Big East basketball on FoxSports

[billybud]

Regional differences seem large.

I was not aware, here in the deep south, that women played hockey and only barely aware of hockey in general.

Now baseball and softball (women) I do know about...a regional difference.

When I was a kid, baseball was America's sport. The sport of my father's WWII generation. The world stopped during the Series.

Baseball is the way we were
Football is the way we are

 

[WestHartHusk]

Aha, so... we've made similar points in the past about UConn's home market. BBall is a big deal in the region, and it generates a lot of money. So, you see the value.

I'm a big college hockey fan. You're right about the Minnesota Gophers. Notre Dame... not so much.

It's different because it's different up.

 

[upstater]

Regional differences seem large.

I was not aware, here in the deep south, that women played hockey and only barely aware of hockey in general.

Now baseball and softball (women) I do know about...a regional difference.

When I was a kid, baseball was America's sport. The sport of my father's WWII generation. The world stopped during the Series.

Baseball is the way we were
Football is the way we are

Since defensive football is going the way of the dodo bird, an athlete at the age of 14 right now should focus on WR/TE. Forget about CB/LB.

5-10 years from now I expect to see better WRs and TEs, especially TEs. 10 years ago, TEs were almost out of the game. Right now, we're going to see kids who were formerly top notch OLBs prefer the TE position. With the new emphasis, kids would be stupid to go for any other position than QB/TE/WR.

 

[WestHartHusk]

Two things on that article. First, until I see the financials I am just going to assume that FoxSports demanded additional content from the BigEast as they come to grips with how much they overpaid. And second, selling tickets to MSG is not a significant news story if the schools bought the tickets to resell to students and alumni, which I assume is the case here.

 

[upstater]

Two things on that article. First, until I see the financials I am just going to assume that FoxSports demanded additional content from the BigEast as they come to grips with how much they overpaid. And second, selling tickets to MSG is not a significant news story if the schools bought the tickets to resell to students and alumni, which I assume is the case here.

This: the BET was 100% sold out regularly.

 

[upstater]

Of course it was. Season ticket holders sourced their tix through schools. You seem like a good fan, I'm sure you've been to the BET as often as I have. You know how this works. The BE had absolutely no choice but to buy all those tix ahead of time.

Seriously, are you saying demand is up? You lose Pitt, UConn, Cuse & Louisville and demand is up? This strikes me as beyond preposterous.

 

[ctchamps]

Maybe it's just me but I'm hoping the BE does really well for Fox. And I hope the AAC can do more than just tread water in football and really make a statement in basketball. The BE is not UConn's enemy. If they do well for Fox and the AAC does well then there will be at least two networks bidding for the AAC in six years should UConn have to remain in the AAC.

 

[Jerry1714]

There is no collection of arguments that you can make that we are better off in terms of conference and television exposure than they are.

Um considering the ratings of FS1 compared to ESPN and the amount of games we have on the ESPN channels, the argument about exposure is very easy. The exposure we have is better, a lot better.

As for conference that is a probably a different story. All I know is right now more AAC teams are ranked than Big East.

 

[Husky25]

For all of its faults, 'Cuse is within driving distance of NYC. Creighton University is 94 miles from its nearest major airport and a round trip ticket is north of $500. Assuming all ten Big East teams make the conference tournament, means that two teams get a first round bye, which also means a 4 day event. Whether, Creighton is in the top two seeds or not, to make the trip worthwhile, I think that Creighton has to make at least the semifinal and the average fan would have to procure tickets to all sessions in which their games are played, which further means they have to purchase games that do not involve Creighton. I assume that the Final game will be played on Saturday night (like past BETs.), which means potentially 4 hotel nights in NYC as well. So there is another G. I don't know about you, but I'm wouldn't count on Creighton to fill up the Garden...

 

[Husky25]

I don't know what the Big East ticket allotment policy is. You very well may know more than I. My comment was more aimed toward future years (I see you concede that). The Big East could guarantee the attendance of 'Cuse and UConn fans over and above their schools' allotment each and every year.

I guess we also have differing opinions on NYC as well. I'm good for about 24 hours. After that, I'm ready for fresh air again (or at least the promise thereof).

 

[upstater]

Be prepared to be disappointed.

Now, Pitt does nothing for me as a fanbase, or really in their performance as a BE team. They showed up a year or two late, blocked Penn State, and did nothing much over their tenure. That being said, hordes of them showed up at MSG for the BET. Over the years, UConn has had the biggest fanbase at the BET with Cuse second. Creighton is not going to travel fans from Nebraska every year to pack the garden. The early games are always sparsely populated. When Creighton loses (and they are likely to lose earlier at this level) the fans are going to sell their tix.

 

[Husky25]

This year, Absolutely. What about next year, the year after that, and/or the years that Creighton is terrible? In years that 'Cuse and UConn were less than good, their fans still filled the building. The same cannot be said for Seton Hall or St. Johns in down years. At best their fans go to MSG for their own teams' games, which have been few and far between in recent years. Now that all teams are eligible for the tournament, it may be different...And yes, 4 days is indeed a long time in The City.

 

[upstater]

This year, Absolutely. What about next year, the year after that, and/or the years that Creighton is terrible? In years that 'Cuse and UConn were less than good, their fans still filled the building. The same cannot be said for Seton Hall or St. Johns in down years. At best their fans go to MSG for their own teams' games, which have been few and far between in recent years. Now that all teams are eligible for the tournament, it may be different...And yes, 4 days is indeed a long time in The City.

Creighton has to up their recruiting game. This school's dirty little secret is that they have feasted on the sisters of the poor for decades. Have a look at their NCAA tourney performance. Not pretty.

Of the new additions, I have the most faith in Xavier.

 

[UConnJim]

I wish the BE good luck and I would love to play some of the teams in the future.

Selling out the Garden has never been a problem for the BE Tournament as schools were allotted at most ~1000 tickets/school. In the New BE, allotments will be higher due to fewer schools in the BE, but each school should buy their allotment.

The real issue is the secondary market as any of us who have gone to many BE Tournaments understand. You don't get 8k UConn or Syracuse fans in the Garden without substantial secondary market purchases. The packed crowds in the semis and finals are due to people selling their tickets either after their teams lose or it's time to go home. Before the BE Tournament moved to Saturday night, the Sunday finals would sometimes have subpar actual attendance.

So, the Garden will be a sellout, but will the BE schools have enough fans in the NYC area willing to purchase tickets on the secondary market to pack the stands for every game, especially the championship game that only includes 2 teams? We don't have real good history as the current Big East has only had 4 spots (Georgetown 3x, St. John's 1x) in the championship game since 2000. That is 4 spots out of 28!!

 

[UConnJim]

One other point. If the BE Tournament were held today and the top 2 ranked BE teams were in the Championship, the game would be #23 Creighton vs #25 Marquette. This would not be good for attendance or casual interest in the game.

 

[Husky25]

Creighton has to up their recruiting game. This school's dirty little secret is that they have feasted on the sisters of the poor for decades. Have a look at their NCAA tourney performance. Not pretty.

Of the new additions, I have the most faith in Xavier.

I mentioned the same thing in a post on page 4/5 or thereabouts.