Toldedo newspaper: UConn success Clouds B1G pick

[tzznandrew]

Who the hell is Nate Silver? 150,000 UCONN fans vs 607,000 RU fans the NY market is total BS. UCONN in the B1G would flood the NY market with upwards of 1,000,000 rabid fans. CT does not have a pro sports franchise, which is why UCONN is so big in the state of CT.

It's football. And I don't think there are as many UConn football fans as there are UConn basketball fans. Many CT kids grew up rooting for other teams because UConn wasn't DI. A lot of the casual UConn basketball fans in CT are ND or Penn State football fans. That's changing, but it will take time.

 

[huskyrob1]

It's football. And I don't think there are as many UConn football fans as there are UConn basketball fans. Many CT kids grew up rooting for other teams because UConn wasn't DI. A lot of the casual UConn basketball fans in CT are ND or Penn State football fans. That's changing, but it will take time.

I'm talking football as well with respect to Silver's numbers. He's off by light years. The number of UCONN alumni (or friends and relatives of) in the tri state area are all potential football fans and putting a number like 150,000 on that is a joke. Their level of interest is so much more as well, compared to Rutgers fans, again because CT does not have a pro sports franchise.

 

[upstater]

This quote from article pretty well sums up what I had been thinking about New York...


“There’s a skewed perspective of college sports in the New York marketplace,” said Lee Berke, a New York-based sports media consultant who advises more than 30 pro and college teams.

“The reality is that if you take a look at television ratings for sports properties in New York, by far it’s the local teams that drive the agenda, and that’s the pro teams. They dominate the headlines, the back pages of the tabloids year-round.

“There’s certain instances where college basketball can grab attention for a while. You look at St. John’s in the 80s, UConn right now. But the reality is it’s still a pro sports town.”

Read more at http://www.toledoblade.com/College/...-clouds-Big-Ten-pick.html#8W4zVVuvmfMA1UBv.99

I made the point earlier that even a small sliver of New York is bigtime $$$.

The UConn women did a 4.6 rating in NYC, which is only 4% of the TV sets (23 million people). The top market (ratings-wise) for college basketball for the men's final was Louisville with a 45 rating (1.2 million people). This means that more people watched the women in New York than watched the men in the nation's top ratings market.

So, no matter what the experts tell you, never forget that there are a lot of people living in this market. It' like 7% of the entire nation's population.

 

[itgoeslike]

This quote from article pretty well sums up what I had been thinking about New York...


“There’s a skewed perspective of college sports in the New York marketplace,” said Lee Berke, a New York-based sports media consultant who advises more than 30 pro and college teams.

“The reality is that if you take a look at television ratings for sports properties in New York, by far it’s the local teams that drive the agenda, and that’s the pro teams. They dominate the headlines, the back pages of the tabloids year-round.

“There’s certain instances where college basketball can grab attention for a while. You look at St. John’s in the 80s, UConn right now. But the reality is it’s still a pro sports town.”

Read more at http://www.toledoblade.com/College/...-clouds-Big-Ten-pick.html#8W4zVVuvmfMA1UBv.99

Everyone knows that NYC is a pro sports town. What's more interesting is that in the article, Lee Berke states that there is ONLY one college team that elevates to the interest and exposure enjoyed by pro teams, and that is UConn. Fans and alumni have known this for some time. It's nice that others are getting clued in. UConn's game against Army at Yankee Stadium is another opportunity to grow our following, and there are other opportunities in the works. The exposure is real and the Big Ten or ACC would benefit from it. At the end of day, NYC loves winners.

“There’s certain instances where college basketball can grab attention for a while. You look at St. John’s in the 80s, UConn right now.”

"UConn, though, is a far bigger player in the other revenue sport. Its fans overtook Madison Square Garden for the Huskies’ recent Final Four-clinching win against Michigan State."

 

[itgoeslike]

Hartford reportedly had over 200,000 people show up for the victory parade. While we don't have the fan base or alumni numbers enjoyed by Michigan or Texas, we're not chopped liver either. I hope the outpouring of support translates into renewed interest in football this fall, win or lose.

 

[FAIRTIDES]

I made the point earlier that even a small sliver of New York is bigtime $.

The UConn women did a 4.6 rating in NYC, which is only 4% of the TV sets (23 million people). The top market (ratings-wise) for college basketball for the men's final was Louisville with a 45 rating (1.2 million people). This means that more people watched the women in New York than watched the men in the nation's top ratings market.

So, no matter what the experts tell you, never forget that there are a lot of people living in this market. It' like 7% of the entire nation's population.

Just as important: the 18-49 age group and it's gobs of disposable income.

 

[blitz8ru]

Are there any plans for demolishing/replacing the RAC? You guys upgraded the football stadium when you couldn't originally fill it so I was just wondering if there were plans to do the same to the RAC even though you guys don't fill that either. (Those remarks sound like jabs towards your attendance but I know you guys have increased FB attendance numbers and will continue to do so now that your in the B1G. The same might happen in bball?) Also, how long until you guys get full revenue from the B1G? This will obviously impact how quickly you guys can turn it around.

Not unless we find a $100mill lying around.

The current plans are to build an NEW indoor state of the art FB and Basketball facility (basically a new Hale Center) with MBB and WBB practice courts, indoor FB field, offices, state of the art rehab and training etc. This will be where the giant white practice bubble and some parking lots currently are. Then the Hale Center will be turned over to most of the other olympic sports (minus baseball, softball and gymnastics which are based on Livingston). The Hale Center will be renovated to have separate entrances for each sport housed there. The RAC will be renovated (already new sound and scoreboards have gone in) to bring it at least to be a passable arena. Softball and baseball and gymnastics will eventually also have facility upgrades.

Fundraising is currently being done for all of this (from private sources) which should cost more than $100mill (star ledger will likely have a field day even if the funding is all from private sources). I'd say all this will happen within the next 5-6yrs.

We get full big ten payout in 2021 iirc (rumored to be $40mill+). This season we'll make about $12mill from big ten TV revenue. Much more from FB and Wrestling attendance though. For FB we should have at least 3 home sellouts (PSU, Michigan, Wisconsin). Based on how we do in FB this season we could have more. BTW I think we'll surprise this season in FB with 7-8 wins including wins over Michigan, PSU, Indiana and Maryland.

Our 2014 FB schedule:
Washington State (A)
Howard (H)
Penn State (H)*
Navy (A)
Tulane (H)
Michigan (H)*
Ohio State (A)*
Nebraska (A)*
Wisconsin (H)*
Indiana (H)*
Michigan St (A)*
Maryland (A)*

Wrestling home schedule contains Minnesota, Iowa, PSU and Ohio St So the RAC should be sold out for those (B1G wrestling is analogous to SEC FB and those teams are annual top 10 wrestling teams/bluebloods). Wrestling is also really big and popular in NJ. We should also have more WBB and MBB attendance than last year starting out just because of the novelty of playing in the Big Ten. Anything more will be based on how competitive we are.

 

[UCFBfan]

Not unless we find a $100mill lying around.

The current plans are to build an NEW indoor state of the art FB and Basketball facility (basically a new Hale Center) with MBB and WBB practice courts, indoor FB field, offices, state of the art rehab and training etc. This will be where the giant white practice bubble and some parking lots currently are. Then the Hale Center will be turned over to most of the other olympic sports (minus baseball, softball and gymnastics which are based on Livingston). The Hale Center will be renovated to have separate entrances for each sport housed there. The RAC will be renovated (already new sound and scoreboards have gone in) to bring it at least to be a passable arena. Softball and baseball and gymnastics will eventually also have facility upgrades.

Fundraising is currently being done for all of this (from private sources) which should cost more than $100mill (star ledger will likely have a field day even if the funding is all from private sources). I'd say all this will happen within the next 5-6yrs.

We get full big ten payout in 2021 iirc (rumored to be $40mill+). This season we'll make about $12mill from big ten TV revenue. Much more from FB and Wrestling attendance though. For FB we should have at least 3 home sellouts (PSU, Michigan, Wisconsin). Based on how we do in FB this season we could have more. BTW I think we'll surprise this season in FB with 7-8 wins including wins over Michigan, PSU, Indiana and Maryland.

Our 2014 FB schedule:
Washington State (A)
Howard (H)
Penn State (H)
Navy (A)
Tulane (H)
Michigan (H)
Ohio State (A)
Nebraska (A)
Wisconsin (H)
Indiana (H)
Michigan St (A)
Maryland (A)

Wrestling home schedule contains Minnesota, Iowa, PSU and Ohio St So the RAC should be sold out for those (B1G wrestling is analogous to SEC FB and those teams are annual top 10 wrestling teams/bluebloods). Wrestling is also really big and popular in NJ. We should also have more WBB and MBB attendance than last year starting out just because of the novelty of playing in the Big Ten. Anything more will be based on how competitive we are.

Thanks for the info. Will be interesting to see if RU can take this gift of being in the B1G and actually do something right with their athletic program.