+$500M/12 Year Catholic 7 TV Deal

[ChicosBailBonds]

It is pretty simple:  The C7 can command the cash.  The A10 just reupped and got $500k per school.  The market has spoken, and if the +3 or the +5 teams don't like $2million more in their pockets, enjoy the A10.

Not exactly, because what we don't know is if the numbers being talked about assume some of those A10 schools.  That's a big detail that is missing.

As I pointed out last week, the A-10 schools that folks are floating out there to come into this league are almost all doing better than every C7 school with the exception of us and Georgetown. 

Also, the A10 deal is brought down on a per school basis because of the number of schools they have and the dregs at the bottom of their league.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Yep.  Put on your 'Big Boy' pants.

Have to wonder how many MU fans here would be saying this if we were the ones being shorted?  The posts would write themselves how unfair it is, and how the conference can go "f themselves", etc, etc.   

[🏀]

That's some pretty good company. Will they be broadcasting any NASCAR racing? Just wondering how many contracts they have left with the old Speed Channel. Not sure it'd help us that much, but it wouldn't be bad to carry over what audience they do have now.

I don't believe SPEED had any actual races anymore. Just 'Raceday' pre/post race shows and qualifying. They also lost the F-1 contract a couple months ago, so they don't have much left.

[Skatastrophy]

I have a feeling that some of the schools are already "known" but are not yet official.

Yep, otherwise there'd be no way we'd have that big of a TV bid.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Does anybody have a link to a decent article discussing the conversion of Speed to FoxSports?  I tried to google but really didn't come up with one.

I posted one last night to some extent, problem is that none of it is official so you aren't going to find much, if anything on this.  It's all speculation in the public sphere right now.  Look at the first response I gave, there's a link there.

[jsglow]

Have to wonder how many MU fans here would be saying this if we were the ones being shorted?  The posts would write themselves how unfair it is, and how the conference can go "f themselves", etc, etc.   

Yep.  It's all a matter of perspective Chicos.

[muwarrior69]

As a Butler fan, I would be really upset if we knowingly put ourselves at a competitive disadvantage (especially by this great of an amount) for a 12 year period.  Schools like Providence and Seton Hall (who have neither good basketball nor a large TV market on their own) don't deserve to have more money than a Butler, Xavier, Creighton, SLU, Dayton, etc.  People from those "outsider" schools will not be happy about it if that's the case, regardless if they're making more than they are now because they are already thought of as scandals citizens within the conference, and that is not a good foot to start out on with your fellow conference members.

Obviously if you get this kind of split, good for you and obviously I would take it if you can get it from your end.  But don't think for a moment that this kind of thing won't breed instability and dissention from the moment these new schools join.

As an MU grad I agree. Gonzalo, Butler and X bring in a very strong programs. Let's not get greedy and sour the milk. As Ben Franklin said either we all hang together or We'll all hang separately.

[jsglow]

I posted one last night to some extent, problem is that none of it is official so you aren't going to find much, if anything on this.  It's all speculation in the public sphere right now.  Look at the first response I gave, there's a link there.

Maybe I misspoke.  I was talking about the overall creation of Fox Sports 1 out of the ashes of Speed.  Frankly, I had not known.  I did find this:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1423414-fox-sports-one-what-the-upcoming-all-sports-network-could-mean-for-the-ufc

[Dr. Blackheart]

Not exactly, because what we don't know is if the numbers being talked about assume some of those A10 schools.  That's a big detail that is missing.

As I pointed out last week, the A-10 schools that folks are floating out there to come into this league are almost all doing better than every C7 school with the exception of us and Georgetown. 

Also, the A10 deal is brought down on a per school basis because of the number of schools they have and the dregs at the bottom of their league.

Nonsense.  Are they doing better at delivering TV markets or brand value?  Come on...the A10 teams can stay where they are if they can get a better deal.  The media companies are paying for the BE.  Period. The A10 makes a concession to the Xavier's of their world by giving the them more of the NCAA credits because the rest of the brand is low major. Free market...if the A10 schools don't like the deal, stay we're they are at...simple as that.  If they were so valuable as a media market, it would have been reflected in their new media deal just inked.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Have to wonder how many MU fans here would be saying this if we were the ones being shorted?  The posts would write themselves how unfair it is, and how the conference can go "f themselves", etc, etc.   

How fair is it that DePaul cashed our NCAA credit checks each year? 

[boyonthedock]

as fair as us cashing UCONNs

[Dr. Blackheart]

as fair as us cashing UCONNs

Yeah, LW is banking on that UCONN check from this year.

[brewcity77]

Have to wonder how many MU fans here would be saying this if we were the ones being shorted?  The posts would write themselves how unfair it is, and how the conference can go "f themselves", etc, etc.   

Depends on who you're talking about. If you're Butler, this is a no-brainer decision, even if you're making less. They just left all their NCAA credits behind in the Horizon and get a reduced share in the A-10. Come to the New Big East and you'll get more money in NCAA credits and make at least 3-4 times as much in television revenue. Going forward you may not keep as much of future earned NCAA credits, but sharing with schools like Marquette, Georgetown, and Villanova (assuming they right the ship) should more than offset that. Regardless, Butler fans should see that this move for them would be nothing but benefit, even if they're taking a lesser cut.

For Xavier, it's not so easy. They make a ton in NCAA credits. Leaving those behind won't be easy, and I think we need to be able to offer them a lot to offset that. Tripling their television revenue probably won't be enough, unless they value the added exposure that much. Multiply what they are making by fivefold and it might be a different story since they too will be sharing NCAA credits with us. But as a Xavier fan, I'm not sure I'd be happy to leave just to break even.

VCU is in the same boat as Butler. No-brainer if offered. Dayton and St. Louis don't have enough NCAA credits to have the same financial vestment in the A-10 that Xavier does, so I'm sure leaving would be an easy decision for them, and I'd hope their fans appreciate how much of a revenue boost they'd get from this. Gonzaga could finally stop sharing checks with the WCC when they are making pretty much all the money. If the travel costs make sense, it's an easy choice. That's a big if, however.

Really, the only school that might have pause with this is Xavier. No one else has the investment in a tiered scale like they do with the A-10. But I'm guessing whatever the deal, they are on board. I find it hard to believe we'd be getting that kind of deal without the network knowing Xavier and Butler were in the mix, and honestly, that much money makes me think Gonzaga might be a go as well.

[jsglow]

Nonsense.The media companies are paying for the BE.  Period.

I'm with the good doctor here.  Fox Sports 1 is seemingly convinced that BEast 2.0 can be a flagship product.  It's core is the C7, MSG, the BEast name, etc.  THAT just got priced.  Xavier and Butler just got priced too.  But no doubt this is a situation where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.  So Xavier/Butler get a nice raise.  I do understand Brew's discussion about the value of NCAA credits.  But I don't recall many teams being invited to a significantly more prestigious conference turning down that invitation.  Butler is an excellent example as recently as 2012.  They left their credits behind.

[brewcity77]

This new network will have MLB playoff games on that network starting in 2014. Pac-12 & Big 12 college football.

One other positive to this: from a scheduling perspective, this may make it easier to broker a conference series between the New Big East and either Pac-12 or Big 12. If Fox has deals in place with them, it could grease the wheels to have all of our teams play one of those league's top-10 (or 12) every year. I'd prefer the Big 12 as they are a much better basketball league, but if Gonzaga is in, it might be nice to let them play a Pac-12 opponent every year.

[jsglow]

One other positive to this: from a scheduling perspective, this may make it easier to broker a conference series between the New Big East and either Pac-12 or Big 12. If Fox has deals in place with them, it could grease the wheels to have all of our teams play one of those league's top-10 (or 12) every year. I'd prefer the Big 12 as they are a much better basketball league, but if Gonzaga is in, it might be nice to let them play a Pac-12 opponent every year.

Good idea.  I can see the advertising now during football games.  Launch vehicle for their valuable brands.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Also one thing we glossed over with the tiered hypothesis was the C7 would pay the other schools' exit fees, future credits, legal bills, etc. with their BE windfall to make them whole. 

[Sheriff]

I would think so since she now works for Fox.

Yes, but so does Joe Buck.

[Pakuni]

Nonsense.  Are they doing better at delivering TV markets or brand value?  Come on...the A10 teams can stay where they are if they can get a better deal.  The media companies are paying for the BE.  Period. The A10 makes a concession to the Xavier's of their world by giving the them more of the NCAA credits because the rest of the brand is low major. Free market...if the A10 schools don't like the deal, stay we're they are at...simple as that.  If they were so valuable as a media market, it would have been reflected in their new media deal just inked.

+Lots
If some of the A-10 schools want to cut off their nose to spite their face, let 'em.  Bottom line, 3-5 teams out there will be getting invites to the new league. If Xavier, for example, wants to stay in a lesser league in lesser markets with a far smaller TV deal that gives them much less exposure because they think the C7 is being oh so unfair, they can.
But I doubt very much they will. Because playing Marquette, Georgetown, St. John's, etc. with $2 million TV revenue is a heckuva lot better than playing Fordham, George Washington and Duquesne for $500,000.

The argument about Xavier leaving their credits behind is shortsighted. Yes, it's a lot of money to be leaving behind. But that's a short-term hit that's got to be weighed against the long-term benefits of being the member of a new conference that's going to command better TV deals, more exposure, more stability (knock on wood), etc.
And as a Xavier fan, why would I care about the credits? What fan is sitting in Cincy right now saying, "Yeah, I'll be buying season tickets for a schedule headlined St. Joe's, Fordham and St. Bonnies, but at least we'd have those credits!"

[muguru]

In what Universe does DuhPaul deserve $5 mill a year?? $5 a year MAYBE.

[chapman]

At $2.5M it's a 486% raise, with undoubtedly more ticket revenue and brand recognition as well, the C7's BE exit fee cash wad takes care of their exit fees and maybe makes up X's shortfall.  So not getting an extra $1-$1.5M that makes it even is unfair?  Now they'd be the greedy ones.  And instability?  Ha...what would they do, leave for 1/5 the pay?  It may not be even, but the work is done for them and the situation is a gift.

[boyonthedock]

Somebody  has to lose basketball games for someone to win it. Gotta subsidize the losers so that they still win 8-10 OOC games to keep that RPI up for their league play curb stomping.

[dw3dw3dw3]

Aren't most of these 2 tiered approaches only for a specific period of time? I thought I read somewhere that's how the ACC was bringing in teams. As in X and Butler might only get a smaller share for the first 5 years. As long as you know once you pay your dues you'll have a full seat at the table I don't see where the instability would creep in.

[GGGG]

Aren't most of these 2 tiered approaches only for a specific period of time? I thought I read somewhere that's how the ACC was bringing in teams. As in X and Butler might only get a smaller share for the first 5 years. As long as you know once you pay your dues you'll have a full seat at the table I don't see where the instability would creep in.

Yeah, the Big Ten's new members have a scale before they get full shares.  I am pretty sure this is going to be the case here too.  The more I think about this, the more I think this really isn't that big of a deal.

[Dr. Blackheart]

In what Universe does DuhPaul deserve $5 mill a year?? $5 a year MAYBE.

This one: http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2008/09/10/nielsen-local-television-market-universe-estimates/5037/

It really appears, again if true, that the BE basketball schools were undervalued by the BE football schools....even before the announced C7 break away, the best the basketball schools were being talked about in any media deal was maybe a $500k increase...if that...and now it is double.  Competition and timing of the split was the Perfect Storm.