Apparently NBC had a provision in its contract with the nBE that would have forced them to fight for the name. In going with ESPN, however, that same provision may not be included. This could put the name back on the selling block for $8-$10 million reports Jeremy Fowler.

Not sure you read that right, Monroe.

Quote:The Big East namesake was part of the television negotiations with NBC, according to a source – a potential provision of roughly $2 million for the network to market a new name should the league sell the Big East handle to the departing Catholic 7.

So NBC was throwing in some money to fund a marketing campaign for the new name.

And the $8-10M was phrased as a wild guess.

Quote: If the name is worth, say, $8-10 million, that's good money for a football league that resembles the old Conference USA after several waves of conference realignment.

I'm getting to the point where I'm tired of all the noise about the name. If our conference is so flimsy that a name would matter that much to the success of the league- something is wrong- and the name won't help us that much. It's almost seeming with some folks if we don't get the name, it's over. That's just a joke.

(02-25-2013 04:01 PM)stever20 Wrote:  I'm getting to the point where I'm tired of all the noise about the name. If our conference is so flimsy that a name would matter that much to the success of the league- something is wrong- and the name won't help us that much. It's almost seeming with some folks if we don't get the name, it's over. That's just a joke.

It's like getting VCU.

Will not getting the name, or not getting VCU, break us? No. Will either one, or both, close the gap between us and the ACC and Big Ten? No.

But it helps.

(02-25-2013 04:04 PM)johnbragg Wrote:  

(02-25-2013 04:01 PM)stever20 Wrote:  I'm getting to the point where I'm tired of all the noise about the name. If our conference is so flimsy that a name would matter that much to the success of the league- something is wrong- and the name won't help us that much. It's almost seeming with some folks if we don't get the name, it's over. That's just a joke.

It's like getting VCU.

Will not getting the name, or not getting VCU, break us? No. Will either one, or both, close the gap between us and the ACC and Big Ten? No.

But it helps.

It's got NOTHING to do with VCU. VCU can help us way more on the floor than a name. What is going to matter is how the schools perform on the court above all else. If we're the Big East and all the new schools and DePaul, Providence, and Seton Hall crap all over themselves- the Big East name isn't going to mean squat. It's just not. If we're the Super East 12 or whatever, and the new schools and Villanova, St Johns, all perform well(not to mention Marquette and Georgetown of course)- not having the Big East name isn't going to hurt us one iota..

When the Big East was formed in 1979, the charter members hired a NY marketing firm $50,000 to come up with the name. Now it's worth $8-$10 million? I don't think so.

(02-25-2013 04:10 PM)stever20 Wrote:  If we're the Super East 12 or whatever, and the new schools and Villanova, St Johns, all perform well(not to mention Marquette and Georgetown of course)- not having the Big East name isn't going to hurt us one iota..

My point is, that both VCU and the name are things that help. We shouldn't be turning down or not pursuing things that will help. That's all.

We should take VCU over Richmond. Richmond is a decent basketball school, the league could succeed with Richmond. But VCU is better.

Similarly, we should be willing to give up a decent amount of money to get the name. We could succeed as the Eastern 12. But the Big East is better.

Melky, you seem to have forgotten the intervening 20 years, and all the Final Fours, national championships, tournament bids and CBS and ESPN exposure attached to that name. I'm sure Conference USA paid more than $50,000 to whoever came up with their name, and it's not worth squat. The Big Ten didn't pay anybody to come up with their name, except some trademark lawyers eventually to make it official.

(02-25-2013 04:23 PM)Melky Cabrera Wrote:  When the Big East was formed in 1979, the charter members hired a NY marketing firm $50,000 to come up with the name. Now it's worth $8-$10 million? I don't think so.

Are you saying a fee paid to some marketing consultants in the Carter Administration has some bearing on the value of the Big East brand today?

(02-25-2013 04:31 PM)johnbragg Wrote:  

(02-25-2013 04:10 PM)stever20 Wrote:  If we're the Super East 12 or whatever, and the new schools and Villanova, St Johns, all perform well(not to mention Marquette and Georgetown of course)- not having the Big East name isn't going to hurt us one iota..

My point is, that both VCU and the name are things that help. We shouldn't be turning down or not pursuing things that will help. That's all.

We should take VCU over Richmond. Richmond is a decent basketball school, the league could succeed with Richmond. But VCU is better.

Similarly, we should be willing to give up a decent amount of money to get the name. We could succeed as the Eastern 12. But the Big East is better.

Melky, you seem to have forgotten the intervening 20 years, and all the Final Fours, national championships, tournament bids and CBS and ESPN exposure attached to that name. I'm sure Conference USA paid more than $50,000 to whoever came up with their name, and it's not worth squat. The Big Ten didn't pay anybody to come up with their name, except some trademark lawyers eventually to make it official.

I know, John. You're right. The value has been earned by what the league has accomplished, so the value has grown.

I'm a UConn fan, but I'm also a fan of the Big East Catholics. Split loyalties. It just doesn't seem right for the group who came up with the namne in the first place and gave it it's value now has to pay to retain it. Seems absurd.

30 years ago, John Fogarty of Credence Clearwater Revival was sued for copyright infringement because one of the songs he wrote at the time as a solo artist resembled a CCR song that he had written as a member of that group.

John Fogarty was CCR, It was him + 3 other guys, one of whom happened to be his brother. He wrote all their stuff, was the lead singer, and played lead guitar. Without him, there was no CCR and there were no CCR songs. But he was being sued because he no longer owned the copyrights.

What a shock that a guy who wrote Song X might show some similarities in his later work when writing Song Y. That would be like suing Shakespeare because onw of his later plays had a similar theme or similar dialogue to an earlier play. It all came out of the same brain!

While the analogy isn't perfect, it seems similar to me. I hate that UConn is associated with the rest of the nBE. They are not the Big East in any shape, manner, or form. And everyone knows that. For them to take the Big East name is thievery and for them to represent themselves with this name is a fraud.

I would rather see the name relegated to the annals of history than to be associated with this new group. All the traditions and history associated with it will be tarnished in my mind if it is used for one day to represent this new group of frauds. The Big East was something special. It should only continue with that name if it is done so by a core group who gave the name its meaning. Georgetown, Providence, Villanova, Seton Hall, St. John's. They are the Big East. There is no question about that. East Carolina, Central Florida, Houston, SMU, Memphis??? You've got to be kidding me. That's the Big South.

(02-25-2013 04:58 PM)Native Georgian Wrote:  

(02-25-2013 04:23 PM)Melky Cabrera Wrote:  When the Big East was formed in 1979, the charter members hired a NY marketing firm $50,000 to come up with the name. Now it's worth $8-$10 million? I don't think so.

Are you saying a fee paid to some marketing consultants in the Carter Administration has some bearing on the value of the Big East brand today?

Yeah, I know. There's been some inflation.

Are you saying that a group of southern schools is really the Big East? Come on, names have meaning. You can't start calling some bar singer Barbara Streisand or Adele and think you're fooling anyone into thinking that they're now listening to a world class singer.

I totally agree melky. I understand the argument tajt the name should stay since the c7 are the ones leaving. However I think leaving the name behind lessens its value. Let's be honest UConn and cincy aren't long for this league. I find it disturbing that once they go, maybe even bringing USF with them the BE name will be left to that group.