Forget all the esoteric last minute machinations of the Pac 12. While the 4 Corner Schools made more sense for hurried Big 12 invitations during that dramatic "tipping point" on Friday morning, the fact remains that—FOX was not pushing for us to be invited! While Yormark and ESPN wanted us—FOX was against it. While UConn may have played an outsized role in Bret Yormark’s conference vision, FOX’s Big East TV rights made UConn more valuable to them staying in the Big East (at least in the short term) than any perceived 'value added' Fox might get from us being in the Big12. Why would FOX want to lose their ratings "big dog" as the Huskies head into the ‘23-24 season as the National Champion.
May 2023
Representatives from FOX Sports, the Big East's television partner, led by Executive Vice President Jordan Bazant and Executive Vice President Larry Jones, who negotiated the conference’s current national television agreement, spoke to the men’s and women’s coaching groups about plans for the 2023-24 season, including scheduling and promotional strategies to enhance their already innovative wall-to-wall coverage of BIG EAST men’s and women’s basketball. "The league will enter the 2023-24 season riding a wave of basketball successes during the 2023 postseason, which culminated with the University of Connecticut’s fifth men’s basketball national championship. Ratings for men’s and women’s basketball on the FOX family of networks this past year were up 10% and 107%, respectively."
Joel Fisher, Executive Vice President for Marquee Events, participated in discussions about the success of the BIG EAST Tournament and potential future events involving BIG EAST schools at The World’s Most Famous Arena, Madison Square Garden.
The BIG EAST Men's regular season culminated with sellouts in all five sessions of the BIG EAST Tournament at Madison Square Garden, the Tournament’s home since 1983. This was the highest attendance and TV ratings in years. The BIG EAST Women's Tournament at Mohegan Sun boasted the highest attendance and viewership numbers since realignment.
I would submit that in both instances, UConn's being back in the conference with successful programs were key contributors to the rise in both attendance and viewership. Would you be eager to see UConn slip away to the Big 12 if you owned those Big East rights? UConn is must-see TV for Fox’s Big East basketball ratings.