Things a Jersey guy took note of this week: This will be a defining moment week for the Big East as its long talked about and complicated new television deal for football and basketball is settled.
Right now, the Big East has a hard offer from NBC that will pay between 20 and 23 million a year. ESPN has the right to make a counter offer, but it is more complicated than simply a money issue. Promotion and time slots and all sorts of other items are on the agenda.
Unless, ESPN comes up with a major boost in the money figures, the feeling is that the Big East and NBC will make their deal and the Big East will also close a deal which could include, CBS, TBS and Fox as well, which will bring in additional revenue.
And don’t be stunned if the Big East and ESPN still have an arrangement for broadcasts of some of their games in football and basketball, primarily non-conference in nature.
Once that is done, Big East commissioner Mike Aresco will then continue with the process of the break up with the Catholic 7 group of basketball schools who are set to go their own way, starting in the fall of 2014 (unofficially right now).
Aresco can pick up his day job: Commissioner of a conference with the day-to-day business of scheduling and competition.
While there has been wide-spread speculation that the Big East will eventually go to 12 teams in football–Navy is the currently 11th member, scheduled to begin play in the Big East in football in 2015–Aresco might stay at 11 for a few years to let things quiet down.
Here’s why: The Big East can get a football championship game with 11 teams if the rules are changed, lowering the maximum of teams required for such games from 12 to 10. The Big 12 is talking about sponsoring legislation to change that rule. The Big East will support, or even join, in that proposal.
Aresco’s take on the matter is that the Big Ten thrived for years with 11 teams and that the Big East could have one 11 team league and still hold a championship game between its Top 2 teams.
From a financial standpoint, dividing 20 million a year by 10 or 11 is more profitable than dividing by 12.
So, looking into the very near future here’s our very best guess of the sequence of events for the Big East.
1. Sign main television deal with NBC, with secondary deals with CBS and perhaps TBS or Fox–and ESPN.
2. Announce that the break up for the Catholic 7, as well as Rutgers, Louisville and Notre Dame will officially begin on July 1, 2014.
4. Announce that the Big East will retain its name, leaving the Catholic 7 group to come up with a new name.
5. Announce that East Carolina will be included as a full member, joining Tulane in 2014 as a full member.
6. Announce that future expansion is on hold (with Tulsa and Massachusetts as logical contenders) until 2015
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Latest indication of the balance of power in college basketball this season. In this week’s Top 10 Associated Press rankings, 7 different conferences have ranked teams. The Big Ten leads the way with Indiana, Michigan and Michigan State. Is there a sleeper in that group? Look for Gonzaga, which is hardly a sleeper pick, but still just off the radar. Did former Dodger/Mets catcher Mike Piazza really come out in his book called “Long Shot” and criticize Hall of Fame Dodger broadcaster Vince Scully? Piazza, who is arguably the greatest hitting catcher of all time, totally whiffed on that one.
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Don’t you just love rumors and how they got started. Latest in the Boston area has the Celtics trading point guard Rajon Rondo for the Lakers’ center Dwight Howard, which was quickly denied by all parties….Is there anyone on the PGA tour more enjoyable to watch–for both good things and bad things–than Phil Mickelson?…It was a bad finish to an uneven season for Kentucky’s highly touted freshman center Nerlens Noel, who is out for the season with a torn ACL, which has cast his status as an NBA lottery pick this summer.
Noel, who is from Everett and the younger brother of former BC defensive back Jim Noel, is still likely to be chosen very high in the NBA draft if he opts (which still seems likely), but not No. 1 as w as projected by many….We’re used to mega stars making mega bucks. But NFL commissioner Roger Goodell may have a seat at the head of the table. The NFL paid Goodell 29.49 million dollars last year, which included a 22.3 million dollar bonus…The cost of the Jerry Sandusky child abuse case is mind-boggling in so many areas. Latest: legal fees incurred by Penn State for the case: 27.6 million dollars…Former Red Sox third baseman Kevin Youkilis was in full damage control on Friday after saying that in his mind, he will always be a “Red Sock’, which would have been nice if Youkilis weren’t still playing–for the Yankees. ” On Friday, Youkilis said, “I’m proud to be a Yankee”
© Copyright 2013 Mark, All rights Reserved. Written For: A Jersey Guy
You nailed it with No. 4. The Catholic schools, not the all-sports schools, are leaving, therefore have no legal claim to the Big East name.
Acctually they have every right to the Big East name since they technically have the most original members AND can still dissolve the league up until I think June or July 1st. The Catholic 7 will fight for that name tooth and nail.
they don’t have the votes to dissolve the league. “Most original members” mean nothing. They can fight for the name all they want, the schools who chose not to leave have all the legal rights.
John is correct. Big Priest does have the votes and probably deserves the name.
Rudy, you’re wrong. They don’t have the votes. This has been covered already here. The bylaws require two members from each faction to dissolve the conference.
Rudy and John are right. The By laws very clearly state that a simple majority have the right to dissolve the conference. There is no clause requiring two football members. The only reason we are not seeing the conference dissolved is that there are significant dollars to be collected from exit fees. A consensual settlement will keep the ability to collect those fees in place. So from the standpoint of the c7 the value of the Big East name needs to be worth more than their share of exit fees for them to exercise their right to dissolve. It is a mid 8 figure number. I think residual big east may be better off with a new name though , start fresh and use the new network to build the brand. At the end of the day it is the networks call who gets the name.
Incorrect. The recent (as of 1 1/2 years ago, after WV lawsuit) bylaw amendments for dissolution require 2 schools from each faction (football or bball only) for dissolution. Interstingly, there were 3 factions listed in the new amendment. Notre Dame was considered on its own.
If the Catholics could have dissolved the conference, split the assets, etc., they would have already done so.
Per the amended Section 12.01 Dissolution-The conference may be dissolved by the vote of at least two-thirds of all Directors.In the event of dissolution of the Conference, the Board,by a vote of a majority of all Directors eligible to vote, shall determine the basis for liquidation of Conference assets, if any, and the allocation of all Conference Obligations, of net of assets, as provided for in the articles.
Football Actions as specifically defined in the agreement require a vote of the majority of the football schools, this clause is related to tv revenue not the right to dissolve.
Catholics as mentioned before would rather see conference intact to collect their share of exit fees. 60 million plus of exit fees distributed pro rata is worth more to them than the Big East name.
@ChrisColumbo
Mark and many others have reported otherwise:
“The second option would be to simply vote to dissolve the league. The Catholic schools have 7 of the 10 votes which is the 2/3 majority they would need to pass such legislation. But a clause in that by-law requires at least two of the dissolving votes to be football school members.”
And vice versa. If the football schools had wanted to dissolve the league say due to a departure of some of the Catholics, it would have required 2 of the remaining bballs.
See link here:
http://ajerseyguy.com/?p=4272#more-4272
Even more:
http://csnbbs.com/showthread.php?tid=606580&page=2
1. The Big East CAN be dissolved by the basketball-only members between now and July 1st. Temple does NOT have a vote on this. Why? Because under section 12.01, conference dissolution can be approved by 2/3 of the conference “Directors”, and because “Directors” are defined in section 3.01 as CEOs of conference “Members”, and because under section 14.01(b) Temple is a “Football Affiliate” this year rather than a “Member” (because it only plays football in the conference). Moreover, section 14.01© explicitly states that “The CEO of a Sports Affiliate [e.g. a Football Affiliate] shall not be a Director of the Conference.”
2. On the other hand, despite having a 2/3 voting majority of “Directors” between now and July 1st, the basketball-only members CANNOT convert the Big East to a non-football conference. That’s because section 3.01 defines any matter relating to participation in football as a “Football Action”, and goes on to say that any vote on a matter constituting a “Football Action” requires majority approval from the Directors of the schools that play football and all other sports within the conference (referred to as the “Division I-A School Directors”). So discontinuing football participation would presumably require a majority vote from among the CEOs of UConn, Cincinnati and USF.
Mark, Can you clear up an argument erupting all over the internet? Brett McMurphy seems to think all ESPN has to do is match NBC’s offer and ESPN has to take it. You clearly imply that the BE makes the final decision.
Which is it?
ESPN can get the deal if it matches the offer–in all phases, which includes programming, time slots, promotions. etc. If NBC offers the Big East a Thursday night football slot, ESPN has to offer the same–which it won’t do. Now if the Money is hugely different, ESPN can argue that means a better offer.
Mark, which is it? The language I’ve seen from an ESPN contract from that time period, granted it isn’t the Big East’s contract but was signed within a year of the Big East’s deal, has these terms in the offer/reoffer area
I know the Big East had a 60 day exclusive negotiation window, so that contract differed from this one. But the part in bold is important b/c ESPN owned all football rights and all basketball rights except the CBS package of appearances, so I’m not sure how multiple rightsholders could bid on portions if the contract states the rights ESPN had must be the same rights offered to 3rd parties
Now for the 2nd part.
We know the Big East asked for $300 million/year and ESPN said “no thanks”, that took care of the “Offer”. We know that NBC has made an offer and it should be for the same rights ESPN had, if the contracts are the same or close, with a dollar amount in mind. And if the contract language is the same, all ESPN gets is a monetary offer to match or reject.
ESPN can say they cannot meet a contractual obligation, but that must be acknowledged as part of the reoffer process. In this contract there was no ability to go back and forth, measure the quality of an offer, nor whether the conference could choose between ESPN and the third party. The conference made their choice by agreeing to an offer with the 3rd party.
I’m not sure where the confusion for you lies. Is it this? “If ESPN does not accept the Offer within fourteen days of its receipt by ESPN, Conference may then enter into an agreement with a third party with respect to the same package of events set forth herein, but not for monetary consideration less than that contained in the Offer without first offering to ESPN the same monetary terms as offered to the third party (the “Reoffer”). ESPN shall accept or reject a Reoffer by Conference no later than seven days from its receipt.”
This can’t work, can it? Because then the conference would be locked into such an agreement for perpetuity. i.e. ESPN rejects the offer and simultaneously forbids the conference from negotiating a different set of rights (i.e. no tier 3) with another conference. That would make absolutely no sense unless there were some sort of deadline.
Who knows what is meant by “same package of events?”
Thank you
So they do have the right of first refusal, something you specifically said to me last week (in reply to my comment on this board) they do NOT have. WTF?
After the television deal is settled, I think the BE should plan to go to 14 teams. My invites would include: Northern Illinois, #3 tv market, Chicago, Georgia State, #8 tv market, Atlanta, and UMass, #7 tv market, New England and Boston. These new schools will respond with new facility upgrades and quick viability on the field and court. After all, the BE has a hostory of developing a college’s team sports into national relevance.
@Paul, I think you are close, but I’d like to see the BE re-tool around a strictly eastern seaboard league, controlling TV markets from Boston to Miami. No need to reach out to midwest or southwest any further.
I think adding U Mass would be a very sound decision. The Boston market is decent sized and the U Mass basketball program has a decent track record of success. They will have a decent on campus football stadium in a few years and it adds a rivalry with U Conn.. Some of their other minor sports have done well too. (Lacrosse was rated 1st for most of last year). Big East is the type of conference that a school like U Mass could thrive in. I would prefer to see them over Tulsa etc