inTransit

The Catholic 7 is getting more because those schools have the coin of the realm in today's media world: Brand-name recognition. Sure, Bulls fans like us know that USF has been much better on the basketball court in recent years than say DePaul, but to the average college basketball fan, the kind likely to tune in for a game, DePaul is a name they have been aware of all their lives whereas USF doesn't ring a bell. All of the C7, even the bottom of the list, are brand names that have long college basketball histories. No, none of them save arguably Georgetown is in the true ultra-elite with the likes of Duke and Kentucky, but Duke and Kentucky fans know all about Georgetown. They know about Villanova, St Johns, DePaul and Marquette too. They are all "in the club", so to speak. And because ALL of the C7 have at least some name recognition, there are lots of airable matchups. Georgetown - Villanova is a good game, so is Villanova-St Johns, St Johns - Marquette, Marquette-Providence, etc. Kentucky and Duke fans will casually watch those games. But, the same is true for only 3-4 Big East teams (going forward). Basically, the only Big East programs with any value are UConn, Memphis, and Cincy basketball, and Temple as well. That's what NBC is paying for. And that value is diluted by lots of matchups with no-names. UConn-Cincy is worth broadcasting. But UConn - UCF or UConn - ECU? Not so much. And in football, NONE of the teams that will be in the Big East from 2014 forward move the brand-recognition needle at all. Thus, our football "inventory" is largely worthless. There is virtually no audience for UCF - Memphis football games. That's just where we stand right now. ---------------------------------------------------------------- 1. The Carltholic 7 get more respect than we do. Obviously, Georgetown is well-known, although much of their fame came with the help of Syracuse. St. John's and Villanova have great locations, and Marquette is playing very well. But, I am not so sure seven are big national brands. Marquette-Providence is a national rivalry? I doubt big Kentucky and Duke fans really care about small private schools they have no connection to; they would probably only watch like most other college basketball games outside of their conference of interest. Normally, probably if it is on and no other significant games are on. 2. Navy has a brand with some name recognition. UConn has one of the 50 largest college football fanbases. I would not call all 7 of the C7 schools "big" national brands. But, they all have some reasonable degree of national name recognition as basketball programs. The same is just not true of many of the new Big East schools. Marquette-Providence is not a national rivalrly, but both names do resonate with college basketball fans and the game is thus likely to draw a decent audience. Tulane vs ECU will just not draw nearly as many viewers, and going forward the Big East has a LOT of matchups like that. As for football, Navy is of interest to the casual football fan on two occasions - when they play Notre Dame and when they play Army. There is little to no benefit to the Big East in that. UConn, I am sorry, but while they are a big basketball brand, virtually nobody outside of Connecticut cares about their football. Pains me to say it, but the typical C7 basketball game is more valuable to a media company than the typical new Big East basketball or football game, which is why they are going to get paid more. UConn, I am sorry, but while they are a big basketball brand, virtually nobody outside of Connecticut cares about their football. This true for any non-Big 5 conference team not named Boise State. UCONN hoops (men and women) are powerhouses and by default the school itself has recognition that could bleed into other sports. For instance, if you saw one of UCONN 3 men's BB championships in the last 20 years and jumped on the bandwagon, its more likely you could be a fan of their football team. Believe it or not women hoops has a following and 'football fans' could be driven from there as well. Pains me to say it, but the typical C7 basketball game is more valuable to a media company than the typical new Big East basketball or football game, which is why they are going to get paid more. Its already basically been established they are getting paid more because FOX needs basketball inventory and a premium had to be paid to get them motivated to make the split from the BE. I do think the $$ involved are ridiculous comparatively.

GEO is a multinational company with 75k employees (edit: just checked and they are basically the latest incarnation of a division of Wackenhut), CEO is an FAU grad and the naming rights are probably classified as a gift rather than marketing. I thought if anything valuable was to be taken from this it would be an example of generating athletics revenues from wealthy alumni/corporate interests. Obviously the prison tie-in is ripe for criticism but money is money. A few years back they sold the naming rights for the college of business (in effect) to a guy and then this happened, so its not without pitfalls: http://www.life-exchange.com/news/articles/Insurance_magnate_Barry_Kaye_unable_fulfill_16_million_pledge_FAU_/ Link to Cerabino story: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/local/cerabino-fau-not-being-held-prisoner-to-new-stadiu/nWTqX/ This thing got ugly quickly http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jesse-lava/geo-group-edit-wikipedia-page_b_2729057.html?utm_source=Alert-blogger&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Email%2BNotifications

Frank Cerabino, a great poor man's Dave Barry. He nails one thing that must be considered by honks calling for a USF OCS, regarding lack of other uses of the facility. Dear Alumni: As you may have heard, your beloved alma mater has sold the naming rights to our new football stadium to a private prison company. This partnership between Florida Atlantic University and the GEO Group has been met with a measure of derision and disbelief from some. But let us assure you, it’s perfectly natural to link a university with a prison. Both are large institutions that house adults for years, feed them lousy food and credit their time toward eventual release. Was a prison company our first choice? No. But let’s face it, for a $6 million donation we probably would have sold the stadium naming rights to Massengill and called the stadium The Douche Dome. We were desperate. We built a $70 million facility that’s nearly empty year-round, even during home football games, and for two years, nobody was biting on the naming rights. So we had to lock this one down, so to speak. Now, let’s move on. This is no time to dwell on how the GEO Group has been repeatedly cited for profiting on prisons riddled with substandard care, making them a target of civil liberties groups, human rights groups, immigrant rights organizations and federal and state regulators. And if you think we’re going to engage in some navel-gazing over whether we allowed the good name of our public institution to be sullied by the unsavory penny-pinching that makes private prisons so lucrative, dream on. Office Depot had its chance. So did Tyco. Even the Countess Henrietta de Hoernle didn’t bite, and she’s got her name on practically every other building in Boca. So welcome to the joint, Owls. It’s time to sharpen our shivs and get tight with our new celly. We all need to make this public-private merger succeed. With that in mind, we’re toying with some re-branding changes. This will involve our mascot. Unfortunately, the burrowing owl is not an appropriate animal for a university linked with the detention business. A burrowing creature in a stadium named after a prison company implies an intent to make a tunnel escape. We don’t want to send that message. So long, Owlsey. We’re thinking of staying in the bird family for the next mascot. Does a canary named “Snitch†sound OK? As for the stadium itself, we’re planning for watch towers on all four corners of the end zone and conjugal visit trailers on the loge level for VIPs. The school colors may also need to change. It’s looking like orange. Coach Carl Pelini said he’d be willing to work with the team to see how feasible it would be for them to play with loose-fitting drawstring pants. The wide receivers will have get used to making one-handed catches. In other expected changes, we won’t be using the marching band at halftime anymore. We’re hoping for more appropriate entertainment. One halftime idea is to attract a number of the local bail bondsmen to participate in the Bond-Jumper Dash. This would involve a student on probation who would be set loose on the field, where he will be pursued by a number of bondsmen. If the student can remain on the loose for five minutes, his probation status would end. This halftime-show idea will hinge on our sponsorship negotiations with Taser International Inc. As you can see, we’re very pleased about the naming rights to the stadium being settled, and we hope that you are too. And we trust that you will join us in being proud cheerleaders of this great partnership. So let’s make the best of our upcoming 12-year stretch with the GEO Group. If we keep our nose clean and don’t cause any trouble, our lawyers say we could be out in nine.

The hoops season ended for me 10 minutes into Syracuse game

Please tell me you didn't get a maths degree from USF... You'll be happy to know I didn't but even worse I work here in a STEM field. Scary i know. I'm tired and read it wrong, my bad.

Football’s ubiquitous battle cry of “We must protect this house!†took on new meaning Tuesday when Florida Atlantic University announced that naming rights to its stadium will go to a company that runs prisons, the GEO Group, for $6 million over 12 years. It's considered a philanthropic gift but still, 2 million a year is more than what they'd get from their TV contract

I spent the first year of FAU football in the radio booth in Pro Player (at the time) for the student radio station doing color. FAU is where USF was 10 years ago plus the OCS. The stadium puts the disjointed student body and athletics department on notice as they have now have no excuses not to get it filled. For many years, after they moved out of Miami stadium, the field was the excuse. Now, there are none. A couple bowl wins, nice OCS but they still dont have the consistency in attendance. They should focus on winning because everything else has been a gift compared to 100 years legacy programs that have built the tradition.

Why wouldnt ESPN match this? 20M is chump change, will deprive a competing network of inventory and they get UCONN hoops which has as won more national championships in the last 25 years than the entire C7?

The C7 is terribly overrated. Some of those schools may have a national following (arguable) but Seton Hall and DePaul perpetually stink and Providence hasnt been relevant since Billy Donovan played there. Marquette only became relevant once D. Wade played there. The rest of the lot are nearly 20 years removed from their former glory. They are all small schools with small alumni bases. They are small enrollment/big city schools that access the talent pools in Philly, NY, Chicago, etc. That is the only reason I could see them getting any money. Until they get a league and contract, Im going to believe the numbers thrown around for them were inflated and simply justification for bolting the BE.

What is the point of this article? He dominated high school talent, many FBS players did to some extent. Price played in all twelve games last year and as mentioned here is getting a gift with Holtz out and and Taggart in. I suspect if he had any regrets he would be headed out the door. The future is bright and he's got plenty of eligibility left. I'm sure the missed bowl game will be a footnote in the success of this team going forward.

Even Coach looks a bit confused by whats written beside him.

South FL rag likes what we did http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/os-chris-hays-recruiting-grades-0207-20130206,0,4122967.story

Cause your a 17 year old prospect from Miami, amirite? You must know exactly what they think and feel. Why do posts get deleted if message board musings are harmless?

Creepy, much? This is what I imagine was waiting at the car for him. [img=http://images.sodahead.com/polls/000697489/polls_geico_2Bmoney_3727_976899_answer_2_xlarge.jpeg] That would convince me I did not want to go to that school. I agree that this move is desperate but I've got to believe quality USF recruits are going to be pressed hard by Big 5 schools with open scholarships until NSD. Our conference situation is ripe for criticism and those programs that don't swear off sh1t talking of others will point that out. I think it's a credit to the job CWT has done and the wins he's had in the recruiting battles to date.

If he's basing it on how much twitter support both schools are showing him, then see ya, that's ridiculous. I'm sure the birds will flock. Maybe he just giving the fans a chance to feel like they are part of the process? Cmon, you may not like it but these 17 year olds know how things work. If he's on the fence and gets a ton of love from UL while the high minded sort like you say no thanks, he could flip. I assure you Coach would see things differently than you do.

Bulls better take to twitter and get USF back in this thing-

I was just checking one draft board that doesnt have Andrews on it as a RB, or at all. Must be the final year of eligibility and he hasnt declared? Same site has Demetrius Murray as #52 RB on the board.

I think this is a bad approach to take. We want these kids to want to come home and play for their hometown school, regardless of whether they made the decesion to leave elsewhere or not before Coach T got here. We want the elite local players around the NCAA to know that they can come back home and play for a great school with a Coach who prides himself on keeping local talent around and winning football games (which I am assuming we will get back to doing this year).You can never have too many WRs, I believe that was evident this year with our injuries. If you take Mike Blakely, you take Copeland as well. Show the kids that your hometown school cares about you, and wants you to succeed. By that logic Copeland should be going to FAU. Agree on Blakely though

I enjoy reading player quotes and twitter to get an idea of the recruiting pitch our guys are using. Liked this quote "USF is a great opportunity for QBs right now. With a new staff, it’s a level playing field. I’m confident in my abilities and feel I have a good chance, as good as anybody, right now for a starting job." Thats a really good point for a new coaching regime to make. You new guys will all get a look as the current players do.

Glass completely empty, huh? He was a USF commit, then he wasn't. While I think the RB situation here is a great opportunity I just don't think he will come back at the end of the day. My opinion.

Or he had already made up his mind to go elsewhere and scored a nice weekend trip for the fam at BG. The fact his decision was made at the conclusion of the weekend makes me think this to be the case. Either way, good for him. I'm sure he will succeed no matter where he goes.

Center court call 9850231 20 for the pair

Ely is a prostyle QB, with these OL commits this offense is an RB short of an extreme makeover the likes of Ty P ain't ever seen.

UCONN is a decent campus, enjoyed my time there. Not much there to impress a recruit IMO however, unless they have some secret sauce. Also, UCONN loves its BB, not a FB first school and stadium situation is like ours, just not as nice.

Oh and, any FB recruits in the house? This sounds like it was a good showing from the USF faithful to showcase.