ODU, Conference USA to have a high profile on new Fox Sports network
http://hamptonroads.com/2013/05/odu-conf...ts-network
Conference USA has deals with regional Fox Sports networks and the CBS Sports Network that provide about $14 million in revenue per year. Combined with the NCAA distribution of basketball tournament revenue, each school receives around $1.5 million in conference revenue.
Fox and CBS officials attended the meetings, Selig said.
Fox officials told Conference USA that the league will have a high-profile role on that company’s new national network, Fox Sports 1, which is envisioned as a competitor for ESPN. Selig said that network will be a part of local cable TV packages in Hampton Roads.
College football and basketball will be a major part of the network’s lineup, with games being broadcast primarily on Thursday and Saturday. There will be weekend highlights shows featuring the Pac-12, Big 12 and Conference USA.
“It will be a 24-hour sports network that will go into 90 million homes,” Selig said. “ESPN is in more than 100 million homes, so that gives us quite an opportunity to enhance our visibility.”
The CBS Sports Network is received in about 50 million homes, he said. “That’s not quite ESPN numbers, but it’s still a great coverage area for Conference USA,” he said.
* East Carolina will be ODU’s “travel partner” for men’s and women’s basketball, meaning ODU will play the Pirates in Greenville and in Norfolk in both sports. Marshall had been designated as ODU’s partner, but that was changed because ODU and ECU are just 2 ½ hours apart. ODU will play all other 14 C-USA teams once.
* C-USA appears likely to divide into two divisions and play a 19-game conference schedule in men’s and women’s basketball in 2014-2015. ODU would play all six East Division teams twice and the 7 West Division opponents once. “We had some conversations and there appears to be some sentiment in the conference to do that,” Selig said.
C-USA will play a 16-game conference schedule in 2013-2014. Selig said he probably would be in favor of the 19-game schedule.
Assuming there’s no more conference realignment, here’s how the conferences would break down in 2014 in football and men's and women's basketball. Charlotte, it should be noted, doesn't begin playing Conference USA football until 2015..
East: ODU, Charlotte, Marshall, Middle Tennessee, Western Kentucky, Florida International, Florida Atlantic.
West: Alabama-Birmingham, Southern Mississippi, Louisiana Tech, Rice, North Texas, Texas-El Paso, Texas-San Antonio.
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Men’s basketball will play conference games on Thursday and Saturday, in part because Thursday is a day when few major conferences play. That will give the conference better TV exposure, help reduced missed class time and travel costs and might also help the league get better officiating, Selig said.
Here’s a scenario that shows how travel partners could work with the new schedule: ODU would travel to Florida International on a Thursday and then nearby Florida Atlantic on Saturday before flying home, A week later, Texas-El Paso would come to play ODU on a Thursday, then bus to East Carolina on Saturday before returning to Norfolk and flying back to Texas.
* Women’s basketball coaches agreed to play conference games on Wednesday and Saturday and will not have travel partners. That will mark a big change for the ODU women, who traditionally played Colonial Athletic Association games on Sunday. The CAA scheduled Sunday games in part to avoid conflicts with men’s basketball and in part to get games on television.
Selig said that the conference will track travel costs and missed class time for both men’s and women’s basketball “at the end of the year to find out if one model is more favorable than the other.”
* All 16 men’s and women’s basketball teams will compete next March in the C-USA tournaments, to be held the same week in El Paso, Texas. Selig said he pushed to have all 16 teams go to the tournament – in previous years, only 12 teams went.
“We felt like in year one, let’s go ahead and take everyone to UTEP,” he said. “We want to do everything we can to help develop rivalries.”
* ODU might bid to host the 2015 Conference USA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments. The dates likely would conflict with the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament already scheduled for Scope, and that might be problematic since C-USA would need two venues -- one for the men and one for the women.
Selig suggested that ODU’s Ted Constant Convocation Center and the Hampton Coliseum might suffice. ODU would also need help from the VisitNorfolk, the city’s visitors and convention bureau, and would need some corporate sponsorship.
“I want to take a look at it,” he said “We have so many hotels available here, from Virginia Beach to Norfolk to Williamsburg. We have a good airport here. Our staff is very familiar with running NCAA quality events. It would be a great event for the community and for the league.”
Nashville, according to reports in the Tennessee and Kentucky media, appears virtually certain to bid for the tournament. Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky are a short drive from Nashville. Western Kentucky plays a home football game against Kentucky in Nashville this fall.
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More CUSA Info (TV, scheduling, divisions,etc)
