OT - Big East Television Deal
I haven't seen this anywhere on the board yet and I figured this would make for a mildly interesting/amusing/soul-crushing first post:
Quotes:
Back in the spring of 2011, at the height of realignment uncertainty, ESPN tried to lock down the Big East... ESPN offered what was later reported to be a nine-year deal, worth $1.17 billion. That would have come out to about $130 million a year, top tier money but still behind the power conferences.
And then, the killing blow:
Today made official what had been reported last month: ESPN matched NBC Sports Network's offer, and locked down the Big East until 2020 for $126 million. That'd be seven years, at $18 million per. That's 14 percent of the annual payouts on the table two years ago, but who's counting?
Talk about picking up the table scraps... Ouch.
True, but still, you have to wonder just how different things might have been had they taken the original deal. I mean, it may have only delayed the inevitable but, as we have witnessed, things can change pretty dramatically in a year or two.
Something that might also add to this a little bit is the NYT story about Mike Aresco - (LINK). They sort of portray him as a very stressed but ultimately somewhat optimistic man in some respects. After all, he only walked into the dissolution of the Big East as it is still known for now last summer. Sort of a somber read on some levels.
As for each school in the remaining schools, the ones which play FBS football, we can trace their television fate back to Notre Dame being a negative vote on the original deal. At a shade over $1 million per year, the legacy Big East, if you will, now offers a TV revenue package worth a little less than what the C-USA can offer its member schools.
That's like Kate Upton showing up slightly drunk and very eager at your door at 1am on a Saturday night and you turning her down because you think you deserve better.