Creighton's AD Comments

[GGGG]

So bottom line, between the lines (between the bottom lines?), if Creighton is invited they're in.  All indications are that our top of the list candidates also really want to be a part of this.  Very exciting.

Of course they do.  This is a better, more valuable conference.  That's why UDPride's statements were so CUTE - it sounded like my grandmother talking about the quaint days growing up on a farm in Green County.

[jficke13]

I would also add that most of the data we are seeing as an industry is showing the the TV dominates, absolutely dominates viewing habits.  Sure, the use of video on smart phones and tablets has increased considerably, but not at the expense of the television.  In preference study after preference study, people would rather view their content on a large tv than PC, Tablet, Smartphone.  As such, how many people will throw dollars down to watch live sports that can be consumed on a small device that also has to deal with buffering, bandwidth connection, etc vs an appliance they turn on and it's just there. 

What about "smart tvs."  Plug in a CAT-6 and bandwidth shouldn't be an issue right?

[warriorchick]

Omaha is a vastly underrated sports town -- well worth an away game roadtrip.  They spent a pile of money for a new baseball stadium for the college world series and put that stadium downtown.  The Qwest Center is an outstanding arena.  They have a fun bar district downtown and the airport with plenty of good, affordable hotels is minutes away.   While Cornhusker football rules the state, the good basketball team has always been in Omaha.

+1   

I have been to Omaha on business and it is an unexpectedly fun place. Easy and cheap to fly to from the Chicago/Milwaukee area (Southwest Airlines, y'all!), and extremely hassle-free to get around.

And Badgerhater, you forgot to mention the steaks.  The Omaha Steaks.

[LastWarrior]

A viable DePaul can add a pretty damm strong asset to the new league given the untapped Chicago market. 

Absolutely!!

[PBRme]

What do you mean....MU taps the Chicago market just about every year (McNeal, Taylor, Acker, Wade, etc)and add about 50% to DePauls attendance as well

[bamamarquettefan]

Creighton over Dayton. The Jays had the 6th best attendance in NCAA basketball last year and made the Final Four in men's soccer this past month. If you had a league with the C7 and Creighton, Butler and Xavier, 5 of those teams (Marquette, Georgetown, St. John's, Creighton and Xavier) made the NCAA tourney in men's soccer and Georgetown lost in the final game. So in addition to being a pretty good basketball conference, it would also be a very good conference for other sports like soccer.

i just hate going another 450 miles west when we consider the travel for non-revenue sports.  i realize I'm doing a 180 since I originally thought Gonzaga was worth traveling too, but the more I think about it, the more I think that the conference gets us into the big eastern markets and I'm actually going all the way to the other extreme with VCU, but would still take Dayton over Creighton.

Also, after McDermott leaves I don't know if they drop a notch or not.

[Dawson Rental]

i just hate going another 450 miles west when we consider the travel for non-revenue sports.  i realize I'm doing a 180 since I originally thought Gonzaga was worth traveling too, but the more I think about it, the more I think that the conference gets us into the big eastern markets and I'm actually going all the way to the other extreme with VCU, but would still take Dayton over Creighton.

Also, after McDermott leaves I don't know if they drop a notch or not.

Which McDermott?   When Doug moves on, we'll see how much his Dad relied on him to get the Bluejays on top.  Creighton does have a great record of holding onto its coaches, i.e. Dana Altman.

[nathanziarek]

What about "smart tvs."  Plug in a CAT-6 and bandwidth shouldn't be an issue right?

It's the over-the-top part that kills you. Any one of the big players -- Microsoft with the XBox, Apple with AppleTV, Google with their smart TVs and set top boxes -- could pony up the money and technology to be the distributor of this any league.

But when you add in the fact that they don't own an end-to-end distribution (Google does, but only in parts of KC), they are always going to come over a programming companies lines. How much content will TimeWarner or Comcast allow Google to out bid them for before they start raising rates on their internet service or adding bandwidth caps?

I just read that Aero, a NYC service that provides local over-the-air channels via the internet, signed with Bloomberg TV, their first pay contract. Content is heading that way, but there are tons of hurdles. I'd actually love to hear Chicos speak on this sometime ... maybe I can taunt him into a post on the Superbar ...

[ChicosBailBonds]

What about "smart tvs."  Plug in a CAT-6 and bandwidth shouldn't be an issue right?

Yes, that's an option, but you still get into the cost side and the rights ownership side.  Many distributors today let you gain access to their content through a third device like a tablet or smartphone.  For example, we deliver about 100 channels that customers can stream to those devices, but all of that is contingent upon those channels granting those rights.  Then there are third party apps like HBO Go, Big Ten To Go, etc, that are all authenticated content as well...meaning you get access to them if you subscribe to a television provider.  In some cases you can use a third party device, even, like Roku, a connected TV, Playstation or Xbox, but in all those cases you're authenticating with your account on your television provider.  So to see HBO Go on on your connected TV, you have to subscribe to HBO via your provider.  You can't go direct to HBO and buy it and the reason is money and also support.  HBO relies on the Time Warners of the world for the delivery, customer service, billing, marketing, etc, etc....and the money. 

Here's a simple mathematics way to look at it.

Say ESPN gets $5 per subscriber per month from Comcast and their 25 million customers at 85% penetration (meaning ESPN must be carried in 85% of their packages).  That's about $1.275 billion per year in revenue just from Comcast.  You can then extrapolate that to other providers (Directv's 20 million, Dish's 14 million, etc, etc).

Now, think about that 85% of customers that have to pay for ESPN even if they can't stand sports, they're stuck paying it anyway....that's big money for ESPN.  If they were to start selling it direct, perhaps to your connected television as you stated, now earn the wrath of many distributors that are paying them billions (like the Comcast example I gave), but they are also risking further dollars because the only people that are going to sign up directly for their service are sports fans.  Ultimately, as the pendulum swings to that type of model, that $5 charge becomes more like $10 to $15 when the 85% that must pay for it now at a "lower price" becomes a much higher price when only 40% or 45% actually buy it. 

So at the end of the day, it's about the rights to this content and what they are willing to risk financially to carve up those rights.  Plenty of risk, perhaps some reward, but for now the authentication model is likely going to be around for quite some time because it is money the networks can safely count on.

[brewcity77]

It's the over-the-top part that kills you. Any one of the big players -- Microsoft with the XBox, Apple with AppleTV, Google with their smart TVs and set top boxes -- could pony up the money and technology to be the distributor of this any league.

For distribution, yes. But let's remember that's only half the equation. Cameras don't arrive at arenas and run themselves. That's why ESPN and NBC and Fox have been the big players so far. Because you need to have people on the ground to actually shoot and produce the broadcast. Just because someone can stream it doesn't mean a thing if you don't have a full compliment of people physically on the ground to produce the content to fill the stream.

Until those companies have their own traveling production crews that can provide cameramen, producers, and commentators for as many as 6-7 games per night across the country, you can't realistically think about them as your main broadcast partner.

[jsglow]

i just hate going another 450 miles west when we consider the travel for non-revenue sports.  i realize I'm doing a 180 since I originally thought Gonzaga was worth traveling too, but the more I think about it, the more I think that the conference gets us into the big eastern markets and I'm actually going all the way to the other extreme with VCU, but would still take Dayton over Creighton.

Both would be fine additions in my mind.  How bout the C7 institute an 'entrance fee' and let the best man win?

[MountainCreek19]

Its a haul form LP, but I think the Mayor is adding a new EL stop near by.  Getting more student involvement isnt my concern, if they are a winning program, then the lazy asses in Lincoln Park will come.  

A near downtown location in my opinion has better appeal from a working alumni, corporate setting.  And any new dedicated DePaul facility will be better than the crap at the Horizon.  Plus, being closer to the South side may be beneficial from a recruiting standpoint.... that much easier for recruits and recruits family to see games.

The city is going to put a new stop on the green line at cermak.  The red line (the line most students would be taking from campus) already has a stop on Cemak which is 2 blocks west of this new stop and 5 blocks west of the proposed stadium location.  My understanding though is that the green line stop is going to be a temporary addition to the line to help facilitate traffic to the south side when the red line is shut down south of Cermak next May for the summer... But it is Chicago and temporary fixes tend to become permanent fixes pretty quickly in the City.

Also, outside of an on campus stadium this would be the most accesssible option for students using public transportation when compared to the United Center and Allstate Arena.  Regarding the purchase of land near campus by DePaul, has the University released any information on what it intends to do with the land?  I live in Lincoln Park and received a letter from the City awhile back informing residents of a community meeting concerning the permanent closing of a few streets near campus.  Although this could mean a lot of different things (pedestrian mall, parking lots, academic buildings), could this be the stadium locale?

[RJax55]

Regarding the purchase of land near campus by DePaul, has the University released any information on what it intends to do with the land?  I live in Lincoln Park and received a letter from the City awhile back informing residents of a community meeting concerning the permanent closing of a few streets near campus.  Although this could mean a lot of different things (pedestrian mall, parking lots, academic buildings), could this be the stadium locale?

The proposed street closures in Lincoln Park have to due with the creation of a pedestrian mall. Nothing in regards to a stadium.

[muwarrior69]

Gonzaga would be a great choice. I just do not see it happening. This league will be for all sports. The Zags will have the worst travel situation for all their games in every sport. Costly and a major drag for student athletes.

If all the schools are committed to playing High Major college basketball, I say adding Butler, Xavier and Creighton and merging with the WCC you create a 19 team league. Some of the weaker teams in the WCC are more or less no worse than the bottom 4 in the old Big East. USF has a storied basketball history which could be resurrected back to greatness. With 9 schools in the west and 9 in the east and Creighton in the middle it would mitigate travel costs for basketball and for all other sports there could be a east/west division with each school playing regular season in division and the top 2 in each division playing a championship round. If were going to compete with the 5 superconferences we have to be bigger and better. Again, only if their committed to playing High Major basketball.

[MountainCreek19]

The proposed street closures in Lincoln Park have to due with the creation of a pedestrian mall. Nothing in regards to a stadium.

Now if only we could convince milwaukee to close Wisconsin between 12th and 16th

[nathanziarek]

For distribution, yes. But let's remember that's only half the equation. Cameras don't arrive at arenas and run themselves. That's why ESPN and NBC and Fox have been the big players so far. Because you need to have people on the ground to actually shoot and produce the broadcast. Just because someone can stream it doesn't mean a thing if you don't have a full compliment of people physically on the ground to produce the content to fill the stream.

Until those companies have their own traveling production crews that can provide cameramen, producers, and commentators for as many as 6-7 games per night across the country, you can't realistically think about them as your main broadcast partner.

Very true. The technical hurdles are probably the easiest to get over. Camera crews probably aren't too tough (the BC has their own camera crew; I bet other places do as well), but the commentary and production are huge parts of the experience that don't come cheap.

[Benny B]

Now, think about that 85% of customers that have to pay for ESPN even if they can't stand sports, they're stuck paying it anyway....that's big money for ESPN.  If they were to start selling it direct, perhaps to your connected television as you stated, now earn the wrath of many distributors that are paying them billions (like the Comcast example I gave), but they are also risking further dollars because the only people that are going to sign up directly for their service are sports fans.  Ultimately, as the pendulum swings to that type of model, that $5 charge becomes more like $10 to $15 when the 85% that must pay for it now at a "lower price" becomes a much higher price when only 40% or 45% actually buy it. 

And here they said communism was dead.  Pshaw.

[brewcity77]

If all the schools are committed to playing High Major college basketball, I say adding Butler, Xavier and Creighton and merging with the WCC you create a 19 team league. Some of the weaker teams in the WCC are more or less no worse than the bottom 4 in the old Big East. USF has a storied basketball history which could be resurrected back to greatness. With 9 schools in the west and 9 in the east and Creighton in the middle it would mitigate travel costs for basketball and for all other sports there could be a east/west division with each school playing regular season in division and the top 2 in each division playing a championship round. If were going to compete with the 5 superconferences we have to be bigger and better. Again, only if their committed to playing High Major basketball.

Pepperdine and Santa Clara are awful. Much worse than Depaul or any other Big East team. Loyola Marymount and Portland haven't been much better in recent years. And what USF did 50 years ago should have no bearing going forward. The bottom of the WCC is awful compared to the bottom of the Big East. Absolutely awful. Gonzaga and St. Mary's are the only two that have shown anything resembling the caliber of team we want in this league over the past 20 years.

[StillAWarrior]

Pepperdine and Santa Clara are awful. Much worse than Depaul or any other Big East team. Loyola Marymount and Portland haven't been much better in recent years. And what USF did 50 years ago should have no bearing going forward. The bottom of the WCC is awful compared to the bottom of the Big East. Absolutely awful. Gonzaga and St. Mary's are the only two that have shown anything resembling the caliber of team we want in this league over the past 20 years.

Agreed.  There is a reason that Gonzaga's strategy over the last several years has been to schedule the toughest out-of-conference schedule possible -- a "we'll play anyone, anywhere" approach.  It's because their conference is absolutely horrible.  Their situation is the opposite of what Marquette's has been.  We play cup cakes and then watch as our RPI rises once we get into the conference schedule -- even if we lose some games.  They try to schedule strong out-of-conference games and then watch as their RPI drops once they get into their conference schedule -- even if they run the table.  It is not a strong conference.  Why else would they even consider joining a conference in which the nearest team is 1500 miles away (assuming, of course, that they would consider joining).

In my opinion, merging with the WCC would be an absolute disaster.  Maybe the original post was supposed to be teal.

[mikekinsellaMVP]

Pepperdine and Santa Clara are awful. Much worse than Depaul or any other Big East team.

Does that include Tulane?   

I would like to see a C7-WCC merger that doesn't include basketball.  Wishful thinking, but that conference would be awesome for soccer and cross country, especially if ND came back.

[GGGG]

I would like to see a C7-WCC merger that doesn't include basketball.  Wishful thinking, but that conference would be awesome for soccer and cross country, especially if ND came back.

What would the point of that be???  The reason you bring in schools like Gonzaga is for the value they bring to your television contract.  Sending our student athletes around the country is one thing if they have basketball money to show for it...sending them around the country because Pepperdine is good at soccer really isn't.

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

I would also add that most of the data we are seeing as an industry is showing the the TV dominates, absolutely dominates viewing habits.  Sure, the use of video on smart phones and tablets has increased considerably, but not at the expense of the television.  In preference study after preference study, people would rather view their content on a large tv than PC, Tablet, Smartphone.  As such, how many people will throw dollars down to watch live sports that can be consumed on a small device that also has to deal with buffering, bandwidth connection, etc vs an appliance they turn on and it's just there. 

What do you think this will look like in 10 years? I just can't see the traditional cable/network distribution plan staying in place.

DVR, streaming video, tablets, phones, etc. Think of all of the content distribution changes in the past 10 years. Now imagine what it will look like 10 years from now.

[Mufflers]

Sports are a different animal than other programming.  For MU and Packers Games, I watch them live and don't change the channel during commercials.  I also prefer watching on a TV because I want to share the experience with people around me.  For other TV, I either watch On Demand or DVRed shows and I fast forward through commercials.  Below is a good article about how sports fans are irrational about watching games.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/6626431/space-time-dvr-mechanics

[Benny B]

I just can't see the traditional cable/network distribution plan staying in place.

Neither can the analysts who follow Google and Apple.

[boyonthedock]

currently every team that is not Gonzaga, St. Mary's, or BYU in WCC is worse than every single current big east team, via kenpom.