http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-husk...olumn.html

Grow up, CT

(10-24-2016 08:26 AM)westwolf Wrote:  http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-husk...olumn.html

Grow up, CT

You need to grow up. I'm no UCONN fan but they should be upset with the way things have went down, and quite frankly being they are the state university of ESPN's home office I can't believe they haven't been able to bribe their way in a P5 league with tax credits or threats of tax increases or whatever else. Quite frankly their own state lawmakers should have been quietly letting ESPN know it's in their best interests to make sure UCONN is taken care of but clearly they have done a poor job of that.

UCONN is the #1 program to be screwed over by conference realignment. It's not even close.

(10-24-2016 08:36 AM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  

(10-24-2016 08:26 AM)westwolf Wrote:  http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-husk...olumn.html

Grow up, CT

You need to grow up. I'm no UCONN fan but they should be upset with the way things have went down, and quite frankly being they are the state university of ESPN's home office I can't believe they haven't been able to bribe their way in a P5 league with tax credits or threats of tax increases or whatever else. Quite frankly their own state lawmakers should have been quietly letting ESPN know it's in their best interests to make sure UCONN is taken care of but clearly they have done a poor job of that.

I think ESPN should fix things by creating a new channel called, ESPN Original. Go back to the creation of the network, when ESPN was created as a channel to show UConn sports. Make the channel available in Connecticut to cable systems for $2.50 a month to 1.3 million subscribers. Tier 3 games only. Out of state, in the northeast, make it available for 2 cents a month (New England states, New York, NJ). Voila, ESPN fixes UConn's problem.

Collectively, the article makes a point about G5 schools banding together.

Eventually, you can expect lawsuits. It will simply happen because of the cartel-nature of what we see between the P5 and G5. Right now, the G5 are sufficiently paid off by the P5 to keep them quiet, while the 15 schools at the top of the G5 are trying not to p--- people off in hope of landing in the P5. But the current state of college football can't last forever. Eventually, people will lose patience with it.

The TV channels are using the G5 to create profit that they then funnel to the P5. The P5 are loss leaders.

This article is behind a pay-wall, but it has been floating around this morning that it indicates ESPN is going to give money to the Big 12 to restructure their contract (buyout of the pro-rata clause I assume), but FOX is not.

https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Jour...ig-12.aspx …

(10-24-2016 08:51 AM)upstater1 Wrote:  

(10-24-2016 08:36 AM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  

(10-24-2016 08:26 AM)westwolf Wrote:  http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-husk...olumn.html

Grow up, CT

You need to grow up. I'm no UCONN fan but they should be upset with the way things have went down, and quite frankly being they are the state university of ESPN's home office I can't believe they haven't been able to bribe their way in a P5 league with tax credits or threats of tax increases or whatever else. Quite frankly their own state lawmakers should have been quietly letting ESPN know it's in their best interests to make sure UCONN is taken care of but clearly they have done a poor job of that.

I think ESPN should fix things by creating a new channel called, ESPN Original. Go back to the creation of the network, when ESPN was created as a channel to show UConn sports. Make the channel available in Connecticut to cable systems for $2.50 a month to 1.3 million subscribers. Tier 3 games only. Out of state, in the northeast, make it available for 2 cents a month (New England states, New York, NJ). Voila, ESPN fixes UConn's problem.

Collectively, the article makes a point about G5 schools banding together.

Eventually, you can expect lawsuits. It will simply happen because of the cartel-nature of what we see between the P5 and G5. Right now, the G5 are sufficiently paid off by the P5 to keep them quiet, while the 15 schools at the top of the G5 are trying not to p--- people off in hope of landing in the P5. But the current state of college football can't last forever. Eventually, people will lose patience with it.

The TV channels are using the G5 to create profit that they then funnel to the P5. The P5 are loss leaders.

Do you have any stats to back that up? Sports entertainment's bubble will burst but I didn't think we were there yet.

I get UConn is upset but the arguments in this article are a bunch of whining with little thought put into them. For example:

Quote:The 65 Power 5 schools that commandeer the great majority of revenue in college sports want no change beyond cherry-picking a school here and there to corral more revenue

Standard argument you hear lot from northeast liberals, that wealth is all one big finite pie so you getting your share means someone else's share must be smaller. False. CFB wealth comes from TV contracts and it is not the P5 preventing ESPN of CBS or Fox from offering the AAC a 20 million dollar contract.

Quote:This leaves 63 schools, known as the Group of 5, trying to play big-time football without the big-time revenue. Can 18 percent of the NCAA Division I membership make a lot of noise? Sure. Can those five conferences push through NCAA legislation to help level the football field?

So, you're saying the problem is that you want to play at the highest and most expensive level of CFB but its not fair that you can't spend as much as others do at this level so it's up to the NCAA, the body that has nothing to do with paying schools for FB TV contracts, to step in and make things fair?

Quote:This leaves 15-20 schools that could put together a huge all-fronts battle to gain some kind of equitable distribution before they spend themselves into oblivion.

There it is again. A failure to understand that the uneven money comes from TV revenue and that the neither the NCAA or the P5 have any say or control over because of:

Quote:Unfortunately, it goes far beyond that. In NCAA v. Oklahoma Board of Regents, the Supreme Court ruled in 1984 the NCAA television plan violated the Sherman and Clayton Antitrust Acts and was a restraint of open competition and trade. The conferences and the big-time networks have been free for decades to make their own individual deals

Wait so you DO understand! You're not AGAINST monopoly! You just want to NCAA to have it's old TV monopoly restored so that it can redistribute wealth to YOU that you cant get from the TV contracts. But again, this is northeast politics talking ey Comrade?

Quote:The Power 5 conferences essentially can act as a cartel, restricting membership, doling out hundreds of millions of dollars to long-standing weaker conference cronies while more competitive athletic programs are left on the outside.

It's called freedom of association and it applies to all private clubs including your AAC who doesn't have to let in Maine or Delaware or anyone else just because they think it's more fair if they are allowed in. But again, that nasty "freedom" word is getting in the way of equality and fairness isnt it Comrades?

Quote:Can't there be a meeting of the minds among the NCAA, the Power 5 and networks for some kind of revenue sharing formula from its vast goldmine based on money invested into football, into athletic programs to help mitigate Group of 5 losses?

So once again, neither the NCAA or the P5 have any say or control over what TV offers to pay for your products. You don't like this so your solution is "Restore the NCAA TV monopoly so they may redistribute the wealth to us!"

(10-24-2016 08:26 AM)westwolf Wrote:  http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-husk...olumn.html

Grow up, CT

Think about that. Gov. Malloy doesn't have to jump ugly in public, but a strong message of cooperation should be clear. You want tax breaks from the state? Give the state flagship university some breaks.


Wow. How banana-republic corrupt should we ask ESPN to be?

(10-24-2016 08:51 AM)upstater1 Wrote:  

(10-24-2016 08:36 AM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  

(10-24-2016 08:26 AM)westwolf Wrote:  http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-husk...olumn.html

Grow up, CT

You need to grow up. I'm no UCONN fan but they should be upset with the way things have went down, and quite frankly being they are the state university of ESPN's home office I can't believe they haven't been able to bribe their way in a P5 league with tax credits or threats of tax increases or whatever else. Quite frankly their own state lawmakers should have been quietly letting ESPN know it's in their best interests to make sure UCONN is taken care of but clearly they have done a poor job of that.

I think ESPN should fix things by creating a new channel called, ESPN Original. Go back to the creation of the network, when ESPN was created as a channel to show UConn sports. Make the channel available in Connecticut to cable systems for $2.50 a month to 1.3 million subscribers. Tier 3 games only. Out of state, in the northeast, make it available for 2 cents a month (New England states, New York, NJ). Voila, ESPN fixes UConn's problem.

Collectively, the article makes a point about G5 schools banding together.

Eventually, you can expect lawsuits. It will simply happen because of the cartel-nature of what we see between the P5 and G5. Right now, the G5 are sufficiently paid off by the P5 to keep them quiet, while the 15 schools at the top of the G5 are trying not to p--- people off in hope of landing in the P5. But the current state of college football can't last forever. Eventually, people will lose patience with it.

The TV channels are using the G5 to create profit that they then funnel to the P5. The P5 are loss leaders.

You can always sue into the group but you can't force them to play you.

(10-24-2016 08:26 AM)westwolf Wrote:  http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-husk...olumn.html

Grow up, CT

Whining is an integral element of the fanbase.

Really stupid for ESPN or fox to buyout the pro rate clause, doubt the big 12 expands in any cas

(10-24-2016 09:12 AM)loki_the_bubba Wrote:  

(10-24-2016 08:26 AM)westwolf Wrote:  http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-husk...olumn.html

Grow up, CT

Think about that. Gov. Malloy doesn't have to jump ugly in public, but a strong message of cooperation should be clear. You want tax breaks from the state? Give the state flagship university some breaks.


Wow. How banana-republic corrupt should we ask ESPN to be?

Well they are corrupt we already know that. The Gov and the legislature should have put that pressure on ESPN a long time ago when there actually were openings. Now the problem is leagues aren't really looking to expand. They should have pulled that card when the ACC was in full raid mode.

"In releasing its sales pitch to the Big 12, UConn showed an athletic budget of nearly $80 million a year, the most of non-Power 5 schools. The school showed $27 million in subsidies in 2014, $28 million in 2015 and estimates of $35.2 million in 2016 and $39.2 million in 2017. Much of the money will come from student fees. Good grief. Those numbers are either the best argument to drop football and join the Big East or attack on all fronts to infiltrate the Power 5 structure. I vote the latter course for the next few years."

This is not specific to UConn, but there in lies the inevitable ever-expanding bubble that, in theory, will eventually burst. You can only raise student fees and costs so much so to a point where you eventually start losing students because going to the university becomes too expensive. UConn (and Cincinnati and USF) had some extra cash these past few years thanks to the Big East war chest and severance package. That will soon dry up (I believe next year).

I'm not sure of what the answer to this question is, but at what point does that benefit no longer meet the cost and expense? There is a lot of non-tangible profit in college athletics - it is a marketing, branding and exposure tool that is not easily quantifiable in numbers. However, when it is clear that a school is shelling out mass amounts of money and resources to a product that A.) hasn't been getting the desired results on the field against other similar competition since the program was elevated to FBS and B.) isn't good enough to propel it into a power conference, at what point does the institution wave the white flag and pull the plug on those resources?

For the sake of the fellow UConn fans on this board, I truly hope that they never have to see the answer to that question (and one day soon get into a power conference), but there is a very real long-term problem for the future of UConn football.

(10-24-2016 08:38 AM)TheBasketBallOpinion Wrote:  UCONN is the #1 program to be screwed over by conference realignment. It's not even close.

I wouldn't say screwed over. They made a choice in the late 90's and didn't/couldn't see what the future held for college football. If they turned down the Big Easts offer to upgrade FB they would be just fine in the current BE.

(10-24-2016 10:00 AM)RutgersGuy Wrote:  

(10-24-2016 08:38 AM)TheBasketBallOpinion Wrote:  UCONN is the #1 program to be screwed over by conference realignment. It's not even close.

I wouldn't say screwed over. They made a choice in the late 90's and didn't/couldn't see what the future held for college football. If they turned down the Big Easts offer to upgrade FB they would be just fine in the current BE.

Talking specifically from a CBB perspective. No program that good should be stuck playing Tulane/ECU/UCF etc.

(10-24-2016 09:28 AM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  

(10-24-2016 09:12 AM)loki_the_bubba Wrote:  

(10-24-2016 08:26 AM)westwolf Wrote:  http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-husk...olumn.html

Grow up, CT

Think about that. Gov. Malloy doesn't have to jump ugly in public, but a strong message of cooperation should be clear. You want tax breaks from the state? Give the state flagship university some breaks.


Wow. How banana-republic corrupt should we ask ESPN to be?

Well they are corrupt we already know that. The Gov and the legislature should have put that pressure on ESPN a long time ago when there actually were openings. Now the problem is leagues aren't really looking to expand. They should have pulled that card when the ACC was in full raid mode.

What is your definition of corrupt? That they don't do what you would like them to do? That they make business decisions designed to benefit their stakeholders? That they pay more to the conferences that they think will make them more profitable?

College football is a business. The entertainment business, to be more precise. In that business, the stars get paid more than the rest of the cast, because the public has made clear that's who they want to see perform.

In other businesses, some brands are perceived to be better than others in ways that consumers value. Mercedes can charge more for their cars because of their perceived superiority. Should governments step in and insist that consumers pay as much for a Chevy or a Kia because that's "fairer" to all the competitors in the auto industry?

UConn is a Johnny-come-lately to big time sports, especially football. ESPN has helped them get as far as they have. But it's not ESPN's job to subsidize them just so they can play on a bigger stage than they played in before the Big East was formed.

(10-24-2016 09:03 AM)10thMountain Wrote:  I get UConn is upset but the arguments in this article are a bunch of whining with little thought put into them. For example:

Quote:The 65 Power 5 schools that commandeer the great majority of revenue in college sports want no change beyond cherry-picking a school here and there to corral more revenue

Standard argument you hear lot from northeast liberals, that wealth is all one big finite pie so you getting your share means someone else's share must be smaller. False. CFB wealth comes from TV contracts and it is not the P5 preventing ESPN of CBS or Fox from offering the AAC a 20 million dollar contract.

Way to start off your post letting us all know you're a giant douche. Now I don't have to waste my time reading the rest of your drivel.

(10-24-2016 10:04 AM)ken d Wrote:  

(10-24-2016 09:28 AM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  

(10-24-2016 09:12 AM)loki_the_bubba Wrote:  

(10-24-2016 08:26 AM)westwolf Wrote:  http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-husk...olumn.html

Grow up, CT

Think about that. Gov. Malloy doesn't have to jump ugly in public, but a strong message of cooperation should be clear. You want tax breaks from the state? Give the state flagship university some breaks.


Wow. How banana-republic corrupt should we ask ESPN to be?

Well they are corrupt we already know that. The Gov and the legislature should have put that pressure on ESPN a long time ago when there actually were openings. Now the problem is leagues aren't really looking to expand. They should have pulled that card when the ACC was in full raid mode.

What is your definition of corrupt? That they don't do what you would like them to do? That they make business decisions designed to benefit their stakeholders? That they pay more to the conferences that they think will make them more profitable?

College football is a business. The entertainment business, to be more precise. In that business, the stars get paid more than the rest of the cast, because the public has made clear that's who they want to see perform.

In other businesses, some brands are perceived to be better than others in ways that consumers value. Mercedes can charge more for their cars because of their perceived superiority. Should governments step in and insist that consumers pay as much for a Chevy or a Kia because that's "fairer" to all the competitors in the auto industry?

UConn is a Johnny-come-lately to big time sports, especially football. ESPN has helped them get as far as they have. But it's not ESPN's job to subsidize them just so they can play on a bigger stage than they played in before the Big East was formed.

If the public has made it clear that they want to see P5 programming, why is it that UConn's FB, MBB, and WBB is played across ESPN and ESPN2 tenfold that of schools like Wake Forest and BC and double that of many other P5 schools.

Does ESPN not care about its ratings?

To claim ESPN has helped UConn is offensively wrong. They have done nothing to help their state university, nor were they expected to.

(10-24-2016 10:04 AM)ken d Wrote:  

(10-24-2016 09:28 AM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  

(10-24-2016 09:12 AM)loki_the_bubba Wrote:  

(10-24-2016 08:26 AM)westwolf Wrote:  http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-husk...olumn.html

Grow up, CT

Think about that. Gov. Malloy doesn't have to jump ugly in public, but a strong message of cooperation should be clear. You want tax breaks from the state? Give the state flagship university some breaks.


Wow. How banana-republic corrupt should we ask ESPN to be?

Well they are corrupt we already know that. The Gov and the legislature should have put that pressure on ESPN a long time ago when there actually were openings. Now the problem is leagues aren't really looking to expand. They should have pulled that card when the ACC was in full raid mode.

What is your definition of corrupt? That they don't do what you would like them to do? That they make business decisions designed to benefit their stakeholders? That they pay more to the conferences that they think will make them more profitable?

College football is a business. The entertainment business, to be more precise. In that business, the stars get paid more than the rest of the cast, because the public has made clear that's who they want to see perform.

In other businesses, some brands are perceived to be better than others in ways that consumers value. Mercedes can charge more for their cars because of their perceived superiority. Should governments step in and insist that consumers pay as much for a Chevy or a Kia because that's "fairer" to all the competitors in the auto industry?

UConn is a Johnny-come-lately to big time sports, especially football. ESPN has helped them get as far as they have. But it's not ESPN's job to subsidize them just so they can play on a bigger stage than they played in before the Big East was formed.

I'm no fan of the old Big East obviously, but ESPN basically engineered their destruction when they turned down the deal ESPN offered and made it clear they were gonna go to the open market. ESPN basically siphoned off the brands they wanted to keep at the "power level" we've seen the leaks about them basically telling the ACC what to do and who to add. They did not want the Big East to hit the open market so they decided to gut it, pay the ACC a little more for the trouble, and pay the remaining schools scraps. Certainly a "business decision" and probably a very good one for them because they are getting a steal on the AAC, still not getting a bad deal on the ACC, and they kept a power conference from going exclusively to another network.

(10-24-2016 10:14 AM)Hank Schrader Wrote:  

(10-24-2016 10:04 AM)ken d Wrote:  

(10-24-2016 09:28 AM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  

(10-24-2016 09:12 AM)loki_the_bubba Wrote:  

(10-24-2016 08:26 AM)westwolf Wrote:  http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-husk...olumn.html

Grow up, CT

Think about that. Gov. Malloy doesn't have to jump ugly in public, but a strong message of cooperation should be clear. You want tax breaks from the state? Give the state flagship university some breaks.


Wow. How banana-republic corrupt should we ask ESPN to be?

Well they are corrupt we already know that. The Gov and the legislature should have put that pressure on ESPN a long time ago when there actually were openings. Now the problem is leagues aren't really looking to expand. They should have pulled that card when the ACC was in full raid mode.

What is your definition of corrupt? That they don't do what you would like them to do? That they make business decisions designed to benefit their stakeholders? That they pay more to the conferences that they think will make them more profitable?

College football is a business. The entertainment business, to be more precise. In that business, the stars get paid more than the rest of the cast, because the public has made clear that's who they want to see perform.

In other businesses, some brands are perceived to be better than others in ways that consumers value. Mercedes can charge more for their cars because of their perceived superiority. Should governments step in and insist that consumers pay as much for a Chevy or a Kia because that's "fairer" to all the competitors in the auto industry?

UConn is a Johnny-come-lately to big time sports, especially football. ESPN has helped them get as far as they have. But it's not ESPN's job to subsidize them just so they can play on a bigger stage than they played in before the Big East was formed.

If the public has made it clear that they want to see P5 programming, why is it that UConn's FB, MBB, and WBB is played across ESPN and ESPN2 tenfold that of schools like Wake Forest and BC and double that of many other P5 schools.

Does ESPN not care about its ratings?

To claim ESPN has helped UConn is offensively wrong. They have done nothing to help their state university, nor were they expected to.

^^ Good point Hank. In all honesty the biggest injustice there is maybe 20 schools that have huge ratings in FB. After that there is not a lot of distinction between the rest of the P5 and the top 15 G5 schools. All you have to do is look at the ratings (for example TV ratings for Iowa State vs. Kansas fball is not that much greater than Temple vs. South Florida-- often times the ratings are lower).