Talked with a Big East Insider

[kingottoiii]

I don't think the BE $ amount will be awful. I can see them getting $10 million per team, which still puts them at a big disadvantage vs the other conferences. Also something that can be an even bigger deal is exposure. The ACC will have every FB and BBall game available in some form of ESPN's empire. Should the BE go to NBC, it will hurt immensely in exposure. NBC will likely take a noon game, then have ND on at 3:30. NBC Sports will likely take three games (noon, 3:30, and 7). So what happens with the other three BE games each week? There is no ESPN3. There is no BE Network (which is produced by EPSN and sold to places like SNY). So does this mean three BE games a week will not be available? That would suck for fans of those schools. Maybe you could add in a 10:30 time slot to be mainly played in San Diego, Boise, and occasionally Dallas. But that still leaves two games not being on TV. Also when ND is on the road that opens up a slot on NBC. But that still means 1-2 games a week will not be shown.

On top of this, kids like ESPN. They all want to be on Sportscenter. The BE not being associated with ESPN will hurt with recruiting.

Then there is BBall. Again like in FB the exposure will be a big issue. How do you get 9 mid week conference games onto one network? So either teams will have less games on TV or they will be forced to play a lot of 9pm starts. That isn't such a big deal for Marq, DePaul, ND, Memphis, SMU, and Houston. But it would suck for UConn, Temple, Nova, St Johns, PC, USF, UCF, Louisville, Cincy, GTown, Seton Hall, and RU. Those Eastern schools will need to play some 9pm weekday home games throughout the year, which sucks for fans.

Not being on ESPN will be a huge disadvantage.

 

[HtownOrange]

I don't think the BE $ amount will be awful. I can see them getting $10 million per team, which still puts them at a big disadvantage vs the other conferences. Also something that can be an even bigger deal is exposure. The ACC will have every FB and BBall game available in some form of ESPN's empire. Should the BE go to NBC, it will hurt immensely in exposure. NBC will likely take a noon game, then have ND on at 3:30. NBC Sports will likely take three games (noon, 3:30, and 7). So what happens with the other three BE games each week? There is no ESPN3. There is no BE Network (which is produced by EPSN and sold to places like SNY). So does this mean three BE games a week will not be available? That would suck for fans of those schools. Maybe you could add in a 10:30 time slot to be mainly played in San Diego, Boise, and occasionally Dallas. But that still leaves two games not being on TV. Also when ND is on the road that opens up a slot on NBC. But that still means 1-2 games a week will not be shown.

On top of this, kids like ESPN. They all want to be on Sportscenter. The BE not being associated with ESPN will hurt with recruiting.

Then there is BBall. Again like in FB the exposure will be a big issue. How do you get 9 mid week conference games onto one network? So either teams will have less games on TV or they will be forced to play a lot of 9pm starts. That isn't such a big deal for Marq, DePaul, ND, Memphis, SMU, and Houston. But it would suck for UConn, Temple, Nova, St Johns, PC, USF, UCF, Louisville, Cincy, GTown, Seton Hall, and RU. Those Eastern schools will need to play some 9pm weekday home games throughout the year, which sucks for fans.

Not being on ESPN will be a huge disadvantage.

You raise some excellent points, KingOttoiii. I have held all along that ESPN will take the Tier 1 rights and the Tier 2 rights, the bulk of the games, would go to another bidder, presumably NBC. ESPN does not need or even want the Big East football, but they do want and NEED Big East basketball. There is no way ESPN lets go completely the northeast hoops markets, throat would slicing their own throats. By obtaining the Tier 1 rights, ESPN would get the "choicest" of football games, probably a nooner or west coast late game. The real prize being the best of the Big East hoops games, of which there will be several very good games to choose from.

Not a perfect world, but good enough to make the Big East teams happy. Not as much $$ as the top conferences but way more than the other options.

 

[ImperialOrange]

I don't think the BE $ amount will be awful. I can see them getting $10 million per team, which still puts them at a big disadvantage vs the other conferences. Also something that can be an even bigger deal is exposure. The ACC will have every FB and BBall game available in some form of ESPN's empire. Should the BE go to NBC, it will hurt immensely in exposure. NBC will likely take a noon game, then have ND on at 3:30. NBC Sports will likely take three games (noon, 3:30, and 7). So what happens with the other three BE games each week? There is no ESPN3. There is no BE Network (which is produced by EPSN and sold to places like SNY). So does this mean three BE games a week will not be available? That would suck for fans of those schools. Maybe you could add in a 10:30 time slot to be mainly played in San Diego, Boise, and occasionally Dallas. But that still leaves two games not being on TV. Also when ND is on the road that opens up a slot on NBC. But that still means 1-2 games a week will not be shown.

On top of this, kids like ESPN. They all want to be on Sportscenter. The BE not being associated with ESPN will hurt with recruiting.

Then there is BBall. Again like in FB the exposure will be a big issue. How do you get 9 mid week conference games onto one network? So either teams will have less games on TV or they will be forced to play a lot of 9pm starts. That isn't such a big deal for Marq, DePaul, ND, Memphis, SMU, and Houston. But it would suck for UConn, Temple, Nova, St Johns, PC, USF, UCF, Louisville, Cincy, GTown, Seton Hall, and RU. Those Eastern schools will need to play some 9pm weekday home games throughout the year, which sucks for fans.

Not being on ESPN will be a huge disadvantage.

I think the option there would be to play the other games on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. NBC could probably do quite well if they slot Boise St as a Friday night fixture at least until another network sees it and starts putting better games there. Thursday nights get good matchups already but IIRC Wednesday and Friday are normally MAC, Sun Belt, and C-USA.

 

[kingottoiii]

I think the option there would be to play the other games on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. NBC could probably do quite well if they slot Boise St as a Friday night fixture at least until another network sees it and starts putting better games there. Thursday nights get good matchups already but IIRC Wednesday and Friday are normally MAC, Sun Belt, and C-USA.

That is true they can play the other FB games on Thursday and Friday.

 

[kingottoiii]

You raise some excellent points, KingOttoiii. I have held all along that ESPN will take the Tier 1 rights and the Tier 2 rights, the bulk of the games, would go to another bidder, presumably NBC. ESPN does not need or even want the Big East football, but they do want and NEED Big East basketball. There is no way ESPN lets go completely the northeast hoops markets, throat would slicing their own throats. By obtaining the Tier 1 rights, ESPN would get the "choicest" of football games, probably a nooner or west coast late game. The real prize being the best of the Big East hoops games, of which there will be several very good games to choose from.

Not a perfect world, but good enough to make the Big East teams happy. Not as much $$ as the top conferences but way more than the other options.

What areas would ESPN really be missing in the NE? In the Boston area they have BC. In NYC they have SU, Duke, and UNC. They are missing Philly. And in Balt/DC they have MD. Also by passing on BE BBall ESPN dy default creates more interest for the ACC in those markets. IMO in three of those four NE markets the ACC is greater than the BE. So why dilute the market by taking on BE BBall as well? Philly really is the only issue, but is Philly worth the cost of obtaining BE FB and BBall rights? If NBC really wants to get into college sports they will want BBall too for content. Why would they or ESPN want to share a weak product?

 

[HtownOrange]

What areas would ESPN really be missing in the NE? In the Boston area they have BC. In NYC they have SU, Duke, and UNC. They are missing Philly. And in Balt/DC they have MD. Also by passing on BE BBall ESPN dy default creates more interest for the ACC in those markets. IMO in three of those four NE markets the ACC is greater than the BE. So why dilute the market by taking on BE BBall as well? Philly really is the only issue, but is Philly worth the cost of obtaining BE FB and BBall rights? If NBC really wants to get into college sports they will want BBall too for content. Why would they or ESPN want to share a weak product?

Hoops is easier for schools to support and there are many more schools. With the Big East, you have UConn, Georgetwon, St. Johns, Nova, Temple, ND, Louisville, Cincy, in the northeast with Providence, Seton Hall and (dare I say) Rutgers. That is a lot of fans to turn away. Add in Louisville, Cincy, Marquette and DePaul (yes, I know, bad hoops but good fans, and they are improving), and ESPN would lose a lot of viewers. Obviously ESPN would only select the top choices, sorry Rutgers, you do not qualify.

The ACC Schools leave a lot of territory uncovered. I agree Syracuse has pull in NYC and upstate, but there is no ACC representation from NYC to Maryland. There are a lot of viewers in that span. Also, St. Johns is on the rise, so NYC is not locked up by any means. With so many time slots for hoops throughout the week, buying the choice games really wouldn't impact the overall schedule. NBC would still get the bulk of the games.

Besides, this is a merely an exercise in possibilities, brainstorming, if you prefer. No real decision can be made until you have the numbers to run the scenarios, which I think we all agree the parties are doing. For the Big East, two partners is likely the best outcome. As stated many times in many ways, ESPN will NOT over pay and does not need the full Big East package while NBC needs quantity, not necessarily quality at this time.