First off, I would like to say as an SMU fan - I am happy to see all the positive energy coming from the BEast lately. There was a LONG ROUGH patch and it is still not necessarily over... but there is alot of hope and alot of promise.

Here of some things I expect to see:

1. The management and organization of the conference will change. Obviously we have made some serious hires recently. If Aresco is as smart as he sounds, he will make sure the BE is run effectively from the inside, creating a strong internal structure. I wouldn't be surprised if the HQ did move... This process will probably take awhile, but be a machine by 2013.

2. The 'Brand' will change. This means the whole visual and audio identity of the BE will change. I foresee a NEW WEBSITE (thank God, the current one is terrible), a new logo, and a new TV contract. We will be on new stations, by 2013. I think the logo - and hope - will be more bold and simple. I think the big10 and SEC's are good, strong logos. I also appreciate the pac12 and mac logos - which are like crests. I think the big12 logo is bad and dated and also should change. The Big East logo is the only one written out and will most likely be abbreviated or something. Side note - I dont mind the MW logo although some seem to hate it. I see this new look being paired with a heavy media campaign happening as soon as the 2012 season ends.

3. Media contract and bowls: I believe that we will grab an amazing TV deal that lands us above the ACC's. It is in whoever's best interest (maybe not espin) that they pay enough money to 'impress' the world and to prove its worth.

Teir 1 - NBC
Teir 2 - ESPN
Teir 3 - BE network

The network shouldnt expect to pay pennies then promote the league as a big 6.

Olympic Sports Schools: 6 million / yr.
Football only members: 13 million / yr.
Full Sport members: 19 million / yr.

The bowl situation will be resolved, although it looks grim right now. We will either get a major 'bcs' bowl tie in, or we will create our own 'bcs' game. The problem is - ACC is stupid and the values of both of our bowls will be lesser because our champions wont play each other. Every other big conference has a mate big10-pac12 / sec-big12 / acc -? / big east -?... Our champions should play and thats the end of the story. What happens however, is uncertain.

4. The league needs every member school to INVEST hard in athletics. This needs to be a major push. The BE can only do so much to be apart of the grown up table without results on the field. Football, focus on On-Campus stadiums, coaching, attendence all need to be on the upswing. The big east institutions all have something they need to work on. For SMU - its competing with tough recruiting in the state, getting attendence, and owning the dallas market. Memphis is to have a winning record with a BCS schedule and improving football game day experience (which they have started). In order to be big time, we have to act big time.

Happy to be here. Excited about our future, and hoping we all rise up to the challange.

Agree on most points, except your part about "it's in the networks' interests to impress the world and prove the conference's worth". No business works that way. And if they did, they wouldn't be in business for long.

The networks might overpay due to a bidding war or a competitive advantage...but they won't inflate the deal just so that the BE is on par with other conference contracts. Wishful thinking.

As far as SMU goes, number one goal is more butts in the seats. That is accomplished by winning big games and through concentrated marketing efforts.

(08-21-2012 12:43 PM)Carolina Stang Wrote:  Agree on most points, except your part about "it's in the networks' interests to impress the world and prove the conference's worth". No business works that way. And if they did, they wouldn't be in business for long.

The networks might overpay due to a bidding war or a competitive advantage...but they won't inflate the deal just so that the BE is on par with other conference contracts. Wishful thinking.

Agreed. Whoever gets the BE contract is going to pay just enough to outbid everyone else. Nothing more, nothing less. If our home network wants to spend money to improve our image and increase ratings they will spend their money on advertising, not increased payouts to the conference. What's going to drive the TV contract up is 1) NBC is desperate for college sports inventory and 2) ESPN wants to maintain their near monopoly on the market. Fox and CBS will bid on 2nd tier rights but they don't have as much at stake as NBC and ABC/ESPN.

However, I think many are overlooking how attractive the BE is in it's own right. We're not just going to be filler content, regardless of what network we end up on. The Big East has schools in 27% of the nation's televsion markets, which works out to about 32 million households. Even a fraction of 32 million households can mean a huge number of TV sets.

^^ This.

I sometimes hear the argument, "Well sure, SMU is in Dallas, the 5th major media market, but nobody in Dallas cares about SMU and therefore the TV contract won't be as high." You also hear that w/r/t Temple, UH, Memphis and other schools in major markets that might be dominated by larger state school fans. Complete BS.

The TV contract will account for televisions reached...not which people in that market prefer PSU over Temple or TAMU over UH. The nBE has incredible markets to take advantage of.

(08-21-2012 03:03 PM)Carolina Stang Wrote:  I sometimes hear the argument, "Well sure, SMU is in Dallas, the 5th major media market, but nobody in Dallas cares about SMU and therefore the TV contract won't be as high." You also hear that w/r/t Temple, UH, Memphis and other schools in major markets that might be dominated by larger state school fans.

The people making those comments overlook that many of the fans of competing schools DO care and watch. Whether thay are watching in hopes of seeing a win or a loss does not matter. I know that I often watch Tennessee and Ole Miss games (or at least portions), and I sure as hell am not rooting for them to win, and it goes both ways. Surely, TV and advertising experts understand this effect - plain common sense. It is also common sense that our schools can improve market penetration over time if properly promoted and displayed by a wise TV partner.

If you're making predictions, we have a thread stickied at the top for it.

http://csnbbs.com/showthread.php?tid=582848

1) We talked about the Big East logo and brand here at length a while back. It was agreed the logo needs to simplified and streamlined (brought current). We'll see what happens.

2) Yes, SMU's primary challenge is butts in the seats. This is actually the 4th largest metro area (we passed Philly recently) and there is a ton of competition for the entertainment dollar here, especially with pro teams in all four major sports leagues (NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL). But SMU MUST get its attendance to 30,000 per game. After that, the goal should be 40,000.

(08-21-2012 06:15 PM)UConn-SMU Wrote:  2) Yes, SMU's primary challenge is butts in the seats. This is actually the 4th largest metro area (we passed Philly recently) and there is a ton of competition for the entertainment dollar here, especially with pro teams in all four major sports leagues (NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL). But SMU MUST get its attendance to 30,000 per game. After that, the goal should be 40,000.

The last number I saw for DFW was 6.6 million residents. With less than .5% of the population, Ford is filled. Far less for Moody. A winning program, some interesting opponents, and just a wee bit of decent marketing and both venues are packed. There are some 40,000+ alumni in DFW, and no telling how many thousands of Methodist church members in North Texas. There really is no excuse for Ford not to be filled, unless the experience is not entertaining.

I've really never bought the excuse about pro sports. It might make it a little harder than a small market school, but there is only so much $$$ that Jones and Cuban can squeeze out of the metro area. Aren't the majority of those season tickets being purchased by businesses anyway? MLB, NBA and NHL have limited effect on football. NFL games are on Sunday and the Cowboys play half their games away. It boggles my mind that there aren't an additional 5 to 10k just plain old college football fans and families willing to come watch live football in the Park Cities every other Saturday.

I couldn't give away extra tickets to SMU games a decade ago with SMUs poor performances and playing a WAC schedule. It gets so much easier with a better conference line up, and SMU continuing to have winning seasons and bowl appearances.

This is one of best home schedules I can remember going back to the SWC days - including A&M, TCU, Houston, Tulsa and Southern Miss. We just need to get some quality wins this year and build some momentum for the move to the Big East.

(08-21-2012 07:50 PM)Kandy Atz Wrote:  

(08-21-2012 06:15 PM)UConn-SMU Wrote:  2) Yes, SMU's primary challenge is butts in the seats. This is actually the 4th largest metro area (we passed Philly recently) and there is a ton of competition for the entertainment dollar here, especially with pro teams in all four major sports leagues (NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL). But SMU MUST get its attendance to 30,000 per game. After that, the goal should be 40,000.

The last number I saw for DFW was 6.6 million residents. With less than .5% of the population, Ford is filled. Far less for Moody. A winning program, some interesting opponents, and just a wee bit of decent marketing and both venues are packed. There are some 40,000+ alumni in DFW, and no telling how many thousands of Methodist church members in North Texas. There really is no excuse for Ford not to be filled, unless the experience is not entertaining.

I've really never bought the excuse about pro sports. It might make it a little harder than a small market school, but there is only so much $$$ that Jones and Cuban can squeeze out of the metro area. Aren't the majority of those season tickets being purchased by businesses anyway? MLB, NBA and NHL have limited effect on football. NFL games are on Sunday and the Cowboys play half their games away. It boggles my mind that there aren't an additional 5 to 10k just plain old college football fans and families willing to come watch live football in the Park Cities every other Saturday.

I couldn't give away extra tickets to SMU games a decade ago with SMUs poor performances and playing a WAC schedule. It gets so much easier with a better conference line up, and SMU continuing to have winning seasons and bowl appearances.

This is one of best home schedules I can remember going back to the SWC days - including A&M, TCU, Houston, Tulsa and Southern Miss. We just need to get some quality wins this year and build some momentum for the move to the Big East.

You've got one of the best coaches around in June Jones. I've been a fan of his since he was at Hawaii. But SMU needs to keep improving their product. You are no smaller than your crosstown rival, TCU, and look what they accomplished. Looking forward to some great games with you guys starting next year.

(08-21-2012 07:50 PM)Kandy Atz Wrote:  

(08-21-2012 06:15 PM)UConn-SMU Wrote:  2) Yes, SMU's primary challenge is butts in the seats. This is actually the 4th largest metro area (we passed Philly recently) and there is a ton of competition for the entertainment dollar here, especially with pro teams in all four major sports leagues (NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL). But SMU MUST get its attendance to 30,000 per game. After that, the goal should be 40,000.

The last number I saw for DFW was 6.6 million residents. With less than .5% of the population, Ford is filled. Far less for Moody. A winning program, some interesting opponents, and just a wee bit of decent marketing and both venues are packed. There are some 40,000+ alumni in DFW, and no telling how many thousands of Methodist church members in North Texas. There really is no excuse for Ford not to be filled, unless the experience is not entertaining.

I've really never bought the excuse about pro sports. It might make it a little harder than a small market school, but there is only so much $$$ that Jones and Cuban can squeeze out of the metro area. Aren't the majority of those season tickets being purchased by businesses anyway? MLB, NBA and NHL have limited effect on football. NFL games are on Sunday and the Cowboys play half their games away. It boggles my mind that there aren't an additional 5 to 10k just plain old college football fans and families willing to come watch live football in the Park Cities every other Saturday.

I couldn't give away extra tickets to SMU games a decade ago with SMUs poor performances and playing a WAC schedule. It gets so much easier with a better conference line up, and SMU continuing to have winning seasons and bowl appearances.

This is one of best home schedules I can remember going back to the SWC days - including A&M, TCU, Houston, Tulsa and Southern Miss. We just need to get some quality wins this year and build some momentum for the move to the Big East.

SMU has had ZERO marketing since about 1983. I've heard the marketing of SMU sports (FB) will begin next summer, but I have no "inside" info.

Better team, better conference, better ooc opponents, better marketing = 30,000 per game in the next 4 or 5 years. 40,000 would be ok eventually (long-term).

(08-21-2012 10:52 PM)UConn-SMU Wrote:  

(08-21-2012 07:50 PM)Kandy Atz Wrote:  

(08-21-2012 06:15 PM)UConn-SMU Wrote:  2) Yes, SMU's primary challenge is butts in the seats. This is actually the 4th largest metro area (we passed Philly recently) and there is a ton of competition for the entertainment dollar here, especially with pro teams in all four major sports leagues (NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL). But SMU MUST get its attendance to 30,000 per game. After that, the goal should be 40,000.

The last number I saw for DFW was 6.6 million residents. With less than .5% of the population, Ford is filled. Far less for Moody. A winning program, some interesting opponents, and just a wee bit of decent marketing and both venues are packed. There are some 40,000+ alumni in DFW, and no telling how many thousands of Methodist church members in North Texas. There really is no excuse for Ford not to be filled, unless the experience is not entertaining.

I've really never bought the excuse about pro sports. It might make it a little harder than a small market school, but there is only so much $$$ that Jones and Cuban can squeeze out of the metro area. Aren't the majority of those season tickets being purchased by businesses anyway? MLB, NBA and NHL have limited effect on football. NFL games are on Sunday and the Cowboys play half their games away. It boggles my mind that there aren't an additional 5 to 10k just plain old college football fans and families willing to come watch live football in the Park Cities every other Saturday.

I couldn't give away extra tickets to SMU games a decade ago with SMUs poor performances and playing a WAC schedule. It gets so much easier with a better conference line up, and SMU continuing to have winning seasons and bowl appearances.

This is one of best home schedules I can remember going back to the SWC days - including A&M, TCU, Houston, Tulsa and Southern Miss. We just need to get some quality wins this year and build some momentum for the move to the Big East.

SMU has had ZERO marketing since about 1983. I've heard the marketing of SMU sports (FB) will begin next summer, but I have no "inside" info.

Better team, better conference, better ooc opponents, better marketing = 30,000 per game in the next 4 or 5 years. 40,000 would be ok eventually (long-term).

I see us getting close to 30,000 Average. We will have 2 sell out + games: a&m (38,000 with temp stands), tcu (38,000 as well). Houston and and Tulane (homecoming) should be sell out as well I hope. Tulsa, S. Miss and whoever is the thanksgiving oppnent will be the low attendence games