Big 12 Pushing For UConn Part Deux!

[upstater]

Actually...so say the bean counters at ESPN, ABC, etc...hell, Gonzaga, Nova, and UConn would be paid more if the media valued BB more.

The Big 12 commissioner wants to gamble on BB being valued more in the future...maybe he will roll the dice,,,he has been rattleing rhem in his hand.

The media valuation is irrelevant. We're discussing the fact that the NCAA skims from the basketball tournament. If it didn't, then the conferences would get $700m extra dollars a year, which would jack up the worth of UConn for P-5 conferences.

 

[JeepCSC]

Football generates more revenue than basketball. That’s just what it is. I think it’s 3:1 ratio here at UNC for instance.

If the B12 wants to mine for basketball gold, I have to imagine it’s because Yormack is envisioning a breakaway from the NCAA tourney model. Because that is where most of college basketball’s money is tied up, not in tv rights to regular-season games which are already on the open-market.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

Anybody know what the all-in revenue number is for basketball, including March Madness? It has to a A LOT as March Madness funds sports across D1, D2, and D3. I feel like basketball gets slighted and it must be larger than the common wisdom???

 

[JeepCSC]

March Madness’s last contract was a little over $1 billion annually for the 60+ games. I think the current college football contract was around $650 million annually for the the championship, semifinals, plus Orange, Rose, and Sugar. That’s looking to skyrocket with the expanded playoffs.

 

[ctchamps]

Football generates more revenue than basketball. That’s just what it is. I think it’s 3:1 ratio here at UNC for instance.

If the B12 wants to mine for basketball gold, I have to imagine it’s because Yormack is envisioning a breakaway from the NCAA tourney model. Because that is where most of college basketball’s money is tied up, not in tv rights to regular-season games which are already on the open-market.

It's not just Yormack. Arizona and ASU gave no indication they were joining the B12 until last Thursday and if GoKU is correct an announcement that they and UConn will be joining is in the works next week. The B12 has been working with their media partner regarding UConn and Colorado since at least May and Yormack has pretty much stated UConn would not be treated as a G5. So that's one indication that it's more than Yormack that is on board with the idea of getting more value out of basketball. If the announcement indeed occurs next week that's additional information that they are supporting basketball. It's a quick turn around and the only explanation would be they want Arizona for its bb program and need ASU to still take UConn.

Basketball has driven the B12 realignment. Some of those PAC teams will not be part of the autonomous three or four conferences. This is the forerunner of the future. Expect a quick follow up of Oregon and Washington to the BIG. Say goodbye to the P5. Now it's A4. Or is it?

Highly speculative but I wouldn't put it past the media powers to push the BIG, SEC and B12 to have informal conversations with enough GOR resistant ACC teams to precipitate a breakup of the ACC. And some of those universities will be out in the cold.

 

[WestHartHusk]

It's not just Yormack. Arizona and ASU gave no indication they were joining the B12 until last Thursday and if GoKU is correct an announcement that they and UConn will be joining is in the works next week. The B12 has been working with their media partner regarding UConn and Colorado since at least May and Yormack has pretty much stated UConn would not be treated as a G5. So that's one indication that it's more than Yormack that is on board with the idea of getting more value out of basketball. If the announcement indeed occurs next week that's additional information that they are supporting basketball. It's a quick turn around and the only explanation would be they want Arizona for its bb program and need ASU to still take UConn.

Basketball has driven the B12 realignment. Some of those PAC teams will not be part of the autonomous three or four conferences. This is the forerunner of the future. Expect a quick follow up of Oregon and Washington to the BIG. Say goodbye to the P5. Now it's A4. Or is it?

Highly speculative but I wouldn't put it past the media powers to push the BIG, SEC and B12 to have informal conversations with enough GOR resistant ACC teams to precipitate a breakup of the ACC.

How can you say basketball is driving when the one school they have inked, Colorado, sucks at everything including basketball.

 

[JeepCSC]

But you simply aren’t going to get more value with standard tv contracts simply by adding a basketball program. The general rule is 75/25 in favor of football. That is about what Notre Dame was getting originally from the ACC. The Big XII isn’t going to be rewriting contracts by adding basketball schools. If they are looking for additional value, it will come as I said from anticipating a breakaway from the NCAA tournament so conferences can better leverage basketball value. The other option would be Yormack anticipating a conference network. That would add value (Notre Dame’s getting a larger slice of the conference payout pie since the ACC Network started).

As far as non-tv money, again, most programs make much more from football than basketball. I just checked the latest numbers for UNC. We made $32 million in basketball revenues, but $56 million from football. The same is true for Kentucky and Kansas. Duke might be the basketball school with the smallest gap, but even there football made around $40 million versus $33 million for basketball. Most every other school makes many multiples more off football than basketball.

 

[jostar1]

But you simply aren’t going to get more value with standard tv contracts simply by adding a basketball program. The general rule is 75/25 in favor of football. That is about what Notre Dame was getting originally from the ACC. The Big XII isn’t going to be rewriting contracts by adding basketball schools. If they are looking for additional value, it will come as I said from anticipating a breakaway from the NCAA tournament so conferences can better leverage basketball value. The other option would be Yormack anticipating a conference network. That would add value (Notre Dame’s getting a larger slice of the conference payout pie since the ACC Network started).

As far as non-tv money, again, most programs make much more from football than basketball. I just checked the latest numbers for UNC. We made $32 million in basketball revenues, but $56 million from football. The same is true for Kentucky and Kansas. Duke might be the basketball school with the smallest gap, but even there football made around $40 million versus $33 million for basketball. Most every other school makes many multiples more off football than basketball.

YORMARK: “I’d like to double down if I can, without compromising football, and making basketball the catalyst for a lot of things we are doing. In Mexico City, for example, we’ll be debuting Houston and Kansas, both men and women, playing basketball games. If you think about Rucker Park and creating a voice for ourselves, one of the most iconic playgrounds in the world. There are other major projects that we haven’t announced yet where basketball is truly a catalyst not only to drive more awareness but also to create value and drive revenue for the conference.

“It’s not just about the TV partnerships and what the TV partners value basketball as, but for us, it’s how can basketball be a catalyst for growing the conference and the many initiatives we have. I look at it more holistically. I also like the fact that we are the No. 1 basketball conference in America. And if I can further cement that without compromising football it’s certainly something I need to explore.

 

[Nostical]

The concept of starting college basketball later in the year to avoid overlap with football was just one of many ideas floated by….Brett Yormark.

He is constantly looking for revenue opportunities and views every new idea through the prism of monetization. If it’s up to him, UConn will be in the Big12. He recognizes the potential for UConn to help create a tremendous revenue stream for the Big 12 through basketball—and wants to seize on the chance to grab UConn now.

Unlike the conventional naysayers looking only at football, he views UConn as a value proposition. He sees UConn as the catalyst to open new lucrative marketing opportunities in NYC and beyond. And if he acts now he’s getting an under-appreciated asset at the “right price”. To me, it’s reminiscent of Warren Buffett buying the undervalued company others have ignored and growing it exponentially. You might say UConn is to Yormark what Geico was to Buffett. But unlike Buffett, Yormark needs to convince others with contrary points of view.

 

[JeepCSC]

YORMARK: “I’d like to double down if I can, without compromising football, and making basketball the catalyst for a lot of things we are doing. In Mexico City, for example, we’ll be debuting Houston and Kansas, both men and women, playing basketball games. If you think about Rucker Park and creating a voice for ourselves, one of the most iconic playgrounds in the world. There are other major projects that we haven’t announced yet where basketball is truly a catalyst not only to drive more awareness but also to create value and drive revenue for the conference.

“It’s not just about the TV partnerships and what the TV partners value basketball as, but for us, it’s how can basketball be a catalyst for growing the conference and the many initiatives we have. I look at it more holistically. I also like the fact that we are the No. 1 basketball conference in America. And if I can further cement that without compromising football it’s certainly something I need to explore.

That sounds all nice and dandy, but I don’t know what it means. The ACC has Duke-UNC and shoved the tournament down the throat of Brooklyn, and really wasn’t able to move the dial on basketball value until the ACC network came about. And international games are nice, but not necessarily lucrative (I think the NFL just recently began to see profits in London after a decade of pushing pushing pushing).

Again, maybe Yormack is getting ready to announce a conference network.

 

[ec33]

MSU-Marquette in the tourney had 10.91 viewers...big game.

Sunday’s Michigan State-Marquette NCAA men’s basketball tournament second round game averaged a 5.9 rating and 10.91 million viewers on CBS, down 5% in ratings and 3% in viewership from a higher-profile Michigan State-Duke game last year (6.2, 11.22M). As is typical of the late Sunday window on CBS, the game ranks as the most-watched of the tournament thus far.

Check your data,,

Ohio State-Michigan football had 17,4....Tenn-Georgia had 13,6...Bama-Tenn had 11.56,,,Bama-Texas had 10.6...Notre Dame-OSU had 10.53

College Football TV Ratings

College football TV ratings for the 2023 season. Will be updated as the season progresses, typically on Tuesdays (Wednesdays in holiday weeks). College football

www.sportsmediawatch.com

Those numbers are why the SEC and B1G are moving beyond markets and into matchups with their expansion. They want teams that have national brand recognition: Texas, Oklahoma, USC.

Of course, it is a continually shifting landscape and perhaps the PAC/ACC collapse alters things once again.

 

[Patman]

Football generates more revenue than basketball. That’s just what it is. I think it’s 3:1 ratio here at UNC for instance.

If the B12 wants to mine for basketball gold, I have to imagine it’s because Yormack is envisioning a breakaway from the NCAA tourney model. Because that is where most of college basketball’s money is tied up, not in tv rights to regular-season games which are already on the open-market.

I had a stray thought similar to this earlier. I think, hard to tell what's an independent thought these days.

Either way UConn is FAR more valuable in an environment where basketball controls all its own monies.

 

[businesslawyer]

How can you say basketball is driving when the one school they have inked, Colorado, sucks at everything including basketball.

What he means is basketball is driving the realignment he sees happening in his head. If you limit your analysis to what has actually happened, there is no evidence of that.

 

[ctchamps]

How can you say basketball is driving when the one school they have inked, Colorado, sucks at everything including basketball.

UConn and Arizona are the prizes. Colorado and ASU are the prices to get those bb prizes.

 

[uconnyankee]

How can you say basketball is driving when the one school they have inked, Colorado, sucks at everything including basketball.

Colorado was the easiest school to pry loose to get things started. It was a PR win getting them to ‘come home’ and their is a little juice with them currently regarding Sanders.

Without Colorado moving, nothing else would be happening right now. That move started all the current scenarios being thrown around and will likely be the spark that started any move that now follows.

 

[billybud]

Colorado is a phenomenon....the publicity, the national attention that Coach Prime has brought is pretty amazing. A brand being built? Or just a fascination with celebrity.

But folks will watch to see.

 

[ctchamps]

Colorado is a phenomenon....the publicity, the national attention that Coach Prime has brought is pretty amazing. A brand being built? Or just a fascination with celebrity.

But folks will watch to see.

Colorado isn’t a zero. But Arizona or Oregon would have been Yormack’s preference to build on his super basketball conference. But they made it clear they weren’t available to partner with UConn.

 

[ctchamps]

What he means is basketball is driving the realignment he sees happening in his head. If you limit your analysis to what has actually happened, there is no evidence of that.

It’s not my head. I’m trying to figure out Yormack’s plan and why ESPN and Fox are so willing to support his plan.

No one is arguing football creates more revenue than basketball due to its greater popularity.

I’m arguing that Yormack and his media backers are convinced that basketball is undervalued and have a plan to reduce the revenue gap between the two sports by increasing the popularity of basketball. In Yormack’s mind that makes UConn one of the most undervalued properties on the market and the most easily available.

What the UConn bb fans who object to leaving the BE don’t understand, if I’m correct, is that the wheels are in motion and moving quickly to go autonomous from the NCAA.

My excitement about joining the B12 is if this happens UConn will not be left out. My nostalgic preference is that conference realignment never happened.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Actually...so say the bean counters at ESPN, ABC, etc...hell, Gonzaga, Nova, and UConn would be paid more if the media valued BB more.

The Big 12 commissioner wants to gamble on BB being valued more in the future...maybe he will roll the dice,,,he has been rattleing rhem in his hand.

As for Yormark, he's thinking outside the box. American Football has minimal appeal outside the U.S. and Canada. NFL tries to prop it up with European games, but it doesn't really take. Basketball is a global sport. So are the rights a conference sells global? I don't think so, those are U.S. distribution rights. Let's say the Big XII can sell basketball rights separately in Europe and LATAM?

Nobody has tried t. Maybe it doesn't work. But we know that kids playing hoop overseas know a bit about college basketball. If he can really turn it into a top of the heap basketball league, maybe add UConn and Arizona, can he pitch that to foreign media companies? Maybe even Amazon or a streaming service but outside the U.S.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Colorado is a phenomenon....the publicity, the national attention that Coach Prime has brought is pretty amazing. A brand being built? Or just a fascination with celebrity.

But folks will watch to see.

Colorado isn’t a zero. But Arizona or Oregon would have been Yormack’s preference to build on his super basketball conference. But they made it clear they weren’t available to partner with UConn.

Colorado is super valuable based on 1. The Big XII's image in getting back a school that left and 2. potential in football and basketball and 3. Denver as a fast growing big market.

They stink recently, but they were huge in football when they didn't stink. Coach Prime has the buzz back. Basketball coach has a really strong class coming in. The upside is huge.

 

[ctchamps]

Colorado is super valuable based on 1. The Big XII's image in getting back a school that left and 2. potential in football and basketball and 3. Denver as a fast growing big market.

They stink recently, but they were huge in football when they didn't stink. Coach Prime has the buzz back. Basketball coach has a really strong class coming in. The upside is huge.

And 4. state flagship?

 

[HuskyHawk]

And 4. state flagship?

Yes, at the moment they only have one, and have lost six of them (Arkansas, Mizzou, Nebraska, Colorado, Oklahoma, UT). UConn helps there too.

 

[UConn Dan]

Yes, at the moment they only have one, and have lost six of them (Arkansas, Mizzou, Nebraska, Colorado, Oklahoma, UT). UConn helps there too.

They have two currently WVU and KU. Will have three with Colorado and now likely more.

 

[HuskyHawk]

They have two currently WVU and KU. Will have three with Colorado and now likely more.

Yep, I forgot WVU. My mistake.

 

[ZooCougar]

Colorado is terrible. Deion will either succeed and be gone in less than 18 months or flame out and leave them in bad shape.

This whole “process” is an absurd fashion show.