@gtmoblue

Alas, Oh the Times…they are a-changin’

Gotta go back sometimes…and touch the stones.

Know where you come from, in order to get to where you want to go.

I must have had a (another) brain lapse. I went looking for some of the old sports sites I used to browse, back in the day (early to late 2000’s). Alas, many of them are no more. Chief among the missing is the Mid-Majority…Kyle Whelliston’s site. The Mid-Majority was an institution over its’ 10 year run, being many things to the small, the obscure, and the underestimated conferences and universities that are the “other 26” conferences. And possibly most well-known for his Articles on “The Red Line” in college basketball. Mr. Whelliston closed down shop in March of 2014.

“We’ve lost the precious feeling of scarcity. With everything so available everywhere anytime we want, and so easily replicable, anticipation and appreciation are the primary casualties. In digital 2014, there are so few remaining opportunities to have a tiny analog moment all your own, to discover something small, to place and protect it in your heart. Love carries with it an undercurrent of pain. Your beloved might disappear forever, so you must cherish it.”

“Our final act is to make ourselves scarce.” – Kyle Whelliston

Here is a link to one of his articles… “You have to see the MVC in person.”

http://web.archive.org/web/20060213062943/http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?num=0&id=2305451

Whelliston’s final Post: http://web.archive.org/web/20140331162357/http://www.midmajority.com/

Here is a link to the web archives: http://lostmedia.wikia.com/wiki/The_Mid-Majority_(Lost_2004-2014_Blog_Archives)

I miss Kyle. I miss the Mid-Majority. I miss the Missouri Valley Conference, and I am nostalgic irt our many historic past victories and glory.

No, I do not wish to return, nor to regress, or to live in the past. However, our history “is what it is” and I recognize the impacts and import of who we were, of who we have been, in the making of who we are today.

In moving ahead in this latest Big East chapter of Creighton Basketball…let us not forget where we came from. Let us not forget the history, tradition, and legacy that has helped shape Creighton (us) into who we are today. Reach back every now and then – to touch our historic stones – to remind us of how we crossed over our Jordan. Renew our faith & obedience to God. Reach back and touch the stones to recharge our energies, whilst forging onward to new victories, new glorys, new achievements ahead.

Love ya Creighton University. Love ya Creighton Bluejays. You are amongst the Chosen ones. Let us recharge our energies while knowing that what lies ahead of us is greater than what we have left behind.
Creighton’s Best…is yet to come!
Let’s go Blue!

gtmo

or just a new day for the Big Ten?

The Big Ten Conference (B1G) is in the process of finalizing it’s new media rights deal. It is reported to be well over $1 Billion, setting new records across the collegiate landscape. Congrats to the B1G.

What impact will this have, what does this mean to the ‘restuvus’? Over on the Holyland of Hoops there is a recent revival of discussion surrounding media rights and tv revenues. Here is a snippet.

Ramifications of the new Big Ten Media Rights deal?

gtmoblue – As an aside, collateral note…on the new B1G Media Contract.

A side note: At 20% of the contract, basketball per game value received a big boost. B1G basketball will presumably have a value of $240M or more per year. Divided by the 16 teams and the 30 games per season, a per game fair market value of $500,000, ($15M a year).

A rising tide raises all ships.
This is a sizeable boost to basketball, nearly doubling the current Tier 1 fair market value.
IF Tier 1 is now $500K/game, that is nearly double the previous level of $250k-$300K/game.

If this is the new normal, what is the new Tier structure? Fortunately, we have additional negotiations forthcoming with both the Pac-12 & Big 12, in order to gauge these things.

Tier 1 – $500,000
Tier 2 – $350,000
Tier 3 – S250,000
Tier 4 – $150,000

30 games/season at this new Tier 1 rate equals: $15 million/year per school.
At new Tier 2 levels: $10,500,000/year per school.
Tier 3 level: $7,500,000/year per school.
Tier 4 level: S4,500,000/year per school.

These new Media Rights negotiations and deals give ample new fodder for the BE upon entering it’s own negotiations in 2024.
Tier 1 is more than even I imagined and Tier 2 was the maximum level I had envisioned previously. It’s a New Day, with grand opportunities ahead for the BEast.
Big East Basketball IS Tier 1 content…Welcome, come on in and have a seat Gonzaga. Welcome Home.

XuDash – I love the way you think. I certainly hope you’re right, or very close.

Just a couple abstract thoughts, perhaps:

[1] Do we have to further discount what we could expect, given the smaller fan bases in the BE v the B1G; and

[2] I read an article that suggested that the Big12 media package will “collapse” to $20 million once UT and OU exit. That has me thinking that it is advantageous to us to at least have our programs mostly located in major cities, particularly in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. Conversely, Iowa State versus Oklahoma State playing in basketball may both have larger fan bases than any combination of BE teams, but viewership potential certainly would be at a disadvantage vis-a-vis the BE.

Call me crazy, but IF Gonzaga joins us, taking us to 12, and if UCONN stays with us and doesn’t get uppity again about football, keeping us at 12, and if that leads to $15 million per team per year, I would think you lock that in for another 12 years; you don’t go “shorter term” with figures like that, IMO.

gtmoBlue – Those are great questions. I will defer to greater minds… Gumby, Adoraz, JP Schmack, ArmyVet, hilltopAlum, the Wiz, Kmacker69, Chesty, Novachap, and the Prov, UConn, & Johnnies crews.
They would know better’n me.

However, I will say this:

1. The Big East has a national following, so TV/Cable eyeballs are not necessarily tied to Fanbase numbers. BE Hoops is more Tier 1 than the B1G…as proven by NCAA results. If teams are good, or hot, the percentages of national eyeballs grow for their games. I expect Fox to quibble, rant, rave, exhort, and go to blows, in order to pare down BE content to as much Tier 2 and 3 as they can get away with. However, given they lowballed the shit out of us back in 2013, I expect Val and Stu to hire top-notch cutthroat attorneys and negotiating firms to go to war with Fox. It ain’t personal – just business!

2. a. Fox will bid along with cash-rich CBS and NBC on both the PAC12 (1st up) and Big12 packages. Primarily to keep the wwl (ESPN) from trying to steal both conferences at bargain basement prices. It is not in the best interest of college sports if both former F5 conferences tank. Now take your pick…One of the two will probably fail. If both tank then the new standard Fox set with the B1G, will not stand. So let the pac12 FAIL as it seems in the worse condition, while bolstering the Big12 up. No neither will attain former/current levels of revenues, but not fall totally from graces. $15-20M a year, per school seems about right.

b. With flagship teams/ratings anchor teams gone from both conferences-tv/cable viewership will take major hits.

3. Now see…there you go Dash, thinking like the ACC. That sort of logic is what has cost them their seat at the big boy table. Fox MAY attempt such a move again (long-term deal), but both the ACC and SEC deals have shown that it is not always the best course – the ‘playing it safe’ gambit. The ACC and SEC going the long-term ‘playing it safe’ route vs the Big Ten going the short-term while maxing out content value. Fox now appears to favor short-term deals (6-year contract spans) to maintain flexibility in the current climate, while ESPN appears to still favor leveraged cost, long-term deals. The B1G wanted no parts of anything long-term.

Fortunately, both the Big12/Pac12 negotiations fall prior to ours, so we shall see Machiavellian moves, fluctuations, and sidebar negotiations aplenty prior to our negotiations in 2024. Break out youur popcorn and fav beverages. There will be a freshly minted ceiling and floor for Val and her contract hit team. The view will be splendid from Big East HQ, high above the clouds, in ‘old New York’. (If I can make it there, I can make it, Anywhere. It’s up to you New York, Neeewwww Yoooooorkk!) SORRY, got a bit carried away there.

Now, football is driving and hoops is in the back seat. So hoops tiers will fall – as B12/P12 football is now a shell of their former selves. Only the overrated, underperforming B1G hoops programs will be getting new Tier 1 dinars. The ACC/SEC are locked into long-term deals. B12/P12 will be taking huge hits revenue-wise. Let’s wait for the dust to settle and revisit the landscape. While BEast hoops is deserving of new Tier 1 dollars…it’s going to be one hellacious battle to get them. We need to hire the negotiations firm(s) who are assisting the B1G. Our current tv revs are now new Tier 4. The BEast should be shooting for the new Tier 1 with the acknowledgment that the new Tier 2 may be our ceiling. We have the best hoops content in the country. Anything less than the new Tier 2 is lowballing. We’ve “been there, done that”.

What say you, my BEast brethren?

…and what say you…Bluenotes reader. Go to HLOH and comment. https://www.holylandofhoops.com/forum/index.php https://www.holylandofhoops.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=8059 BE Basketball message board

Thread: Extension of Gavitt games and BE/Big 12 challenge?