dfwabel

Not a merger, but a scheduling agreement between the Big Ten and Pac-12. From the NY Times:

Slightly Bigger Questions: Leaving any potential Canadian city out of the discussion, what is the real value for a city/county/state to build a new venue at the current NHL/NBA minimum capacities? Why does "state of the art" mean now? 17,000+ seats with the same experience for each seat, as if we are all getting the same car. If the experience is not worthy of a person's dollar, a new venue is not going to help when you are still in the upper deck of a cavernous venue. Inventory for all ticket events is up, so as a whole, tickets are going unsold to most everything, including pro sports. The increased technology for broadcasts impacts the live gate, more so in the NHL than in any pro sport other than NASCAR. In October, Ticketmaster CEO Nathan Hubbard talked about how the current fan experience is broken and how teams or entertainers price is out of whack and teams are not working well enough to cater the experience to those who will spend the money and cities don't work along side with them to maximize the money spent per event/artist. It is more enjoyable to see the NFL at home since you can keep track of your fantasy team(s) since the facilities don't have bandwidth or allow tablets. Times are changing from what they were even when PIT agreed with the State to build the Consol Energy Center.

Don't blame the schools, blame the BCS. Boise State, et al. would like to not get screwed over every year come bowl season. And under the traditional bowl system, Boise State would most likely be in the same spot...out of a major bowl.

Navy and Air Force have expressed interest and have talked to the conference. Army was not and is not interested. They were not very good as a C-USA member, 13-67, so going to a conference could be a step back.

AFA was playing a game of chicken with both the Big East and Navy. In fact, both still could join. AFA (to Navy): If you join, we'll join. Navy (to AFA): Well, if you join, we'll join. MWC will look to SJSU and Utah State next, so by 2013, the MWC could like like the WAC before they went to 16 teams, but without BYU.

I didn't realize the disparity was so large between the Big East and the B10/SEC. I mean, its staggering. In May 2010, the conference received an offer from ESPN for $12M/team, but they rejected it thinking that they could get more the closer to the end of their contract which is 2013. Now they have lost some members and media markets. They planned to leverage major media markets to gain a max deal. That is why they are looking at SMU (Dallas), UCF (Orlando), Houston, and eve SDSU.

Back to colleges, more on the "Western Six" of the Big East for 2013. From the story: Chances are good that San Diego State will join the Big East Conference in football unless something unexpected derails their ongoing discussions, sources close to the situation have said. The Aztecs still need to find a league to place their other sports. The most likely spot for those teams is the Big West, the sources said. Another possibility is the Western Athletic Conference. The Big Sky is probably not an option. The commissioner of the Big West, Dennis Farrell, didn't return a call seeking comment. WAC Commissioner Karl Benson said Friday, "If and when the time is right to have that conversation, I would certainly welcome it." Though a move to the Big West might appear to be a downgrade for the SDSU's men's basketball program, the Big West's TV deals with ESPN and Fox Sports would be considered upgrades with potential for growth in exposure and revenue. According to the plan, the Aztecs would be part of a six-team Big East western division that could include other new potential members Boise State, Houston, Southern Methodist and possibly Air Force. Louisville also might be part of that division, though it's not certain. The winner of the western division would face the winner of the eastern division in a championship game. The proposed eastern division probably would include UConn, Rutgers, Cincinnati, South Florida and possible new members Central Florida and Navy. For SDSU, a move would be made mainly to increase its TV rights money. In the Mountain West, SDSU gets about $1.5 million annually. The Aztecs struggled for exposure with many of its games on The Mtn., which isn't available to about 200,000 Time Warner Cable subscribers in the northern half of San Diego County. By contrast, Big East members receive a reported $3.7 annually, but the league hopes to significantly increase that amount when it negotiates its TV contract, which is currently with ESPN. It's unclear how much money the Big East would fetch in a new contract, which is where the risk comes in. It would depend in large part on who would be part of the new league.

The 1984 SCOTUS case disallowed the NCAA to control scheduling. Sorry SportseCyclopedia. Texas A&M played nine Big XII games this season, but will only play eight SEC games. There is a game remaining for them. Texas wants to still have a Thanksgiving night game, and Baylor, TCU and Texas Tech are currently willing to be the guest every third year.

What happens if NBC Sports Channel (Versus) wins the open bidding for the TV contract? Sure, the money will be nice, but nobody will watch you.

I sense two things: 1-Pac-12 and B1G really want to have the Rose Bowl as their deal. 2-Not only would Cowboys Stadium want to bid to host the title game, 1 vs. 2, but this may also an attempt for Arthur Blank to get a new stadium for the Falcons or to have the game in Georgia Dome at least once or for Houston or Tampa to have game instead of a Super Bowl every four years. Plus, it would really screw the lower FBS conferences out: MAC,WAC, Sun Belt, MWC C-USA since they were not a part of those bowls prior to the Bowl Coalition/Alliance/BCS formation. Regular TV contracts mean more to a program than wising to make a bowl game if you are unbeaten as the annual $$$ is consistent and known for a school's budget.

Yeahhhhh, no. Not with that awful TV contract, the clown-college nature of the MWC/CUSA merger, and the inequitable share of money come BCS season. When Boise split in 2010, they knew that the TV contract was basically identical to the WAC/ESPN contract + cable households with The Mtn. Network. They left for about $400k in additional TV revenue meanwhile BYU, TCU and Utah left for $4M in more revenue at least for year one in a new conference. As for an inequitable share of BCS money, even if they were in an AQ conference and went to a BCS bowl, that does not mean that they would receive all of the BCS payout. Regardless if Thompson (or Karl Benson) had a participating BCS team in his conference from the start, it is their error that they, as part of the BCS, never got clarification on who would get that additional share, all non-AQs or the conference who had the participating team.

It is basically a game of chicken between Boise, Air Force and Navy..."If you go, I will...". Boise wants to go with a western school. Now, the story did not mention where the school president was told to look to for their Olympic sports: Big West, WCC, Big Sky or even back to the WAC? Any pending Big East contract will still be greater than the $1M/year which they are getting in the MWC or were getting in the WAC.

I do, and they have approached, as Gary. said, to join Division II. This isn't the first time a non american school has joined the NCAA. Saint Francis, from Canada, joined Division II recently, and there are schools from Puerto Rico already in the NCAA. Notice how ESPN is not jumping all over them. That is because those countries don't really care about college football. There is a reason there aren't many none american schools in the NCAA. Um, don't you mean Simon Fraser?

No it doesn't. If it had stability, why would they go and raise the exit fee to $20m? Obviously the folks in ACC-ville are paranoid of the B1G raiding Maryland (though I have no idea why they'd go after a basketball school with an Athletic Department that's flat broke) and the SEC raiding Clemson and/or Florida State. Compared to the Big East though it's the rock of Gibraltar. Yes there is a chance certain schools might bolt if specific conferences came calling, but all of the ACC's membership isn't actively looking for an escape. You can't say that about the Big East. Just because the ACC is more stable than the Big East doesn't mean the ACC is actually stable. That's like comparing Danny DeVito to a garden gnome. Stability is a 12 year, all-inclusive contract with ESPN through 2024 worth at least $3B. The Big East is in their last year of a contract which possesses one-third the ACC's annual value and the non-AQ conferences have TV contracts which are at less than one-tenth the ACC's value per year. Plus, if the SEC still has the "gentlemen's agreement" not to add a second school from a member state, there are somewhat limited choices. FSU, Miami, GT, Clemson, and any Texas school are out. Viable options from the football side would just leave Maryland, VT, NC State and possible UNC (who is looking at probation in the face).

The markets are big, but they are bad for college football. Here are the current TV contracts for the BCS Conferences They already rejected a new contract. They had Paul Tagliabue as a consultant who told them to hold out as they thought they were gaining the DFW market with TCU and that annual fees would go up. They had a nine year $130M/year deal on the table which they rejected to play the market in 2012. That market has changed and the metro markets you talk about are those Top 30 markets which Tagliabue stressed as being important, but the northeast does not care about NCAA football and if they do, they care about the Big Ten since they went to school there in the 50's and 60's.

Especially from the Airport. From KPIT to the WVU campus is maybe 45mins tops. How fast are you driving? I live 30-40 minutes south of the airport in Pittsburgh and I'm still another 45 minutes at least from Morgantown. And yes, I am in direct line between the two. I still wouldn't call Morgantown isolated though. Many of the major colleges are a good distance away from a highly populated cities with airports. Airport is still the alleged problem. It is apparent that the runway at Morgantown's airport is too short to handle a football charter plane. Otherwise, teams fly into PIT or charter to Bridgeport, WV which is an hour away.

Beginning last night, I hope that Dan Beebe is somewhere laughing his a$$ off.

Big East commish is in Boise. Boise could be in Big East for football, Pac-12 for wrestling, and Big West for all others.

So Stillwater, OK wants to call Morgantown "isolated"

Villanova not ponying up their own cash to build a football venue with adequate seating for FBS is part of the reason the Big East is in this situation to begin with. They have no right to complain. I was about to say, Villanova only wants to go to Division I-A if the rest of the Big East football schools foot the bill for it. Which isn't likely to happen. To both: For what? If Villanova can play at PPL Park with expanded capacity which would be slightly lower in capacity than Cincinnati's Nippert Stadium, yet could have a higher gate since there is a smaller student body. This is not like UMass moving up, going to the MAC, and playing home games 80 miles from campus at Gillette. The MAC does not need the Boston market for $$$, but for football, the Big East needs Philly for survival in terms of which ever cable network wants to buy up the expiring TV rights.

Additional fallout from Tuesday is: WVU denies a press conference for Wednesday. While the LVRJ reported that the Big East would talk to the MWC and C-USA in NYC on Wednesday. That is "denied" by a Big East spokesperson. So this means that all three have to hear from any TV network to say that this combination of teams is actually able to gain TV interest over what their current schools bring in on average. C-USA and MWC don't care since they basically get $1M/school/year, but with 28 teams is a redone contract really worth $2M or $3M/school/year? I don't think so. That "C-USA/MWC alliance" announced two weeks ago apparently failed since it was no interest for TV to pay them more and this is just the collaborative of teams despirately wanting to be able to compete for one BCS spot....That is if the BCS survives after 2014. On the Big East side, they must be trying to get the western schools they "invited" last week plus possibly BYU since Villanova is acting stubborn and is lobbying against readmitting Temple as a football-only member; they really want to move up to FBS.

I posted that Boston Globe story, with the full details over the weekend.

And Oral Roberts will move to the Southland

That's all fine and well. But I'm sick of hearing source and no names or positions within the University or Conference. I keep thinking about that guy who was the first to break the story that Nebraska was going to the Big Ten. He was the same guy reporting that Texas and Notre Dame had a joint meeting in Chicago, trying to pitch the Longhorns and the Fighting Irish as a package deal to the Big Ten. I'm not saying ESPN doesn't have a vested interest in where schools end up or how the TV contracts go, nor am I saying that ESPN is always the first to report stuff. But when it came to Pitt and Syacuse, ESPN had a story on their main page before anyone was talking about on this forum... Anyway, McCall and BayouJim, do you mind messaging me the guys who you follow on twitter who seemingly have the scoop on the Big XII and PAC and SEC etc.? I'd like to keep up with it as well. NY Times's Pete Thamel is breaking stories for a while. On the WVU side, the reporter is Charleston Gazette sports editor, Mitch Vingle. Press conference tomorrow.

That's the McMurphy however, say Mizzou leaves for 2012, WVU has a lot to do to get out from the 27 month timetable, which the Big East is trying to stick to with Syracuse and Pitt. If Pitt and Syyracuse are not actively trying to buy themselves out, I cannot see the WVU being that successful. There is still the attempt of them starting a network without the home games of both Texas and Oklahoma. (Sounds like a winner there!) Also, Houston's regents meet on Thursday so their president will be given the same charge by them...go follow the money.