04-26-2012, 09:46 AM
http://ucf.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1359393&PT=4&PR=2
UCF and other BIG EAST schools could be in line for a monetary windfall when the league negotiates a new television contract this fall.
That's the word from Memphis athletic director R.C. Johnson, who says league members could soon receive an annual payout in upwards of $13 million per year.
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Johnson said the biggest issue on the agenda at the BIG EAST meeting was the anticipation of television contract negotiations later this fall.
If his projection pans out, UCF, Memphis, Houston and SMU will be in for a substantial raise.
"In Conference USA right now we're getting about $2 million a year and that's a ballpark figure," Johnson said. "The BIG EAST right now, the full playing members like Louisville and Cincinnati, are getting somewhere between $8 and $10 million per year.
"The hopes of the BIG EAST people are to get somewhere up in the teens (of millions). Not the $20 million that the Big 12 is getting or the $22 or $24 million that the Big Ten, SEC and PAC-12 got in their new deal, but the time is right. The people are excited. We talk about the geography, but the television people like the inventory. They like the time zones. There's even conversations going on with NBC about trying to do a doubleheader with Notre Dame and a BIG EAST game."
Johnson said he had just received the list of television executives that will be in attendance at the meeting and he indicated every major sports network would be represented.
"I don't know who's not coming," Johnson said. "Obviously they're getting ready to negotiate."
The major TV players in college athletics are ESPN and FOX while NBC/Comcast is trying to get their foot in the door. NBC currently holds the rights to Notre Dame football and it's been speculated they'll make a major run to be the primary TV partner of the BIG EAST, especially since they're looking for content on their newly rebranded NBC Sports Network.
"So with all that said, this is one of the things I do feel good about as I depart (Memphis)," Johnson said. "I think from a financial standpoint, and there's never enough (money) and it doesn't matter if you're Alabama or Michigan, but at least we'll have an influx of television money. I know we will."
UCF and other BIG EAST schools could be in line for a monetary windfall when the league negotiates a new television contract this fall.
That's the word from Memphis athletic director R.C. Johnson, who says league members could soon receive an annual payout in upwards of $13 million per year.
----------
Johnson said the biggest issue on the agenda at the BIG EAST meeting was the anticipation of television contract negotiations later this fall.
If his projection pans out, UCF, Memphis, Houston and SMU will be in for a substantial raise.
"In Conference USA right now we're getting about $2 million a year and that's a ballpark figure," Johnson said. "The BIG EAST right now, the full playing members like Louisville and Cincinnati, are getting somewhere between $8 and $10 million per year.
"The hopes of the BIG EAST people are to get somewhere up in the teens (of millions). Not the $20 million that the Big 12 is getting or the $22 or $24 million that the Big Ten, SEC and PAC-12 got in their new deal, but the time is right. The people are excited. We talk about the geography, but the television people like the inventory. They like the time zones. There's even conversations going on with NBC about trying to do a doubleheader with Notre Dame and a BIG EAST game."
Johnson said he had just received the list of television executives that will be in attendance at the meeting and he indicated every major sports network would be represented.
"I don't know who's not coming," Johnson said. "Obviously they're getting ready to negotiate."
The major TV players in college athletics are ESPN and FOX while NBC/Comcast is trying to get their foot in the door. NBC currently holds the rights to Notre Dame football and it's been speculated they'll make a major run to be the primary TV partner of the BIG EAST, especially since they're looking for content on their newly rebranded NBC Sports Network.
"So with all that said, this is one of the things I do feel good about as I depart (Memphis)," Johnson said. "I think from a financial standpoint, and there's never enough (money) and it doesn't matter if you're Alabama or Michigan, but at least we'll have an influx of television money. I know we will."
