. Hell, "Downton Abbey" is on PBS but got great ratings. The Big East has a great product. "The Jim Rome Example" is probably the exception and had jumped the shark.

That is true to an extent, but I think what's different is you're going to have ESPN trying to squash the competition, and a major part of doing that will be in downplaying any success that's taking place in the Big East on Fox Sports 1. They need to try and sell their games, which means using all their other shows and analysts to convince people that the stuff on Fox Sports 1 is a lesser product, thus not worth watching. I don't know that it works the same for The Daily Show or Downton Abbey.

Maybe that's too pessimistic of a view, but as a fan of a team that was really good in a non-major (/non-ESPN) conference (VCU in the CAA), I know hard it can be for people to take your team seriously if you aren't always on ESPN (that is until you make a run to the Final 4 that makes people pay attention).

This is all new though, and Fox isn't exactly Versus (Fox has major radio going for them too), so it will be interesting to see how year-1 goes.

[Jet915]

I don't think the new Big East will be mid-major, but I do think there is something in that NYC Buckets article that's worth worrying about (article here: http://nycbuckets.com/2013/06/diving-in ... ings-game/ )

Not to oversimplify, but scroll down to the chart in the middle of the page. It basically highlights what I call the Jim Rome example. What happened with Jim Rome is he left ESPN for CBS Sports Net only to see his ratings plummet from roughly 400,000 daily viewers to 40,000. Then the show that replaced him on ESPN did roughly the same views Rome was doing (I think it was actually 10% less, but still way out-performed Rome), essentially pointing out the major difference the channel made towards viewership.

Actually, here's the chart:


Easy enough to understand. Basically more people watch if you're on the more popular network. I'll be curious to see where Fox Sports 1, or whatever it's called, ends up ranking on this chart. But make no mistake, the league will take a perception hit, even if they are making more money on Fox. Granted, you always get March to really make a name for yourself.

U have to realize that cbs sportsnetwork is a joke, it has no programming and is only in like 40 million home. Fox has a lot of programming and will be in 90 million homes from the start (espn is in 100)

[ArmyVet]

I think what's different is you're going to have ESPN trying to squash the competition, and a major part of doing that will be in downplaying any success that's taking place in the Big East on Fox Sports 1. They need to try and sell their games, which means using all their other shows and analysts to convince people that the stuff on Fox Sports 1 is a lesser product, thus not worth watching.

This is my concern completely. Which is why the Big East needs to win games and force the talking heads to discuss us positively as soon as the season starts by winning non-league games.

[Polyfro]

U have to realize that cbs sportsnetwork is a joke, it has no programming and is only in like 40 million home. Fox has a lot of programming and will be in 90 million homes from the start (espn is in 100)

In some ways, it's an apples to oranges comparison, you're right. CBS Sports Network is in less than 50 million homes and was below 35 million until very recently; if you're a cable subscriber, it's generally only available on digital sports tiers, and on satellite, it's only available on higher-tiered packages. Sports fans probably get it, because they pay extra for those tiers, but the average TV viewer probably does not. Hence the smaller ratings and notoriety. Meanwhile, pretty much everyone that subscribes to anything above the most basic tier on cable or satellite gets ESPN/ESPN2. That's a huge difference.

Fox Sports 1 has a built-in audience over twice as large as CBS Sports Network, as it will be in 81 million homes at launch -- and it's available on lower tiers for the most part, meaning it has a much better chance of competing with ESPN.

[BillEsq]

I think what's different is you're going to have ESPN trying to squash the competition, and a major part of doing that will be in downplaying any success that's taking place in the Big East on Fox Sports 1. They need to try and sell their games, which means using all their other shows and analysts to convince people that the stuff on Fox Sports 1 is a lesser product, thus not worth watching.

This is my concern completely. Which is why the Big East needs to win games and force the talking heads to discuss us positively as soon as the season starts by winning non-league games.

[Hoya]

The Big East is not one of the Big 5 Power Conferences (Pac 12, Big 12, Big 10, SEC, ACC)
It's true - Big East is a mid-major, but a good one, probably the best.

We'll see how this year goes. The other conferences will have #1 ranked teams and cut the nets down as NCAA champs.
Not sure the Big East has the ability to do either right out of the blocks (or in the next few years). But give it time, and we'll see if we really are a power-player or a true mid-major

It's not one of the football leagues obviously, but it couldn't be further from a midmajor. The teams, histories, arenas, coaches, and cities etc are all major and frankly much better than several of the BCS leagues you mention.

[BEX]

MM with a $500 million contract? Who f'ed up? Start of the Fox vs ESPN wars imho. Never understood the whole MM thing. Do you have to have a big enrollment? UCF has 52,000 students but they suck @ basketball. Do you have to consistently beat "High" majors? The so called MM have done that for years. How do you explain Northwestern? Is there a HMWS? High majors who suck? I prefer they just say these are all D-1 BB teams, some good, some crappy. D-2 should be MM.

[BEX]

Consider the source:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/gameon/20 ... d/2029415/

[xu95]

I think Gottlieb is mid major so he has that going for him.

[DumpsterFireA10]

I think Gottlieb is mid major so he has that going for him.

Yeah, he did set the Notre Dame record for credit card theft. Bleep him. I'd hate to see what he refers to the league X left as.