New BE/Espn contract

[LizziebethHoya]

sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=2565092

Details of the new contract released. Good deal....good exposure

Here are the bball specifics from the BE website:

MEN'S BASKETBALL


Every single intra-conference men's basketball contest will be televised. As a result, the BIG EAST Conference and its 16 members will reach more households than any other conference in the country. Specifically, ESPN will produce 139 of the 144 available regular season BIG EAST intra-conference men's basketball games - all except those five games belonging to CBS -- and will televise those contests on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Classic, ESPN Regional (ERT), ESPNU or ESPN360.

ESPN or ESPN2 will broadcast a minimum of 64 BIG EAST games each year: 49 regular season games (41 conference and eight home non-conference) and all 11 BIG EAST Championship games. Consequently, the BIG EAST will have four to five games broadcast on ESPN or ESPN2 each week during the conference season.

The BIG EAST will continue to be the only conference in the country to have each and every one of its men's basketball tournament games televised by ESPN. There were record audiences for the 2006 BIG EAST Championship, including the final game, which was the highest-rated cable tournament final of the year (2.58).

In addition, ESPN Regional will carry a minimum of 80 games (66 conference and 14 home non-conference) and continue its weekend Game of the Week package, which reaches approximately 30 percent of the nation's homes and has a total household reach of more than 30 million. Most games offered by ERT are also available nationally as part of ESPN Full Court, the pay subscription college basketball outer-market service.

Breakdown: BIG EAST Men's Basketball Games on TV:



Minimum 60 games on ESPN or ESPN2
49 regular season games - 41 conference and eight home non-conference
11 BIG EAST Championship games

110 additional regular season games broadcast on the remaining ESPN platforms

80 games on ESPN Regional (66 conference and 14 home non-conference)
30 conference games on ESPNU/ESPN360

Minimum of 10 conference or non-conference games on CBS
The above gives the BIG EAST a minimum grand total of 180 television games each year.

The BIG EAST will continue to be featured each week during the conference season on ESPN's Big Monday. A new element to the agreement will allow ESPN to also feature a BIG EAST Conference match up on Thursday each week. The agreement also provides that each BIG EAST team have a minimum of 10 games telecast on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Classic or ERT.

[RBHoya]

It looks good, because it seems to be an increase in coverage from the old deal. Anytime stuff like this pops up, I can never remember what the old agreement was/is to compare. But any sort of increased tv coverage for the conference is good for us, and this is that.

The article starts by saying that Big East sports will be televised for the next 6 years... Does that mean that the conference will remain as is for 6 more years? It'd be sort of strange if all of the schools agreed to this, and then the conference split up in 3 or 4 years... How would the deal work then, if we're locked into this contract?

Hopefully somebody who knows more about that kind of thing can shed a little light.

[BurleithBeast]

What I want to know is, how many of those ESPN regional games are going to get picked up by Newschannel 8 or whoever so I can watch road games on regular cable at home...

[SFHoya99]

Minimum 60 games on ESPN or ESPN2. Minimum 5 in conference on CBS.

Wow. That's a LOT of exposure. Even under the old system, I had gotten used to almost every conference game being on ANY tv. We were at what, 12 or 13 out of 16 last year?

But 46 in conference games on ESPN or the Duece? Under an 18 game schedule, there's only 144 conference games each year. So over ONE QUARTER of conference games will be on a real national television network. And more like half if you are a really good team, I'd bet.

FOUR to FIVE games a week on ESPN or ESPN2 is HUGE exposure. HUGE.

Plus, I love the fact that I will somehow be able to see every in conference game.

The only thing that is somewhat disappointing is only 27 guaranteed non-conference games. We need to get a local tv deal for the weaker non-con games.

[hifigator]

I sure wish the SEC could get a deal like that. Granted the Big East is a better basketball conference and year in and year out is has more depth and quality teams, but the SEC package with Lincoln Financial (the old Jefferson Pilot) is an absolute joke. In any case I have no complaints about the BE exposure. I enjoy watching the BE teams play ... well, all of them except Syracuse.

[kchoya]

hifigator said:

I sure wish the SEC could get a deal like that. Granted the Big East is a better basketball conference and year in and year out is has more depth and quality teams, but the SEC package with Lincoln Financial (the old Jefferson Pilot) is an absolute joke. In any case I have no complaints about the BE exposure. I enjoy watching the BE teams play ... well, all of them except Syracuse.

That's a TVATSUBAS* if I've ever seen one. You're still a troll. Go away.

(* thinly veiled attempt to suck up by attacking Syracuse)

[RockawayHoya]

Too bad we won't get to see the Hoyas get revenge against USF on TV this year. Oh well, there's always '07-'08

[HoyaDestroya]

Don't be so certain... a rematch in tourney could always be in the making.

[StPetersburgHoya (Inactive)]

The TV deal looks great! I think that this is going to be a strong incentive to keep the league together in the future. Also, I think MASN is going to be picking up Georgetown games as well as NC8.

[kghoya]

stpetersburghoya said:

The TV deal looks great! I think that this is going to be a strong incentive to keep the league together in the future. Also, I think MASN is going to be picking up Georgetown games as well as NC8.

"as well as nc8" or "in place of nc8" ?

[StPetersburgHoya (Inactive)]

kghoya said:

stpetersburghoya said:

The TV deal looks great! I think that this is going to be a strong incentive to keep the league together in the future. Also, I think MASN is going to be picking up Georgetown games as well as NC8.

"as well as nc8" or "in place of nc8" ?

I'm not sure. It could be that MASN is picking up the games that WJLA would have had or it could be taking them away from NC8.

[hoyaboy1]

I *think* it is "in place of."

[Gold Hoya]

Keep in mind that the "every conference game" thing includes ESPN360, which is online only. There's also no guarantee that ESPN Full Court will pick up all games. I expect we'll still get to spend one or two conference games with Dr. Chivotkin.

[SFHoya99]

True, Gold, but there's only 30 of 144 even possibly on ESPN360, and I expect many of those to be on ESPNU (what else are they going to show?).

So, you're probably right that it is two games per team (16 games of 30) if they spread it out...but I expect USF and other bottom-dwellers to get more of those than the top of the conference. So I think there may be a few years for us when we have 100% available, at least on DirecTV.

[AustinHoya03]

sfhoya99 said:

I expect many of those to be on ESPNU (what else are they going to show?).

Speaking of ESPNU, anyone know what the status is as far as cable is concerned?

[hifigator]

kchoya said:

hifigator said:

I sure wish the SEC could get a deal like that. Granted the Big East is a better basketball conference and year in and year out is has more depth and quality teams, but the SEC package with Lincoln Financial (the old Jefferson Pilot) is an absolute joke. In any case I have no complaints about the BE exposure. I enjoy watching the BE teams play ... well, all of them except Syracuse.

That's a TVATSUBAS* if I've ever seen one. You're still a troll. Go away.

(* thinly veiled attempt to suck up by attacking Syracuse)

You obviously don't know me very well. I have despised Syracuse a long long time. I think it started when they beat us in the Sweet 16 when they had Rony Seikaly. It was cemented when we drove up there for a football game in '91 ... only to lose in that crap-a$$ dome they call a stadium ... Kirby Dar Dar ran the opening kickoff back for a TD and it didn't get any better. HATE Syracuse.

[nodak89]

hifigator said:

You obviously don't know me very well.

If only that were true...

[SFHoya99]

For an eighteen game season, the average BE team will have:

6 games on CBS/ESPN/ESPN2
8 games on Regional and Full Court
4 games either on ESPNU or ESPN360

That's not too shabby.

[hifigator]

nodak89 said:

hifigator said:

You obviously don't know me very well.

If only that were true...

Hey, don't blame me just because you are a closet Syracuse fan.

[TigerHoya]

ESPNU is on smaller cable companies. Think they were on Adelphia (not sure if they still are operating since they went bankrupt.) Also on Knology and Comporium. The big three (Time Warner, Comcast and Charter) all tell their customers in different areas that they are in negotiations and it's been that way since day 1 of ESPNU.

I did hear one person in Atlanta say Comcast there said there were no plans for adding it. Just takes alot of calls and emails now everywhere.