Game, set, match......B-7 get it all

[Markedman]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/bigeast/2013/03/04/catholic-seven-7-negotiations/1963671/

[The Reptile]

So, we get the name, MSG, a new TV deal worth more with Fox and keep $3 Million in Big East money. Winning.

[IWB]

This is great news, really makes you wonder.....

Jim Boeheim said last week that the Big East turned down a deal that would have paid the league $17 million per school, and were now signing a deal that was $2.5. He said if they signed that deal, no one would have left.

I agree with that, and I think it was a dumb move to turn down that deal, but here is my question....

The Big East turned it down because they wanted a chance to negotiate with Fox and NBC. Well, they never had the opportunity to do that. If Fox is willing to pay $3-4 million per school just for basketball, had West Virginia, Syracuse, Pitt, Louisville, Rutgers and Notre Dame not left, what kind of deal could the Big East have gotten? We will never know, but you have to wonder what the "Old Big East" could have gotten if they just had the opportunity to negotiate that contract?

[The Reptile]

There is far more to the story than simply ESPN -vs- Fox -vs- NBC -vs- CBS. And because of it we may actually see some New Big East basketball on ESPN and other outlets besides Fox Sports 1 & 2.

I was listening to Tim Brando on the XM college sports station. He had a guest from the Sports Business Journal who wrote a piece about how ESPN & Fox are cooperating more than feuding. Meanwhile, both are willing to not only work with each other but CBS as well but none of them are working with NBC. Case in point, ESPN & Fox did a joint bid on the Olympics and both are cooperating on contracts signed with Pac-12 and English Premier Soccer. In addition, the new media rights deals being signed by conferences requires the media holders to sub-license games so all games are televised. So, while Fox holds our media rights for TV, some of our less competitive games (yes, I'm looking at you DePaul) could be bound for ESPN (unlikely), CBS or a regional broadcaster just not NBC.

I think that the question that the writer did not answer was why? My sense is that Disney (ESPN), Fox (Fox Sports) and CBS (CBS) are all content providers. NBC is owned by Comcast, which is in content delivery. It's likely that the content providers are fearful of being cut out by the cable and satellite companies. That same thing happened to Fox with the LA Dodgers & LA Lakers. It's also likely a reason why they purchased 49% of YES.

So, getting back to IWB's post, the story here is not the fact that by purchasing the media rights a network will be shut out of content. There appears to be plenty of content to go around. The issue is having the right of first refusal to broadcast an MU-Georgetown or MU-Butler game versus having to fill air time buying a DePaul-Seton Hall match up. And that comes down to $. And that $ cause a number of unnatural acts to take place both on by the Universities and now by the media companies.


http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2013/03/04/Media/ESPN-Fox.aspx

[ge1974]

Latest link:
http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/9019093/big-east-football-schools-keep-close-110-million-league-split-according-report

The basketball schools will receive $10 million, the Big East name and the right to play their conference tournament at Madison Square Garden.

Of the $110 million in exit fees, holdover members Connecticut, Cincinnati and South Florida will get the biggest share, but the new football members -- Central Florida, Houston, SMU, Memphis, Temple, East Carolina, Tulane and Navy -- also will receive a share of the exit fees to help compensate for the lower-than-expected worth of the media rights deal, sources told ESPN's Brett McMurphy.

The Big East's stash of cash has built up in recent years through a combination of exit fees, entry fees and money the league's members earned in the NCAA men's basketball tournament. Since 2011, the Big East has lost 16 schools that were either members or dropped out before playing a game. That figure includes the seven Catholic basketball schools.

Must be great to be Tulane. Join a new conference and get a check. My guess based on this article is that the eight schools other than UCONN , Cincy and USF are all getting at least $6-7 million and the three leftovers will each be laughing to the bank with about $20 million per school. However, what happens if the ACC implodes and then invites these schools? For example what would UCONN's new exit fee be? I hope Mike Aresco and the new football league makes their exit fee's at least $25 million.

[TheSultan]

Not as much as they wanted, but the B7...

*Got out of the old conference immediately
*Got the Big East name and MSG tournament site
*Will each pocket about $1.5M - a bulk of which will go to legal work for the separation and to set up the conference
*Don't have to pay exit fees
*Get to reap the benefits of the Fox contract

[Goose85]

Not as much as they wanted, but the B7...

*Got out of the old conference immediately
*Got the Big East name and MSG tournament site
*Will each pocket about $1.5M - a bulk of which will go to legal work for the separation and to set up the conference
*Don't have to pay exit fees
*Get to reap the benefits of the Fox contract

Pretty darn good deal for the C7.

So instead of having to pay $70 million to leave the conference early ($10 mil each), the C7 actually get money out of the deal.

On top of it, the C7 gets the conference name, the right to have the tourney at MSG, a new tv contract for next season and play in their new conference next season, no lame duck year. Wow!

[Litehouse]

I believe exit fees for basketball schools was only $5 Million, and it was $10 Million for the football schools. So we still saved $35 Million and don't have to wait 27 months.

[MUMac]

Actually, save $45 Million, as they are given $10 Million of the fees, and get to keep the BE name and MSG for the tournament. Now, I suppose what they gave up from those fees would eat away at the savings. I doubt, as non football members, that they would have been given a proportionate share to what UConn, Cincy and USF would get. But they likely left some money on the table to leave early. The positive is they will likely make that up with the TV contract.