Memphis add to BE----Pitino was the catalyst

[ponyscott]

As I read the below quotes from ESPNU today, you can see that their basketball reputation was wanted by powerful decision makers in the BE, such as Rick Pitino. Adding Memphis makes a powerful statement for BE basketball, and makes it much more probable that Louisville and Cinci stay in the BE.

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigeast/post/_/ ... in-memphis

Big East goes walking in Memphis
February, 8, 2012

By Andrea Adelson
The Big East will make it official with a conference call set for noon today -- Memphis will join as the 12th member of the league.

Though the Tigers have been terrible in football of late, they add a boost in basketball and are in a top 50 TV market -- two of the biggest reasons they are on board. Their addition means the Big East has now added four schools from Conference USA, and would give the Big East 12 teams in time for the 2015 season.

"I am thrilled that my hometown team and alma mater, the University of Memphis, is being invited to join the Big East," U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) said in a statement. "Joining the Big East will not only be great for the University of Memphis, but it will be an economic catalyst for the City of Memphis.

"Thanks to Louisville coach Rick Pitino for his strong support. And congratulations to Dr. Shirley Raines and R.C. Johnson."

Stay tuned for more later this afternoon.

[ponyscott]

More from Pitino:

The Tigers have one of the strongest basketball programs in the country. Memphis had made 23 NCAA tournament appearances and lost in the national title game in 1973 and 2008. They also reached the Final Four.

Louisville coach Rick Pitino has been lobbying the Big East to add Memphis to help strengthen the league in basketball. Louisville and Memphis have spent years together first in the Missouri Valley Conference, the Metro Conference and Conference USA. Pitino again called out for league officials to consider Memphis after Louisville beat Memphis on Dec. 17.

''I'm just hoping the Big East gets smart and does something about that and allows them to come into the league,'' Pitino said. ''I keep getting on the pulpit and saying this: We got hurt big time and we need Memphis. Memphis doesn't need us, we need Memphis. We need Temple. We need to build up basketball again.''

[ponyscott]

??? We care because he actually helped solidify the BE, especially in basketball.

[ponyscott]

Just wait until the new BE TV deal is done before you think anyone thinks about bolting as the contract may be very appealing ....and 27 months is a long time to wait to go somewhere else with large penalties. This BE deal is being put together with a focus on maximum exposure with multiple large TV markets and upwardly mobile Universities with the wherewithal to make big moves...and they have a working master plan at the BE. Big money is behind of all of this and anytime we have existing well known coaches like Pitino making waves to improve the conference means there could be more to the story than what is talked about on fan blog lines. The BE is a very powerful basketball conference that is expanding with more football powers.....just don't underestimate the basketball draw of these schools
And the Big 12 isn't as well thought of back east as we here in Texas think. And Big 12 travel to Stillwater, Lubbock, Waco, Iowa State, etc isn't at all attractive to all schools around the country BTW.

[PonyKai]

...which is still an enormous upgrade in revenue for SMU.

[JayhawkPony]

...which is still an enormous upgrade in revenue for SMU.

Oh you bet it will, but I have seen plenty of posts suggesting that it will be close to 15M per school which just seems like a dream. I think a more realistic expectation is 5-8M per school and if it is more we can be surprised.

Go back to North Texas Juco and be jealous over there...

[ponyscott]

JohnMck you are full of crap and don't have any idea of what you are talking about....the contract will be huge.

[mustangxc]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/03/sport ... field.html

There was also an article written by Brett McMurphy in early January stating that the Big East tv deal is likely to be larger than the one the ACC signed. He basically stated that the Pittsburgh president told the Big East not to sign the offer ESPN had made in the summer and that now NBC is willing to pay more for the Big East due to a need to fill out programming on the NBC Sports Network. If anyone can find that link I would greatly appreciate it!

[Digetydog]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/03/sports/ncaafootball/big-east-is-still-big-deal-on-tv-if-not-on-field.html

There was also an article written by Brett McMurphy in early January stating that the Big East tv deal is likely to be larger than the one the ACC signed. He basically stated that the Pittsburgh president told the Big East not to sign the offer ESPN had made in the summer and that now NBC is willing to pay more for the Big East due to a need to fill out programming on the NBC Sports Network. If anyone can find that link I would greatly appreciate it!

While the FB portion of the contract has certainly been hurt by the loss of Syracuse, WVU, and Pitt, the BB program remains strong and Memphis makes it stronger. Throw in the addition of the Houston and Dallas TV markets and the BB value (from a cable TV perspective) is huge.

Signing the BE to a BB and FB contract would all NBC Sports to have BE basketball games in prime time pretty much any time they want from December through March. Plus, BE football would give them their only shot at College FB for quite a few years (because other major contracts are tied in).