Non-Key Tweets

[whaler11]

Where did you see that 25% number for ESPN? That would be 2 billion in advertising for ESPN....

The BTN makes relative pennies on ads.

Actually based on the other article for ESPN to get 25% of their revenue through ads it would need 2.7 billion in ad revenue at a minimum. That seems pretty steep but I've never seen an ESPN specific number published anywhere.

 

[auggie22]

Fair enough. Wasn't trying to put down your program. However, fair warning: The B1G is very old-money-oriented. You think because you're a state school that should make you the next pick-up. However your complaints about the ACC (and some of them are warranted) the Big Ten operates on a similar elitist model. Indiana and Minnesota have the same votes as Michigan and Ohio State.

And it isn't so much about Boston College as it is Boston College AND the chance to rub shoulders with other elite institutions in the Boston area. Same with Rutgers and them being so close to Princeton, Columbia, NYU, etc.. Maybe you can convince them by talking about how close UConn is to Yale, Brown, etc.. You think I'm pulling stuff from my rear end? This is the way academics and college presidents think. Look at how flexible they were when they agreed to an association agreement with Johns Hopkins. Even Delany joked about it during the press conference.



Go to 4:05

I know you don't think much of Boston College and Syracuse as institutions but they've been at this game for much longer and UConn is only starting to catch up. Goodness, they even tried to convince Notre Dame, even though the Irish wanted nothing to do with them.

The Midwest have had this complex about the East Coast for some time, which was why they resisted eastern schools for a long time. Only recently have they started moving this way because they aren't dummies and realize the way the demographic trends are going. If they could access the young people living in cities from Boston all the way down to Atlanta, including the cities of Philly, New York, Washington, Baltimore, Charlotte, Raleigh, Richmond and Norfolk/Hampton Roads, it would be a tremendous achievement for them and help counter the declines in Detroit, Cleveland, Chicago and Milwaukee. It is a very remote possibility, mind you, but something like this would have to be tried and would include a good number and right profile of schools in order for them to not feel isolated in a new conference. Even if all those young people aren't sports fans they still want to access them.

Here's how I know what I'm talking about:



Go to 8:22. Take good stock of the words Delany used to justify the addition of Rutgers. Institutions. Changes in landscape. All clues to what the presidents back in Chicago are thinking.

Please note that none of this means I'm putting down UConn. I'm just telling things as I think they are.

You know the science department at Boston College can fit in my downstairs bathroom, right? And I don't think that Michigan is clamoring for collaborations with Harvard's theology department...

 

[FDNY99]

Correct. Same with the Big 12 and the Big Ten. That pesky little Grant of Rights thing, huh? I guess that gives some hope for the pro-B1G UConn fans. And, yet, Gene Smith in a video said that people shouldn't be surprised if they expand again. Unless their final goal is 15 I would like to know how they plan on doing that.

But we all know that odd numbers after 10 are awkward for football. Heck, I just posted a video of Delany saying it. Maybe they want no more than one, so what are they waiting for?

Missouri? Nope. Kentucky? Nope. Vandy? Get outta here! Kansas? Stuck in the B12. Oklahoma? See Kansas. Texas? Don't you see it now? So is Gene Smith blowing smoke? They could offer UConn and only UConn RIGHT NOW! They haven't.

I think that one of the Big 12 or ACC will survive the next culling out process. Which will depend on who is best able to adapt to the next reality. I want the ACC to not only survive but thrive but if it doesn't it would be because the vast majority of schools would find homes elsewhere. UConn, being in the G5, is at a distinct disadvantage in this scenario.

Where I stand from, the Big Ten can go three ways: 1) Stay put and compete with the number they have now. That's perfectly reasonable. But then why go through the runaround of AD's and other people intimating that they're not finished yet? 2) Go and rework their alliance with the PAC-12. Go through the issues that broke up that agreement and go it right next time. They already have a relationship through the Rose Bowl so that shouldn't be a huge issue. 3) Go really BIG and establish a massive presence in the East to counteract the demographic advantages of the SEC and ACC. This is the scenario the pro-B1G UConn people haven't taken into consideration. How do you break up a conference where you want schools from? Two other conferences get to share the spoils. And how do you get the schools you want from the area? From that same conference.

Or you could let bygones be bygones and support UConn to the ACC in order to ensure a place in the Power 5 where you belong.

I support UCONN athletics...and there for will support what ever is the future of UCONN athletics! Don't come onto our board spewing your bullish*t ideas featuring teams that haven't sniffed the NCAA basketball tourney in recent times...then when called on it tell us that UCONN will be serving an athletic death sentence. We get that...we live that each and every day. And oh yeah by the way...for a ACC guy your B1G Conference make up leaves the ACC gutted and destroyed. So I'm now going with you being a BC troll. Only a BC troll on this board would think BC adds ANYTHING hoops wise to ANY P-5 conference!

 

[upstater]

Reading these analyses of the TV deals and the emphasis on TV real estate and Rutgers makes you think that everything is finished and determinations are made on pedigree alone. Which may explain Syracuse and BC in the ACC. But I don't buy it entirely. Winning on the basketball court actually matters. The P5 want to drown UConn bball in the bath water. They actually want it to die.

I think there's an argument to be made when a school is winning championships in a very lucrative sport, the second most lucrative with a highly visible TV profile for 5months of the year.

It can't be ignored. Basically, Kevin Ollie is keeping UConn sports alive right now, and the P5 leaders know that if this continues, they can't ignore UConn, they can't freeze them out. UConn becomes a kind of devil-baby.

 

[jostar1]

Reading these analyses of the TV deals and the emphasis on TV real estate and Rutgers makes you think that everything is finished and determinations are made on pedigree alone. Which may explain Syracuse and BC in the ACC. But I don't buy it entirely. Winning on the basketball court actually matters. The P5 want to drown UConn bball in the bath water. They actually want it to die.

I think there's an argument to be made when a school is winning championships in a very lucrative sport, the second most lucrative with a highly visible TV profile for 5months of the year.

It can't be ignored. Basically, Kevin Ollie is keeping UConn sports alive right now, and the P5 leaders know that if this continues, they can't ignore UConn, they can't freeze them out. UConn becomes a kind of devil-baby.

Devil baby? Maybe that's our mojo for this season.

 

[Adios]

Someday people will understand it doesn't matter if people watch.

Does this 'list' exist outside the Boneyard?

Yes. You have not seen articles posted from B1G-land about expansion including UConn?

 

[Dooley]

Huh? How does our support ensure anything? UConn fans will support any P5 conference that offers UConn a spot, but our opinion has no weight. The powers-that-be at the ACC aren't waiting for Boneyard approval so they can offer an invite to UConn.

Just in case they are...

"I, Dooley, of able mind and body and active participant on the Boneyard, support (insert P5 conference name here)'s decision to invite UCONN."

I just sent my approval to Delany, Swofford, Bowlsby, Slive and Scott's offices. We should probably hear any minute now which conference was first to invite UCONN.

 

[Dooley]

I understand the point you are trying to make, which is valid. But, for some, including FOX, advertising revenue is important. ESPN is a carriage behemoth, but still gets 25% of their revenue through advertising. If ad revenue can't cover programming costs, it eats into your carriage.

This. For carriage rates and the BTN adding Rutgers' cable boxes, whether or not they watch is not important. But for advertising purposes, it certainly is. Also, if CR expansion really is about making money, conferences must also be monitoring the "cord cutting" going on. If they can eliminate the middle man (Time Warner, Comcast, etc) and offer their product content directly to consumers, then how many people watch what absolutely matters.

Adding RU and MD now, while the B1G can maximize its BTN cable subscription revenue was smart. Right now, it doesn't matter if people watch RU or not. I think the shift happens in a few years once direct content becomes more mainstream. That's when content as valuable as UCONN basketball becomes more important to the BTN. Nobody is going to watch RU vs Penn State/Michigan/Ohio State/Michigan State/etc hoops, but they will watch UCONN. So, by then, you would potentially have UCONN fans watching, PSU/Michigan/OSU/MSU/etc fans watching, and neutral NCAAB fans watching because the name "UCONN" is the obvious draw and all will buy BTN access for the pleasure of doing so.

 

[FDNY99]

Huh? How does our support ensure anything? UConn fans will support any P5 conference that offers UConn a spot, but our opinion has no weight. The powers-that-be at the ACC aren't waiting for Boneyard approval so they can offer an invite to UConn.

Just in case they are...

"I, Dooley, of able mind and body and active participant on the Boneyard, support (insert P5 conference name here)'s decision to invite UCONN."

I just sent my approval to Delany, Swofford, Bowlsby, Slive and Scott's offices. We should probably hear any minute now which conference was first to invite UCONN.

I'm going with Coastal Atlantic as a BC troll! Only a BC troll would put BC hoops in ANY potential conference lineup and say that conference would be a basketball league that was "off the charts"

 

[CL82]

Just in case they are...

"I, Dooley, of able mind and body and active participant on the Boneyard, support (insert P5 conference name here)'s decision to invite UCONN."

I just sent my approval to Delany, Swofford, Bowlsby, Slive and Scott's offices. We should probably hear any minute now which conference was first to invite UCONN.

Well probably in twenty minutes.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

BC is old money oriented? They were broke in the 70's. Think they followed the Duke model to prosperity.

 

[UConn9604]

You think I'm pulling stuff from my rear end? This is the way academics and college presidents think.

Academics and college presidents also take Louisville. Just saying.

 

[Adios]

Go to 8:22. Take good stock of the words Delany used to justify the addition of Rutgers. Institutions. Changes in landscape. All clues to what the presidents back in Chicago are thinking.

Please note that none of this means I'm putting down UConn. I'm just telling things as I think they are.

He also said "opportunities when they present themselves". UConn is a HUGE opportunity and they know it. He pretty much said the conference is giving up (sharing) a little of it's 117 year history to make additions.

 

[pj]

LOL on Hopkins. "Look at how flexible they were when they agreed to an associaton agreement with Johns Hopkins." The B1g needed one more school to form a Lacrosse Conference, JH was looking for a home for their program. Done and done. This was the no brainier addition of all time. If JH decided that they wanted all of their other sports to join as well, they would have been on the outside looking in regardless of their standing in the academic community.

The idea that Rutgers was added so that conference presidents could rub shoulders with presidents of other elite NY/NJ Universities is beyond insane. They already have an organization in place where they can do this (AAU). Rutgers was a real estate/money grab, and based on the success to date in gaining access for The BTN on NYC Cable Systems, it can only be categorized as wildly successful.

Yes. If the president of Michigan wants to talk to the president of Princeton, all he has to do is pick up the phone. Or send an email. Or a text message. They know each other. They don't need to ask the Rutgers football coach for an introduction.

 

[whaler11]

Yes. You have not seen articles posted from B1G-land about expansion including UConn?

There was like one from a Chicago writer. I don't remember anything else from legitimate sources.

 

[Dooley]

Academics and college presidents also take Louisville. Just saying.

The ACC added Louisville (Community College) so that they can gain access to sharing research information with SW Kentucky Community College. Everyone knows that.

 

[UConn9604]

There was like one from a Chicago writer. I don't remember anything else from legitimate sources.

This was dated January 2010, which is two men's titles, two women's titles, one Fiesta Bowl and one Pasqualoni ago:

Expansion by one member is a plan driven by television markets. It should focus on Connecticut, and I have reason to believe that is exactly what is happening at Big Ten headquarters in Chicago.

http://www.cleveland.com/livingston/index.ssf/2010/01/if_the_big_ten_does_expand_it.html

 

[bobbyinaz]

This was dated January 2010, which is two men's titles, two women's titles, one Fiesta Bowl and one Pasqualoni ago:

Expansion by one member is a plan driven by television markets. It should focus on Connecticut, and I have reason to believe that is exactly what is happening at Big Ten headquarters in Chicago.

http://www.cleveland.com/livingston/index.ssf/2010/01/if_the_big_ten_does_expand_it.html

The only Big Ten reporter that matters is Teddy Greenstein from the Chicago Tribune. He is wired directly into the B1G offices and has been accurate with his articles about Nebraska, Rutgers & Maryland being targets in advance of it becoming public info.

When he writes an article that says the Big Ten should consider or is considering adding UConn then we can believe that our ticket will be punched. Until then, the rest of these guys have no more info than Scott Gray

 

[whaler11]

This was dated January 2010, which is two men's titles, two women's titles, one Fiesta Bowl and one Pasqualoni ago:

Expansion by one member is a plan driven by television markets. It should focus on Connecticut, and I have reason to believe that is exactly what is happening at Big Ten headquarters in Chicago.

http://www.cleveland.com/livingston/index.ssf/2010/01/if_the_big_ten_does_expand_it.html

So one guy almost 5 years ago which was prior to the teams they actually added if I remember the time line correctly. Hard to assume there is fire if that is your smoke.

 

[Adios]

And Greenstein said we may be added, you never know. That was before the second dual championship in basketball.

 

[upstater]

And Greenstein said we may be added, you never know. That was before the second dual championship in basketball.

Yes, indeed Greenstein said UConn is a prime B1G candidate should there be an expansion.

 

[Dooley]

Not that I care who said what, but didn't Colin Cowherd say on the air that the B1G was looking into UCONN sometime around 2010? I know he's just some ESPiN blowhard but there is ample evidence that more than 1 person mentioned at least the possibility of UCONN to the B1G. Not just some random dude with a blog and a momma's basement.

 

[CTGoonie]

On another note we made it to 100 pages of "Non-Key Tweets". Should we celebrate or cry?

 

[HuskyHawk]

Why would having a hockey program now be viewed as a negative, yet in 5 years it would be looked at as a major positive?

Because our hockey program isn't ready for prime time. We start finishing in the top 5 in HE and that changes everything.

 

[UConn9604]

On another note we made it to 100 pages of "Non-Key Tweets". Should we celebrate or cry?

Those tears would not be the first I've shed over conference realignment, unfortunately.