Boomer Esiason says ESPN forced the Big East raid

[WestCoastHusky]

He said it on radio. Here is a thread from the RU board discussing it. There is a rumor that ESPN offered $5M more per school for ACC to do it. There is a smoke there is fire. I have always said ESPN is behind the latest raid and I hope we can get some proof of it. If it is true, BE better get our lawyers ready. If we don't land a TV deal that's equal or better than what ESPN offered us, we better get our lawyers ready.

http://rutgers.rivals.com/showmsg.asp?fid=642&tid=147847073&mid=147847073&sid=988&style=2

 

[noeynox]

Really not a shocker. ESPN was not going to allow the Big East as presently constituted to enter free agency. The Big East basketball tourney would outdraw all other conference tournaments hands down, so the Big East was sure to get a nice payout from someone, so ESPN decided to weaken the basketball product, while gutting the football side.

 

[Murph]

Did Boomer also recently stir up some controversy about (I think) his Tony Romo comments?

 

[upstater]

So, going by the Blaudschun statement that UConn was the first choice over Pitt, and that BC blocked it, it's going to be quite interesting to see how this all plays out. How in the world is BC going to justify this?

 

[uconndogs]

If this is true you would think a company like ESPN would have thoroughly vetted this through legal and be on solid footing. That said, we've all seen big companies do immensly stupid things that were illegal, unethical and PR disasters.

 

[toppencil]

He said it on radio. Here is a thread from the RU board discussing it. There is a rumor that ESPN offered $5M more per school for ACC to do it. There is a smoke there is fire. I have always said ESPN is behind the latest raid and I hope we can get some proof of it. If it is true, BE better get our lawyers ready. If we don't land a TV deal that's equal or better than what ESPN offered us, we better get our lawyers ready.

http://rutgers.rivals.com/showmsg.asp?fid=642&tid=147847073&mid=147847073&sid=988&style=2

I've seen this on several forums but no news organizations are running this story and no quotes anywhere on the net. Anybody?

 

[WestCoastHusky]

I've seen this on several forums but no news organizations are running this story and no quotes anywhere on the net. Anybody?

I believe he said it on radio. Why would he lie and put himself out there like that? He is a Maryland alum.

 

[toppencil]

I believe he said it on radio. Why would he lie and put himself out there like that? He is a Maryland alum.

No claim its not true just like to see it reported by the news or hear it for myself. If ESPN did that, it's a big story that will gain traction soon.

 

[epark88]

It's not on podcast anywhere, and no major news links on it yet.

I guess we gotta take Boomer at his word...

 

[buckley503]

No claim its not true just like to see it reported by the news or hear it for myself. If ESPN did that, it's a big story that will gain traction soon.

Yeah, ESPN will probably cover it.

 

[DeacKillsaDevil]

Outkickthecoverage.com had a few pieces on this as did a Columbia paper.

 

[ctchamps]

He was just quoting nelson. The lawyer types could better cover this, but I would believe Swofford approached ESPN and not the other way around. And if the report was true I'm sure it was an untraceable phone call to Swofford with an untraceable cell phone telling him to call back ESPN and ask what happens under different scenarios. I can't believe anyone will prove anything improper. In the end all we're left is just suspecting things.

 

[06029]

So, going by the Blaudschun statement that UConn was the first choice over Pitt, and that BC blocked it, it's going to be quite interesting to see how this all plays out. How in the world is BC going to justify this?

This has to be sarcastic right? Not everything is BC's fault. There were 3 other schools that needed to block Uconn if that is what actually happened. Do they need to justify themselves too?

 

[SubbaBub]

Best to ignore this right now as we would have/will jump at the ACC if given a chance. No good can come of it if true, which I could easily see. All we need is an ambitious lawyer/politicians to screw it up. Any schools that end up left for dead, including us, can take it up later. The BBonlies can do a good job with this if the next contract is not to their liking. Hopefully, we'll be gone.

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk

 

[Kevin Caliendo]

been reported now that DeFillipo was on the ACC expansion committe.
http://www.dailypress.com/sports/te...tried-to-keep-secret-20110926,0,1088304.story

there is no surprise whatsoever re: ESPN. None, I touched on it in the Politics, EPSN thread. If the state govt doesn't get involved here then we have a big problem

 

[RS9999X]

It's easy to see a contract that paid each ACC team $5 million more over the lifetime of the contract as the new members would get phased in. IIRC the last round was mildy accretive to each team yearly and paid $3 to $5 million more per team over the life of the contract. The real payoff was the new $13 million per team contract.

 

[Section205]

Yeah while driving into the office, I did hear Boomer say that on the radio and ESPN may have played a part of it.

 

[jordoo]

How many of the 4x16 TV contracts will ABC/ESPN wind up with?

 

[WestCoastHusky]

If UCONN is left out of the final 4x16 configuration or we get considerably less TV $$$ with the next TV deal than what ESPN just offered, our state government needs to look into this. There could be some serious damage to our state university long term if ESPN is behind this. There was no reason for the ACC to add SU and PITT other than to damage the BE. There is no definite raid on the ACC from another conference so they did it to make the BE less stable. By looking at all the schools scrambling for a new home, I say ACC/ESPN did their work well. It is not too hard to put some doubt into different schools by making the conference less desirable and unstable via expansion.

 

[willie99]

would this be some sort of collusion?

business attorney, is this legal?

I kinda hope it's true. My gut tells me everything comes to a screeching halt, and there will be litigation

 

[businesslawyer]

would this be some sort of collusion?

business attorney, is this legal?

I kinda hope it's true. My gut tells me everything comes to a screeching halt, and there will be litigation

I am loathe to accuse anyone of illegal activity just because it is possible or rumored. Or, even to analyze the legality of what might have happened in a way that others will assume that it in fact happened. So, with my apologizes, until I have some facts (and Boomer repeating a rumor he heard is not a fact) I will be keeping quiet on this.

 

[Icebear]

Yeah, ESPN will probably cover it.

Maybe not ESPN, but you can bet that Fox Sports would be running with it.

 

[willie99]

oh come on BL

give us a hypothetical

 

[UCDaveD]

oh come on BL

give us a hypothetical

+1.
What good is the handle 'businesslawyer' if you're not going to demonstrate any of your lawyering expertise? This is right in your wheel-house!

 

[Murph]

I'm going with the "glass half full" mentality, so this will be moot, since we'll one of the 'haves'.