BCS leagues expanding - yeah?

Yeah, crimson ace is right. Rutgers is never going to move the needle in NY/NJ, but Maryland could be to B1G what Missouri is to the SEC, getting you just enough interest in two big markets. DC is a bandwagon town after the Redskins. People pay attention to whoever is good and interesting at the moment, whether it is the Caps or Nats or Terps or Georgetown.

 

And if the NYC systems refuse, then what? You think a horde of Scarlet Knights fans would burn down the city? No fans = no leverage.

 

Nobody is burning down any cities, but I bet it would only take a few hundred Rutgers fans calingl their cable company before it would cave.


I agree with you, it's idiotic, but if Rutgers joins the Big 10, the network will be on the NY/NJ cable systems.

 

Hell, Maryland didn't have a few mil to buy out Fridge in 2009. They're on the hook for a lot of stuff (stadium expansion, for starters).

 

How much do they make off ACC TV revenue? Big Ten schools pocket $25 million apiece. I think the ACC number is more like $15 million. So they'd pay it off in three years.

 

I think the Big 10 schools receive over 20M a year in television revenues. Maryland might figure they can go to the bank and get the the money using television revenues as collateral. When Colorado, also a cash strapped school that could not buy out Dan Hawkins, moved to the Pac 10 the school president was unconcerned about the buyout, saying it could always be financed.

 

I think the new ACC deal (signed before the Notre Dame announcement) was for $17 million/year per school.

 

Then it will take four years for Maryland to get back to even, before considering any alumni pitch-in. Not a deal-breaker.

 

Ask the Longhorn Network how easy that is.

I think cable systems would add it, but not at the premium rates they get from Rust Belt systems.

 

Comparing the Longhorn Network and the Big Ten Network is like apples and crab apples. The Longhorn Network doesn't appeal to anybody but Texas fans and the biggest selling point is you can watch practice. The Big Ten Network has actual conference games and every team in the conference has a decent number of alumni in New York and DC.

Rutgers is a bigger stretch than Maryland in terms of market penetration, but I still think the B1G comes out ahead.

 

The question isn't really whether Rutgers really moves the needle in NY/NJ, the question is whether PSU, OSU, UW, Michigan, etc etc do.
There are a LOT of alumni of the big B1G teams in the NYC metro area. About every other week, RU will be playing one of them.

Remember, U-M is often called SUNY-Ann Arbor.

 

On the other hand, the cable companies in NYC were willing to cut off their own noses over the NFL and the Knicks, so I doubt their knees are going to quake when the Big Ten tries to play hardball.