ESPN Matches NBC's Offer For Big East

[LA_Mustang]

Andy Katz just came on during the cincy/UConn game talking about the deal. It's gonna be ESPN.

[b_caesar]

Andy Katz just came on during the cincy/UConn game talking about the deal. It's gonna be ESPN.

Boo. I don't have cable, so I'd certainly prefer NBC. But if it goes down that way, I can always rely on firstrow, or whatever pops up in its place when that time comes.

[MustangStealth]

@Mengus22: NBC lowballed the Big East to try and get cheap programming and instead made it way too easy for ESPN to match. #GameTheory

Amen to that. NBC blew this if they really wanted programming.

And for anybody who thinks NBC would be better, there is virtually 0 chance that we would end up on the broadcast network unless it was for the conference championship game. Also remember when the NHL rejected ESPN in favor of VS (which is now NBC sports)? ESPN dropped most of their hockey coverage and the league suffered as a result.

Versus' playoff viewership did not increase as much as it or the league might have hoped. Versus reached a viewership of 610,836 households for Game 1 of the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals. This figure was 39% fewer households than what ESPN drew for the Stanley Cup series opener two years earlier

[SMU Pony Mom]

Although I'm still really angry about how ESPN basically ruined the Big East, it really is the place to go for sports. ESPN News is the first channel I tune to every time. They're like an addictive drug.

In the long run we will be better off with them. Doubtful we would ever have been mentioned again had we moved to NBC. At least now it is in their best interest to speak positively about the league.

[Statler]

On the other hand:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/co ... l/1937241/

[East Coast Mustang]

Bidding war is obviously good for us...but I agree with the sentiment that we need to be on ESPN. I'd be shocked if any of you could even tell me what channel NBCSN is on your cable lineup. I'm a big hockey fan, NBCSN carries NHL games and I watch them often, and I still couldnt tell you off the top of my head- I just scroll past ESPN and NFL Network until I find it. Point is, ESPN has more recognition and gets more eyeballs...period. That's what we need.

[Stallion]

Its one channel up from the channel we've been on numerous times on CBS Sports on Dish. I don't watch channels-I watch games. I have my College Football List on memory and just switch channels until I find a close or interesting game. Weeknite games sux and define you as minor league. Plus now Thursday Nite games compete with the NFL making them even less appealing than they once were-if they ever were-they aren't whatsover especially at a school like SMU. They drain attendance significantly

[East Coast Mustang]

Its one channel up from the channel we've been on numerous times on CBS Sports. I don't watch channels-I watch games. I have my College Football List on memory and just switch channels until I find a close or interesting game. Weeknite games sux and define you as minor league. Plus now Thursday Nite games compete with the NFL making them even less appealing than they once were

Ok, but I'd rather play on ESPN or ESPN2 on a Thursday night than that crappy CBS Sports network we were on on Saturdays. And newsflash- we are minor league. The big leagues as it stands now are the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, and Pac-12. The ACC's days may be numbered.

[MustangStealth]

On the other hand:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/co ... l/1937241/

The fact that Comcast/NBC want to put us on NBC sports network or comcast regional networks is a huge red flag. Nobody gets those.

[East Coast Mustang]

On the other hand:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/co ... l/1937241/

The fact that Comcast/NBC want to put us on NBC sports network or comcast regional networks is a huge red flag. Nobody gets those.

Not necessarily true. There's a lot of them around the country: http://www.comcastsportsnet.com/

Also, I believe that the CSNs have (or at least used to have) a broadcast sharing agreement with Fox Sports' regional networks as well, and their programming would show on both channels. I know that my parents, who live in the MD suburbs outside DC, would get some SMU games on CSN Washington that were broadcast on FSN in recent years.

[PonyKai]

Its one channel up from the channel we've been on numerous times on CBS Sports on Dish. I don't watch channels-I watch games. I have my College Football List on memory...

Well you, like a lot of us, aren't normal; you have a sickness. I do mean that in the nicest possible way.

[PonyKai]

Back on topics, I say we get really pissed off at Pitt & Cuse & Georgetown. They lobbied hard to reject the old ESPN offer and then promptly jumped ship. Had the Big East accepted it, nothing would have changed- save for the Big Priest not bailing on the conference. Same teams would have left, same teams would have joined, and we'd be sitting on a pile of money (relatively speaking). I say, fu*k Cuse, Pitt, and Georgetown.

[East Coast Mustang]

I dont disagree STL but what can we do? [deleted] them though. EDIT: what I said about Catholics was probably way over the line. My bad.

[CA Mustang]

Back on topics, I say we get really [deleted] off at Pitt & Cuse & Georgetown. They lobbied hard to reject the old ESPN offer and then promptly jumped ship. Had the Big East accepted it, nothing would have changed- save for the Big Priest not bailing on the conference. Same teams would have left, same teams would have joined, and we'd be sitting on a pile of money (relatively speaking). I say, fu*k Cuse, Pitt, and Georgetown.

1. Would they have really left if the original deal was in place?
2. Don't you think ESPN would have had a clause in the contract that would allow them to renegotiate if multiple schools departed?

[Grant Carter]

Back on topics, I say we get really [deleted] off at Pitt & Cuse & Georgetown. They lobbied hard to reject the old ESPN offer and then promptly jumped ship. Had the Big East accepted it, nothing would have changed- save for the Big Priest not bailing on the conference. Same teams would have left, same teams would have joined, and we'd be sitting on a pile of money (relatively speaking). I say, fu*k Cuse, Pitt, and Georgetown.

1. Would they have really left if the original deal was in place?
2. Don't you think ESPN would have had a clause in the contract that would allow them to renegotiate if multiple schools departed?

I think those are both very valid questions. Go to sentence in articles about this is to mention how much the Big East passed up 2 years ago, but few articles go on to mention that a number of the schools who rejected the money bailed out. It does make you wonder if they knew they were going to be bailing out and did not want to leave a big contract behind for the schools they left behind.