AAC Final outrates Big East Final. By 333%.

[IMind]

That is a problem that Fox and the Big East are going to have to sort out in a hurry.

Villanova is a top-five team and probably as close as anything they have to a national program and they still didn't draw.

They're going to have problems then. I remember going to Villanova games in Philly during the Lappas era against UConn when there were probably 2000 people in the arena. Lappas wasn't great but these were 20+ win/NCAA seasons... and it was a ghost town. There's no bigger myth in college basketball than the fan support in Philadelphia. Sure they can manage to fill an arena for a Big 5 game... it's not exactly hard to fill the Palestra though... they are absolutely the worst fair weather fans.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

From my understanding FS1 had been a disappointment, even it's own people feel that way.
http://thebiglead.com/2014/08/21/lo...a-run-at-time-warner-fox-sports-1-first-year/

The PAC is very frustrated.
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/colleg...exposure-issues-and-the-fox-sports-1-dilemma/

And when you look at ratings week to week they are downright terrible, no matter who plays.
http://www.sportsmediawatch.com/college-football-tv-ratings/

FS1 is a ratings killer. Doesn't matter what team, even bluebloods (Texas, OU, USC, Oregon) have crap ratings on FS1. Heck the #3TCU vs Texas game was had playoff implications in week 14 and still nobody cared.
0.2 283K 4:00 PM Minnesota/TCU FS1
0.3 529K 4:50 PM Texas/Kansas (post-MLB) FS1
0.3 511K 12:00 PM Iowa St./Oklahoma St. FS1
0.2 296K 4:00 PM Oklahoma St./Kansas FS1
0.3 518K 12:00 PM West Virginia/Texas Tech FS1
0.5 1.13M 8:00 PM Washington/Oregon FS1
0.5 767K 10:00 PM USC/Utah FS1
0.5 763K 12:00 PM Oklahoma/Iowa State FS1
0.4 574K 7:00 PM UCLA/Washington FS1
0.3 423K 4:30 PM Stanford/Cal FS1
0.7 1.31M 7:30 PM TCU/Texas FS1

Here is one you will like. Only 1 week apart UConn beats Texas in TV ratings playing the same opponent.
0.7 1.08M 7:00 PM BYU/UConn ESPN
0.5 910K 7:30 PM BYU/Texas FS1

The first article is so poorly researched that it is hard to trust anything in it. I implies that Fox thought it was signing the OBE when it signed the Big East, which is wrong chronologically. Fox knew exactly what it was getting. Some of the other implications and "facts" presented seem a little dodgy.

 

[Carl Spackler]

You are certainly entitled to your opinion but I think Fox knew exactly what it was getting. I thing the article was simply explaining how different the Big East is now compared to what it was in the past with different members. The part that was shocking to me was this.

According to statistics provided to The Big Lead by Adgate, Fox Sports 1 averaged 88,000 male viewers 18-49 years old in prime time over the last 11 months, and a total of 122,000 people 18-49 years old in prime time. ESPN’s numbers were 762,000 and 1,070,000, respectively.

I'd like to see the AAC numbers on ESPN specifically vs. Fox Sports numbers for the catholics. That ESPN overall would draw 10x + viewership than Fox Sports isn't really earth shattering news, but seeing the AAC conference specifically vs. the catholics would be meaningful. That would give a pretty good idea of what the actual market value is of the AAC, in the time slots and national exposure we've got - had Mike Tranghese not signed prima noctis rights to ESPN years ago.

BTW: I did like the BYU v. UCONN and BYU v. Texas football ratings.

 

[huskypantz]

But fox sports 1 isn't failing per se. UFC has done well as well as Big 12 football. So again, why is BIG EAST football doing so bad if other sporting events draw good numbers on the station?

UFC saw a significant drop from the Spike ratings. The ratings have recovered to some extent but they definitely took a hit moving to FS1.