The Next Five Years [ From 16 July 2018 ]

[gtmoBlue]

GoldenWarrior11 » Tue Jul 17, 2018 8:36 am

I do think we will get a bump in our next TV deal - but mostly because I think Fox will get competition from our content. I have said, and continue to believe, that ESPN would absolutely make a push to regain our rights. The Big East was ESPN's baby. I think after it helped sell off its pieces, and - in-turn - attempt to devalue the league, there is a little bit of seller's remorse. For all the attempts to sell the narrative that the "Big East Died", that could not be further from the truth. In fact, it is now recognized as a top basketball conference. Getting their rights back gives them substantial opportunity: including Big East/ACC shootouts and extending the Gavitt Games to ensure all/most games are on ESPN. The fact that the Big East remains in big markets in the Midwest and East Coast will always provide viewership opportunity, and our on-court success provide the results. Finally, with the rise in viewership interest from both women's basketball and lacrosse, two sports we also do very well with, I think we have the content to sell and market as well.

Expansion aside, I do think extending the conference slate to 20-games is inevitable and natural. It provides more content to provide for networks. I'll leave it at that.

Other goals that the league should have: getting a scheduling alliance with the Big 12, extending the current deal with the B1G (Gavitt Games), and the pursuit of a preseason Old Big East shootout at Madison Square Garden involved the C5 (G'Town, Villanova, St. Johns, Seton Hall and Providence) and a rotation of former members (Syracuse, UConn, Pittsburgh, Boston College, Rutgers, Notre Dame or West Virginia). If wanted/needed, we can throw out DePaul/Marquette and Cincinnati/Louisville as well. Additionally, with all of the throwback uniforms craze in sports today, we should definitely have a throwback-themed day where all the Big East teams wear old uniforms, Fox uses old graphics/presentation and honor programs legends of old. Our history (both in and out of conference) is storied and prestigious. While a good portion of the audience was not alive during those times, it makes it all the more important to recognize and give attention to it.

Great points GW11. Generally great content, also with more of it (extension of GG's, recreation of your BE Shootout, expansion to a 20 game conference slate, a possible BE/B12 or PAC12 series) all will aid in a stronger negotiations position for the conference. More and better hoops content. You are probably correct in stating there should be more vigorous bidding this time around as the BE has established itself as a top hoops conference. Could the contract double in size?

The BEDN is the real sleeper here. The BE should market it as a online platform for all collegiate sports, for all conferences (especially for non-revenue sports and for lesser conferences who have middling tv contracts). Soccer, baseball, volleyball, la Crosse, softball, tennis, etc. If built out as an independent subsidiary...such a platform can grow to be our most important income stream.

[NJRedman]

I don't know about the next five years but some of the folks on the Boneyard think we will be closing our doors as a conference and as schools in 10-15 years!

Big difference between the two leagues. The Big East doesn't play football, it's a basketball league formed by private and or Catholic schools. The AAC will outlive the The Big East as we know it today BECAUSE of football, the Big East may even cease to exist in 10 to 15 years for many reasons, chief among them is no public support, small private schools are privately in panic mode right now on how to keep down their skyrocketing costs, and the first cuts will be to the athletic budgets. Declining enrollment in the next few years will just add fuel to the fire. Even the very well heeled will think twice about sending their kids to a small private school like Providence or Seton Hall for an ok but only above average education for $150,000 a year. Those schools certainly won't be getting 40,000 student applicants every spring like UConn gets, and getting a top shelf education on the cheap is a rarity nowadays. UConn is certainly not going to drop football and join a dieing Catholic basketball league.

https://the-boneyard.com/threads/new-fr ... 171/page-3

Oh and he misspelled dying but I went to some fancy private school.

[jfan]

Nobody really cares about AAC football and certainly no one cares about AAC basketball except for fans of the teams in the conference. Look at the attendance for both sports! Creighton's enrollment has been going up (not dramatically) but going up. His chicken little routine sounds desperate.

[Hoya33]

Not too disappoint Boneyard, but UCONN's cost of attendance for out of state students is already over $200,000. Public higher education in this country is not cheap. Private schools need large endowments.

https://financialaid.uconn.edu/cost/

[scoscox]

FWIW, Xavier has been expanding aggressively the last few years and setting records for applications for years now. We’ve bought up tons of surrounding land and developed it for the school. Campus seems like it’s nearly doubled in size in the past five years.

[gtmoBlue]

Cost of education is up everywhere. State school subsidies will reduce and potentially dry up over the next 10 to 15 years. Every one will have issues, but to think the BE will wither and die is a fool's pipe dream.

Football's problems with concussions and injuries will cause a radical revision in the game. Flag football anyone?

[GoldenWarrior11]

I don't know about the next five years but some of the folks on the Boneyard think we will be closing our doors as a conference and as schools in 10-15 years!

Big difference between the two leagues. The Big East doesn't play football, it's a basketball league formed by private and or Catholic schools. The AAC will outlive the The Big East as we know it today BECAUSE of football, the Big East may even cease to exist in 10 to 15 years for many reasons, chief among them is no public support, small private schools are privately in panic mode right now on how to keep down their skyrocketing costs, and the first cuts will be to the athletic budgets. Declining enrollment in the next few years will just add fuel to the fire. Even the very well heeled will think twice about sending their kids to a small private school like Providence or Seton Hall for an ok but only above average education for $150,000 a year. Those schools certainly won't be getting 40,000 student applicants every spring like UConn gets, and getting a top shelf education on the cheap is a rarity nowadays. UConn is certainly not going to drop football and join a dieing Catholic basketball league.

https://the-boneyard.com/threads/new-fr ... 171/page-3

Oh and he misspelled dying but I went to some fancy private school.

Coming from the sports board of a school that is easily at the top of NCAA Division I in subsidizing their failing athletic program, that is pretty epic.

Few points:
1) Non-P5 College Football in the Northeast is more likely to drop down, or cease to exist, in 10-15 years. The number of impact recruits from the area are low to begin with. The fan support is not consistently there because of the pro sports market. For UConn - Boston College, Rutgers, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Maryland and Penn State all have been, and will continue to earn - at minimum - 20x in television revenue annually. The number of high school football participants in the Northeast, Midwest and West Coast are only decreasing in time (Southeast and South are always increasing). If getting into the P5 was considered a race, UConn would have been lapped several times over now by other programs. The distance in closing that gap is already difficult to shorten. Time will only increase that margin.
2) "The Big East Model" - i.e. group of like-minded schools, with similar athletic programs and institutions, de-emphasizing football and focusing on basketball - will only grow in time. It is cost-efficient, effective and provides stability and harmony to schools. The Big East is at the very top of non-football conferences. There is zero threat of losing of members, and high-potential for possible expansion members (if the league ever decides that route). In the quest for big-time football, many schools are literally throwing trucks of cash onto the table, hoping that they hit a jackpot. Unfortunately, betting everything on red and calling that an investment is foolish and irresponsible.
3) Detractors and antagonists of the Big East like to point to TV ratings as "evidence" as to why the league is failing, or will fail. I'd point to the league's incredibly strong attendance at home games, interconference games as well as at MSG as a counterpoint. If the league was in trouble, people would not be spending money in order to see the product. For AAC programs, in football and basketball, attendance is a very real problem. If you take the Big East off Fox, we would still get strong attendance (viewership - who knows, it would definitely be higher on ESPN). If you take the AAC off ESPN, attendance would still struggle (and suddenly the viewership that they use as evidence for getting a substantial increase in television revenue drops down).
4) Recruiting is still at high-levels. We compete with power conferences, enough said.
5) Relationships with other power conferences. I would like to point to our conference strategy - engaging in professional and respectful business opportunities with the NCAA, B1G, Big 12, etc. The AAC has beat their chest, shouted from the rooftops and created hashtags that they are P6. One is in the club, one is not. Coincidence? Absolutely not.

At the end of the day, many schools are in big trouble athletically and financially that will likely come to some type of conclusion within ten years. The disappointment in forever being relegated and forced to give up the dream of big-time collegiate football will be a difficult pill to swallow for fans and alumni of these schools. It is an "old boys' country club", and not everyone gets an invite. I think the Big East was revolutionary in being a part of this for so long, but choosing to reorganize and focus on what it has done and does best: big-time college basketball.

[GoldenWarrior11]

GoldenWarrior11 » Tue Jul 17, 2018 8:36 am

I do think we will get a bump in our next TV deal - but mostly because I think Fox will get competition from our content. I have said, and continue to believe, that ESPN would absolutely make a push to regain our rights. The Big East was ESPN's baby. I think after it helped sell off its pieces, and - in-turn - attempt to devalue the league, there is a little bit of seller's remorse. For all the attempts to sell the narrative that the "Big East Died", that could not be further from the truth. In fact, it is now recognized as a top basketball conference. Getting their rights back gives them substantial opportunity: including Big East/ACC shootouts and extending the Gavitt Games to ensure all/most games are on ESPN. The fact that the Big East remains in big markets in the Midwest and East Coast will always provide viewership opportunity, and our on-court success provide the results. Finally, with the rise in viewership interest from both women's basketball and lacrosse, two sports we also do very well with, I think we have the content to sell and market as well.

Expansion aside, I do think extending the conference slate to 20-games is inevitable and natural. It provides more content to provide for networks. I'll leave it at that.

Other goals that the league should have: getting a scheduling alliance with the Big 12, extending the current deal with the B1G (Gavitt Games), and the pursuit of a preseason Old Big East shootout at Madison Square Garden involved the C5 (G'Town, Villanova, St. Johns, Seton Hall and Providence) and a rotation of former members (Syracuse, UConn, Pittsburgh, Boston College, Rutgers, Notre Dame or West Virginia). If wanted/needed, we can throw out DePaul/Marquette and Cincinnati/Louisville as well. Additionally, with all of the throwback uniforms craze in sports today, we should definitely have a throwback-themed day where all the Big East teams wear old uniforms, Fox uses old graphics/presentation and honor programs legends of old. Our history (both in and out of conference) is storied and prestigious. While a good portion of the audience was not alive during those times, it makes it all the more important to recognize and give attention to it.

Great points GW11. Generally great content, also with more of it (extension of GG's, recreation of your BE Shootout, expansion to a 20 game conference slate, a possible BE/B12 or PAC12 series) all will aid in a stronger negotiations position for the conference. More and better hoops content. You are probably correct in stating there should be more vigorous bidding this time around as the BE has established itself as a top hoops conference. Could the contract double in size?

The BEDN is the real sleeper here. The BE should market it as a online platform for all collegiate sports, for all conferences (especially for non-revenue sports and for lesser conferences who have middling tv contracts). Soccer, baseball, volleyball, la Crosse, softball, tennis, etc. If built out as an independent subsidiary...such a platform can grow to be our most important income stream.

I don't know about doubling in size, but a slight increase would not be out of the realm of possibility. The biggest factor is ESPN. ESPN would want the Big East back from reasons mentioned before, but also in its potential in organizing an ACC/Big East shootout, or duplicating its Big Monday productions. Again, the change in winds with how ESPN has referenced the Big East in the past 12 months is very telling. From years 1-3 were pretty telling - very little acknowledgment, passive aggressive "digs" at the conference, etc. In the past 12-24 months, the network has now openly grouped the Big East with the P5 in basketball (even above its own property in the AAC), there are sportscasters that speak highly of a competing property, and - perhaps most humorously - you have guys like Vitale, Greenberg and others openly campaigning for that competing property to get UConn, an ESPN property.

The Big East was ESPN's baby. It was remarkably confident that it had devalued and destroyed it where it no longer had any value. With the on-court results, following and media attention it continues to get, there is no doubt that they did not foresee this happening. I strongly believe they will be looking ahead to purchase the league's rights again when they are up for renewal in a couple of years. That will force Fox to pay a little bit more, IMO, if we stay put. For all that Fox has done for our conference, I would hate to leave.

[MullinMayhem]

I love how much FOX has embraced us, but the numbers don't lie...if we have the chance to get back on ESPN again, we have to do it. I would want more games on ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNU however rather than ESPN3. If they try to pitch most games on ESPN3, then we might as well just stay with FOX where we are still on TV and not online.

By the way, AAC fanboys, notice no major conferences are scheduling alliances with you. Your conference will never be "power" no matter how many times you scream it just as an ugly chick will never become pretty by screaming it.

[GumbyDamnit!]

Why look to change networks? Screw ESPN. I watch as many BE games as I can (whether VU is playing or not) in crisp, high definition TV. Why compete for airtime with other conferences? You might want to be careful what you wish for. Wouldn’t you rather have every game on national TV instead of every 3rd or 4th game? No brainer. I love Fox and clearly it is not hurting us as some would like to make you think. The conference is as healthy as anyone could have reasonably expected. Why change the formula?