What is the value of the Big East Conference?
What is the value of the Big East and how best to determine such value? Monetary value vs relative worth vs intrinsic value.
Definition of value
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1: the monetary worth of something : MARKET PRICE2: a fair return or equivalent in goods, services, or money for something exchanged3: relative worth, utility, or importance, a good value at the price, the value of base stealing in baseball, had nothing of value to say4: something (such as a principle or quality) intrinsically valuable or desirable sought material values instead of human values— W. H. Jones
Definition of value (Entry 2 of 2)
Forbes Article: What's in a Name?... Mar 8, 2013; Patrick Riche https://www.forbes.com/sites/prishe/2013/03/08/whats-in-a-name-try-history-brand-affinity-as-new-big-east-stands-shoulders-above-america-12/#723bbcb56355In professional sports, sometimes players take less money in order to increase their odds of winning a championship (or) in order to enhance their long-term legacy. LeBron James for example.
In this case from collegiate sports, (C7/Big East) a collection of schools with like-minded philosophical and academic missions have opted to leave money on the table and receive less media money initially in order to protect the long-term legacy of their brand value of their conference name.
And in the long run, they will profit from this wisdom.
According to this 2016 Forbes article the BE placed 7th in revenues that year, at $45 Million. (Figure doesn’t count minor revenue streams such as gate receipts, BEDN, merchandising, and the BET.) There are several methods of valuating a business. One such method is by using price/earnings ratios. Using modest price/earnings ratios one can value the Big East accordingly. Value @P/E 5 =$225M, @P/E10 =$450M, @P/E15=$675M (based on 2016 revenues). Now if the BE renegotiates their contract with Fox Sports, it could well double its monetary value (Value @P/E 5 =$450M, @P/E10 =$900M, @P/E15=$1.350B (based on 2016 revenues) . As it currently stands, 7th place isn’t a bad spot to be in, albeit the top 5 swamp all the other 26 conferences. A few of the individual school BE franchises actually value out better than the conference monetarily (Nova $50+M, Gtwn $48M, St Johns $45+M – 2016 numbers). https://graphics.wsj.com/table/COUNT_0330
A greater factor would be the development and expansion of the BEDN. The BEDN has the highest ceiling of any of the current revenue streams and if developed independently or contracted with either Stadium, Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, HBO Go or a consortium of several of these players, has the potential to surpass TV revenues and become the conference’s main revenue stream.
That’s a look at the money end of it. What other measures of value are pertinent?
Value as a representation of the original game. Basketball is basketball…right? Doesn’t matter which of the versions you watch NBA, FIBA, NCAA, HS, AAU, etc. Wrong. Not to become a hated “purist” but the HS and NCAA versions probably represent the closest variants to the original game. While I disagree with some of the points put forward in the article above, college basketball is less divergent from Naismiths’ intent. Yes all versions have evolved over the years, but thanks to their rulebooks the high school and college basketball versions are closest to the original game.
If Naismith is the progenitor, then the Big East, being the sole Basketball First major conference, has greater intrinsic value (fundamental value) as the primary heir on the collegiate level to James Naismith’s legacy.
“Intrinsic value” is a philosophical concept, wherein the worth of an object or endeavor is derived in and of itself—or, in layman’s terms, independent of other extraneous factors. – Socrates Alvarez, Investopedia.com
As such the value of the Big East is greater than a mere monetary figure. Since our reconfiguration back to a basketball-centric conference six years ago and the 2 national championships within this period, the Big East has excelled. The conference is held in high esteem by those who love basketball. In a football crazy country, the BE stands as the flag bearer, the standard, the Lady Liberty of the game of college basketball. A worth far greater than mere dollars.
Similarly to the Crown Jewels of the UK, the Mona Lisa in the Louvre Museum, and Lady Liberty in NY Harbor…the Big East Conference is priceless!
https://www.rumbleinthegarden.com/2019/6/26/18715382/uconn-big-east-stands-benefit
https://frankthetank.me/2013/02/11/a-tv-network-killed-the-big-east-and-its-not-the-one-in-bristol/
Definition of value
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value
Definition of value (Entry 2 of 2)
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