"New England's Team?" How much weight does UConn carry in the region?

[BigRonBuckeye]

I'll start off by saying I'm a fan of getting UConn into the B1G, and I apologize if this subject has already been brought up, but what kind of pull does UConn have outside of Connecticut?
I think UConn should just start calling themselves New England's team as an advertisement to the Big Ten and to mess with Boston College.
First of all, Rutgers made far more headway in a far shorter time than I expected. So even though UConn has a solid presence in the city it appears that the B1G didn't need UConn as much as I thought we would to capture NYC's attention. I would still anticipate UConn strengthening the B1G reputation in the city, but in my opinion even without NYC, New England is a tight group of state with a cumulative population exceeding 14 Million people many of which are well educated and well to do... but how well do the other states support UConn? What are the ratings for Football, MBB & WBB outside of Connecticut?
How big and influential are the alumni groups in places like Boston and Providence?
To sum things up. I'm not sure if there will be any expansion especially with the SEC, ACC and B1G at 14. But I can't help but think an opening may come available in the B1G due to Northwestern's Union bid.
"It's better to be lucky than good" Bobby Bowden

 

[Fishy]

I'll start off by saying I'm a fan of getting UConn into the B1G, and I apologize if this subject has already been brought up, but what kind of pull does UConn have outside of Connecticut?

To the extent that New England gives a s--- about college sports, a conference would basically have one option in the region. By default, it'd be UConn simply because there isn't another option.

The ACC did manage to capture most of the 02467 zip code when they invited Boston College. There are like three or four blocks of Commonwealth Avenue that the ACC simply owns, but the rest of New England is largely ignorant of their presence.

 

[kibblesnbits]

I'll start off by saying I'm a fan of getting UConn into the B1G, and I apologize if this subject has already been brought up, but what kind of pull does UConn have outside of Connecticut?
I think UConn should just start calling themselves New England's team as an advertisement to the Big Ten and to mess with Boston College.
First of all, Rutgers made far more headway in a far shorter time than I expected. So even though UConn has a solid presence in the city it appears that the B1G didn't need UConn as much as I thought we would to capture NYC's attention. I would still anticipate UConn strengthening the B1G reputation in the city, but in my opinion even without NYC, New England is a tight group of state with a cumulative population exceeding 14 Million people many of which are well educated and well to do... but how well do the other states support UConn? What are the ratings for Football, MBB & WBB outside of Connecticut?
How big and influential are the alumni groups in places like Boston and Providence?
To sum things up. I'm not sure if there will be any expansion especially with the SEC, ACC and B1G at 14. But I can't help but think an opening may come available in the B1G due to Northwestern's Union bid.
"It's better to be lucky than good" Bobby Bowden

We keep being told how successfully the BTN has penetrated NYC, but have they disclosed anything about the carriage rates received? Getting a channel slot isn't that big a deal if it was done at very low cost. I've had the BTN here in CT for several years, but that doesn't mean that the B1G picked up a big following in CT when it added Nebraska. Quite simply, we are out of footprint so the carriage rates are low enough for our system to justify adding it. Did the BTN get something close to in-footprint carriage rates east of the Hudson River? If so, adding Rutgers was, at a minimum, a short term success. Alternatively, if the BTN dropped its collective shorts in negotiations just to get on the NYC cable systems, that's hardly an indication of a financial windfall.

 

[BigRonBuckeye]

To the extent that New England gives a s--- about college sports, a conference would basically have one option in the region. By default, it'd be UConn simply because there isn't another option.

The ACC did manage to capture most of the 02467 zip code when they invited Boston College. There are like three or four blocks of Commonwealth Avenue that the ACC simply owns, but the rest of New England is largely ignorant of their presence.

Love the total disregard and minimization of BC and UMass. I too think it will have to be a team effort to bring New England in the fold, question I still have is how is UConn doing right now, especially without the Big East cache in the northeast anymore. Different interest level when opponent is St Johns or Syracuse vs Houston or Southern Miss.

 

[CTMike]

Before any of our BC lurkers start chirping - do not listen to their delusions of grandeur. They are still coming to grips with their irrelevancy while we go out and win championships.

 

[coachcap]

Fact: When in the Mt. Snow Vermont area during ski season, the UConn basketball games are on in most saloons, sports bars, etc.. I think that this is indicative of general interest of UConn sports in the N.E. region.
Fact: The BTN is available on Cox Cable systems in CT. as a pay tier add on (as is Pac-10 Network.) Just look at how fast SNY was either added or put on expanded basic in CT. to see how many additional subscribers the BTN would gain upon UConn's acceptance to the B1G.

 

[Hoophound]

The interest in New England is definitely there. As the previous poster mentioned, UConn is must see tv in VT bars. The reasons are two fold, CT is a very wealthy state so it's residents are all over the ski resorts of VT and NH as well as the beach resorts of Mass and RI. Second, UConn is the only school in the region that truly competes nationally on a big stage. Several of my college friends living in MA and NH hate UConn but their kids like us. UConn is the best public school in the region and the only one playing big time sports so they are growing up watching UConn win one title after another.

My belief is that the BTN would get access to the entire region while charging a huge premium in CT. The value of UConn's presence in CT is totally underestimated by outsiders. We have a big tv market in Hartford that UConn exclusively dominates and a piece of the NYC market as well. Airtime during a UConn broadcast is extremely valuable due to its huge viewership and also very importantly, the wealth of its viewership.

 

[SC Husky]

To sum things up. I'm not sure if there will be any expansion especially with the SEC, ACC and B1G at 14. But I can't help but think an opening may come available in the B1G due to Northwestern's Union bid.
"It's better to be lucky than good" Bobby Bowden

Really like these types of threads - Thanks for posting. Question for you though; How would Northwestern's Union bid create an opening in the BIG? Thanks.

 

[pj]

At the moment, the interest in UConn from other New England states is less than the interest in U of Michigan by Upper Peninsula residents, but more than the interest in University of Indiana by Illinois residents.

UConn has a program for reduced tuition and preferential admission for students from other New England states, so it is in some ways like a secondary state school to other New Englanders, but awareness of this and marketing of it has been minimal; this could be played up. Also, UConn men's and women's basketball has gotten a lot of traction among New England residents. If you saw ESPN's fan maps during the men's tourney, UConn dominated New England and New York during the NCAA tourney, but lost the rest of the country. Football, not yet, but that would probably change if B1G schools were coming to New England.

There is a lot of room for growth. Not much college sports presence in New England or New York. UConn is by far the top school but there is still a lot of room to capture more attention.

 

[Adios]

We definitely have fans in UMass territory.

 

[UConnDan97]

If you saw ESPN's fan maps during the men's tourney, UConn dominated New England and New York during the NCAA tourney, but lost the rest of the country.

You beat me to the punch with this comment. I was going to bring up the fact that every time there is a regional analysis by ESPN, UConn ends up owning New England and most times New York.

As for the comment that the OP made about us "minimizing" UMass...we don't need to. They do a good enough job of that on their own. I have friends that are from the Amherst area, and it's as if the school doesn't exist...

 

[upstater]

When Peter Gammons was asked by WFAN in NYC if Boston fans were psyched for the opening of the season and the Yanks-Sox series, he said "No," everyone's watching UConn basketball right now.

That being said, people in New England outside Conn. don't really watch college sports. In fact, you'll find constant "rodeo" references on this board when we discuss BC football because rodeo on ESPN2 once had a higher rating head-to-head than a BC ACC football game. When BC was added to the ACC, the conference welcomed its newest member: "Boston College University."

I don't think much of the New England market.

 

[pj]

I don't think much of the New England market.

You are not an entrepreneur. Look around the country, where is there room for growth? An argument could be made that inland California is underserved, but New England and New York are the places that have by far the fewest college sports teams per million people. Compare Alabama and Auburn sharing a state of 4.8 million, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Baylor, TCU, Houston, SMU sharing a state of 26 million, and only UConn, Syracuse, and BC in a region of 35 million people.

It is much easier to acquire unattached fans than to get fans to switch allegiances. The unattached fans of New England and New York are available to form an attachment to the B1G. If the B1G grows south or west, they will be competing for loyalties with the ACC, SEC, and B12, or even the Pac in Colorado. If they grow northeast, they have access to a huge group of potential customers and essentially no competitors. A business person would put more value on those northeasterners than on the more ardent, but attached, college sports fans elsewhere. It only makes sense to grow into ACC or B12 territory if you take a school that already has a huge fan base. But in New England, you can take a school and reasonably expect to double or triple its fan base.

 

[UMass]

As a UMass guy, I'd have to say that if there is one school that could possibly excite an apathetic and pro-minded New England fan base it is UConn. They have the state support, facilities, and growth potential not to mention a success history that speaks for itself. They fit into the BIG mold more than any other school in New England.
Boston College, as stated in another post, garners very little attention off Commonwealth Ave. I was in 2 different sports bars in Boston last year on the night of a B.C. vs. Duke basketball game and not one TV in either sports bar had the game. In the second bar we had to ask for it and they reluctantly put in on the smallest TV in the corner.
UMass, and this breaks my heart to say, decided to come to the dance too late. Had they made certain decisions back in the late 90's when they had the final four and 1AA national championship, things could have turned out different. Bulger had the clout to get some financial support and Amherst could have solidified their spot as the flagship. Trying to go big time now is a very risky situation.

 

[Dooley]

At the moment, the interest in UConn from other New England states is less than the interest in U of Michigan by Upper Peninsula residents, but more than the interest in University of Indiana by Illinois residents.

UConn has a program for reduced tuition and preferential admission for students from other New England states, so it is in some ways like a secondary state school to other New Englanders, but awareness of this and marketing of it has been minimal; this could be played up. Also, UConn men's and women's basketball has gotten a lot of traction among New England residents. If you saw ESPN's fan maps during the men's tourney, UConn dominated New England and New York during the NCAA tourney, but lost the rest of the country. Football, not yet, but that would probably change if B1G schools were coming to New England.

There is a lot of room for growth. Not much college sports presence in New England or New York. UConn is by far the top school but there is still a lot of room to capture more attention.

This is a good post to answer the OP's question. In addition, I would add that UCONN gets a fair amount of attention from Boston media (The Boston Globe, Herald, etc). Boston considers itself the "hub" of New England and their coverage includes most/all New England schools and teams. UCONN, I'd say, is featured more often than other New England schools simply because of the success UCONN has had in the college sport that most people in New England care most about: basketball.

College football has a ways to go in New England but as pj mentioned here, it would absolutely stick with a B1G schedule. UCONN fans have grown up watching other schools' football programs and, thanks to Penn State, we have seen a fair amount of B1G football. You bring those same schools to Connecticut and sellouts and stadium expansions would not be an issue whatsoever. It's a much tougher sell to a UCONN fan that they need to go watch Memphis or Tulsa. Boston College is too small and too private to capture all of New England. As Fishy said above, they capture a VERY small sliver of Boston. If you hop on the T and go to BU or Northeastern, the hate for BC is quite strong thanks to their hockey rivalries. In addition, BC doesn't have a strong of a local alumni connection that UCONN has. Again, because of it being a private Catholic affiliated school, their students come from all over. A fair amount of them leave the area post-graduation. Because of UCONN's reduced tuition for New England states, as pj said above, there is a very strong UCONN alumni base in the northeast that stays in the northeast. And if you ever want a peek at what Boston College vs UCONN basketball games were like at Conte Forum, google up a game and admire the 50% UCONN fans in attendance. It's one of the reasons why they want nothing to do with UCONN being on level-footing as they are: they know that UCONN fans will soon take over their Alumni Field too. "Protecting their turf" (their "turf" is the 3 block radius that Fishy mentioned).

As for RU and NYC: yes, there is quite a wave of excitement here in July about RU adding cable boxes. That is, after all, the reason why RU was invited into the B1G: cable boxes. For the B1G alumni living in NYC, this is great. But if you are expecting any bit of excitement from RU as an athletic department, I'm afraid you will be waiting quite a while. UCONN, in our short 10 year history, has had as much success and tradition as Rutgers has in 150 years. And if you think Rutgers is a gateway into MSG, then you're also sorely mistaken. Rutgers fans don't get a hoot about basketball and rightfully so...they are hideous. NYC is a college hoops town, thanks to its very strong Big East roots. There are two schools that capture NYC during Tourney Time: the fruit school from Upstate New York and UCONN. Case in point: the Big East Final between Providence and Creighton drew 15,000 fans (3,000 short of a sellout). UCONN in the Regional Finals set records for ticket prices on the secondary markets and drove up prices that cost more than Final Four tickets. I was at the Michigan State/UCONN Elite 8 game and the atmosphere for that game was electric. There is NO way a Rutgers game...or any B1G game that doesn't involve UCONN (or Upstate New York Fruit)...can generate that same kind of atmosphere. So yes, RU has delivered in July. But if you're expecting them to deliver anything whatsoever come December/January or March/April, I would suggest that you temper your expectations. NYC is a package deal: Rutgers and UCONN captures it and locks out the ACC in all phases. Cable boxes and "big game buzz" (not to mention, part of the NYC DMA is located in Connecticut and UCONN Country). You need both to capture NYC.

To sum, UCONN has presence in the #1 DMA, #7 and all of #30. We deliver cable boxes AND big games. Nobody else in the New England and tri-state area can do that.

 

[upstater]

You are not an entrepreneur. Look around the country, where is there room for growth? An argument could be made that inland California is underserved, but New England and New York are the places that have by far the fewest college sports teams per million people. Compare Alabama and Auburn sharing a state of 4.8 million, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Baylor, TCU, Houston, SMU sharing a state of 26 million, and only UConn, Syracuse, and BC in a region of 35 million people.

It is much easier to acquire unattached fans than to get fans to switch allegiances. The unattached fans of New England and New York are available to form an attachment to the B1G. If the B1G grows south or west, they will be competing for loyalties with the ACC, SEC, and B12, or even the Pac in Colorado. If they grow northeast, they have access to a huge group of potential customers and essentially no competitors. A business person would put more value on those northeasterners than on the more ardent, but attached, college sports fans elsewhere. It only makes sense to grow into ACC or B12 territory if you take a school that already has a huge fan base. But in New England, you can take a school and reasonably expect to double or triple its fan base.

This is a dying business. It's being killed as we speak.

 

[CTMike]

This is a dying business. It's being killed as we speak.

For a dying business it seems more popular than ever, with room to flourish in NE if someone has the foresight to give us the chance.

 

[Dooley]

I guess it could be dying for the schools not in the P5. For schools inside the P5, then it's quite the cash cow.

 

[pj]

This is a dying business. It's being killed as we speak.

It's possible that college sports could wither, but that doesn't really affect the decision of the B1G to add UConn. The question is whether B1G+UConn is better than B1G without UConn. Whatever the level of interest in college sports, that question probably has the same answer.

I suppose that perception could affect the relative weight of academics (AAU) vs sports in the decision-making. But if college sports is dying, federally funded research may be dying even faster.

 

[dayooper]

At the moment, the interest in UConn from other New England states is less than the interest in U of Michigan by Upper Peninsula residents, but more than the interest in University of Indiana by Illinois residents.

UConn has a program for reduced tuition and preferential admission for students from other New England states, so it is in some ways like a secondary state school to other New Englanders, but awareness of this and marketing of it has been minimal; this could be played up. Also, UConn men's and women's basketball has gotten a lot of traction among New England residents. If you saw ESPN's fan maps during the men's tourney, UConn dominated New England and New York during the NCAA tourney, but lost the rest of the country. Football, not yet, but that would probably change if B1G schools were coming to New England.

There is a lot of room for growth. Not much college sports presence in New England or New York. UConn is by far the top school but there is still a lot of room to capture more attention.

Hey! A New Englander that knows about a little about Yoopers! I would say that many Yoopers (especially in the Western portion) are more connected with Wisconsin and will actually root for The Badgers over the "Troll" schools downstate.

 

[pj]

Hey! A New Englander that knows about a little about Yoopers! I would say that many Yoopers (especially in the Western portion) are more connected with Wisconsin and will actually root for The Badgers over the "Troll" schools downstate.

Ha. I think the analogy is a fairly good one. Other New Englanders may have a portfolio of interests and they might follow, say, BU or BC or UNH or Maine or UMass-Lowell hockey, UConn men's and women's basketball, take a glance at BC or UConn football, and follows various pro sports. A "Yooper" may have an interest in Wisconsin, Michigan, and MSU football and other sports, along with Packers and Lions football, but it is a casual portfolio of interests more than an intense rooting interest.

If UConn were part of the B1G, that would greatly escalate interest because of the quality and draw of the opponents, who have a lot of alumni out here. Then a marketing effort to highlight UConn's accessibility and discounts for New England residents could be effective at making us "New England's Team."

 

[upstater]

For a dying business it seems more popular than ever, with room to flourish in NE if someone has the foresight to give us the chance.

How is it more popular than ever? Attendance is down in the major sports nationwide. There's a lot of upheaval in terms of each program's relationship to its players. You have ADs openly wondering if the amateur model will kill off interest. The TV money is skyrocketing, but the reasons for that are pretty evident. New technology has put a huge premium on live sports events, but when you start to see consolidation, that bubble will pop. So far, we're not seeing the kind of consolidation that will surely come down the pike.

 

[uconndogs]

Boston College, as stated in another post, garners very little attention off Commonwealth Ave. I was in 2 different sports bars in Boston last year on the night of a B.C. vs. Duke basketball game and not one TV in either sports bar had the game. In the second bar we had to ask for it and they reluctantly put in on the smallest TV in the corner.

One should not put the profane on a television in a public setting. BC basketball..........good lord what a mess.......

 

[BigRonBuckeye]

Thanks for starting this thread. I'm relatively new to this board so I haven't seen this type of thread before. Question for you though; How would Northwestern's Union bid create an opening in the BIG? Thanks.

Northwestern is on the record as saying that if they have to treat athletes like employees, they would discontinue Division 1 athletics. 13 is a bad number for scheduling and everything else... 14 is better.

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/5268201

 

[B1GOSU]

I thought Delany was on record saying the same thing about the B1G and how the B1G would go to DIII if athletes were ever regarded as employees.