According to
the article quoted below, Dayton should be ahead of Wichita St in the pecking order of expansion targets. Same size TV market, but more ESPN penetration.
Dayton has been a Top 10 ESPN hoops market for the last two years. Which got me thinking. ESPN might prefer to see Dayton NOT go to the Big East/Fox. They might pay us money to pick up Dayton to prevent losing that market. And if the American Conference picked up Dayton, that would give the American three of ESPN's Top 10 basketball markets.
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Louisville Makes it a Dozen Straight
For the 12th consecutive year, Louisville was the highest-rated metered market for ESPN’s regular-season telecasts, averaging a 4.5 rating. Greensboro, Kansas City and Raleigh-Durham finished tied for second with a 2.8 rating. It marks the third straight year Greensboro has ended the season in the second spot. The remaining top 10 is Memphis (2.6), Columbus (2.0), Cincinnati (1.9), Knoxville (1.9), Dayton (1.9) and Indianapolis (1.8). In addition:
* Eight of last season’s top 10 metered markets finished the 2013-14 season among the top 10 again with Charlotte and Nashville falling out (tied at 11th with a 1.7 rating).
* Memphis made the biggest year-to-year jump in the standings, moving from 14th to fifth by doubling its rating from a 1.3 to a 2.6.
* Three of Ohio’s four metered markets finished in the top nine: Columbus at sixth with a 2.0 rating, and Cincinnati and Dayton tied for seventh with a 1.9 rating.