Big East Outsourced two consultants to Negotiate TV deal

[DELdaBull]

http://espn.go.com/blog/playbook/dollars/post/_/id/1003/big-east-gets-serious-about-tv-efforts

Big East gets serious about TV efforts

August, 14, 2012

Aug 14

2:41

PM ET

By Kristi Dosh | ESPN.com

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In May 2011, the Big East turned down a TV broadcast rights deal from ESPN reportedly worth $11 million per school -- annually. Rights fees for conferences had been on the rise, and conference leaders were sure waiting for a better offer would pay off in a big way.

That was before the Big East lost Pitt and Syracuse to the ACC. Before TCU announced it was joining the Big 12 instead of officially becoming a Big East member. And before West Virginia left the conference to join TCU.

True, the Big East has since added Central Florida, Houston, Memphis and SMU as full members, along with football-only members Boise State, San Diego State and Navy. But safety isn’t in numbers -- it’s in the revenue provided by the most lucrative TV deal possible.

Today’s announcement that CBS executive vice president Mike Aresco will become the commissioner of the conference confirms the Big East is making television a priority. Aresco has led programming for CBS since 1996, handling such negotiations as the NCAA men’s basketball tournament and the 15-year SEC contract.

Jeff Schemmel, former athletic director at San Diego State and current managing director of the College Division at JMI Sports, said Aresco’s hiring makes perfect sense.

“Hiring a television executive is not that surprising, since the next television contract for the Big East will be the most critical factor in determining the future viability of the conference, particularly as to whether the schools coming to the league in the next few years will feel they've made a good decision," he said.

Other conferences are controlling their own financial destinies by signing long-term deals and starting conference networks. The <a href="http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/7910112/atlantic-coast-conference-espn-extend-rights-deal-2026-27" target="_blank">ACC recently signed a 15-year, $3.6 billion contract extension with ESPN. The Big 12 inked a $1.2 billion contract with Fox for the conference’s second-tier rights last year. ESPN and Fox partnered for a historic joint deal with the Pac-12 last year worth $3 billion over 15 years.

Some conferences have taken things even further. The Big Ten owns a 49 percent stake in Big Ten Network, which guarantees the conference annual rights fees in addition to a share in the profits. The Pac-12 wholly owns the new Pac-12 Networks launching Wednesday and controls all of the broadcasting, digital and sponsorship rights for all of its members. Although it will receive no revenue until the networks are profitable, it also will not have to share with anyone when it does one day reap its rewards.

To remain competitive with those other conferences both on and off the field, the Big East will need to secure a long-term deal this fall. Tom Stultz, managing director of the media division of JMI Sports and former managing director of IMG College’s multimedia rights business, said it is tough to predict how the loss of Syracuse, Pitt and West Virginia will impact the Big East’s next television contract.

“The one thing that’s changed since then though is the NBC/Comcast merger,†Stultz said. “That’s the wildcard in all this. Do they really want to dive in?â€

“There are some really compelling parts to the[big East’s] offering,†Stultz said. “You have the northeast corridor. There has to be some media players that want to get into the college space and who want to send a signal they’re here and ready to play.â€

Neal Pilson, former president of CBS Sports, is optimistic about the Big East’s outlook.

“If the Big East schools hang together, I believe they can secure a new TV deal equal to or better than the last offer from ESPN, because the media competition for their rights will be intense.â€

Stultz said Aresco is an “incredible†hire.

Aresco will be working closely with Bevilacqua Helfant Ventures, which is the conference’s lead negotiator for a new television contract this fall. ESPN has an exclusive 60-day negotiating window beginning Sept. 1. Should no deal be reached, the conference can take its rights out on the open market.

Chris Bevilacqua has a long history in college sports television. He was a founder of CSTV, which started the Mountain West’s conference channel, the first channel devoted to a single conference. The historic partnership between ESPN and Fox was his brainchild as well, an idea he presented while he served as a consultant to the Pac-12. He also represented the Pac-12 and the Rose Bowl during recent negotiations which resulted in an $80 million annual rights fee, 167 percent higher than the previous contract.

The espn bias is really showing in this "article"

[Triple B]

This has turned into an idiotic thread.

How some can't understand that a conference - especially this conference - hiring consultants to negotiate a TV deal is a good thing is beyond my comprehension.

Is the this rare triple negative, or just a bunch of sentence fragments patched together with a bunch of hyphens?

As has been stated in other threads, Trip has the right to invoke the "triple negative law" which then enables at least one bloodletting.

But it wasn't even a triple negative, or poor grammar at that, hence the facepalm smiley.

I know, I just want the "triple negative law" to be enacted.

The "triple negative law" is not something to invoked on a whim and that didn't fit the criteria ... and the only grammar faux pas was the use of the hyphens where commas should have been.

[GaUSFBull]

This has turned into an idiotic thread.

How some can't understand that a conference - especially this conference - hiring consultants to negotiate a TV deal is a good thing is beyond my comprehension.

Is the this rare triple negative, or just a bunch of sentence fragments patched together with a bunch of hyphens?

As has been stated in other threads, Trip has the right to invoke the "triple negative law" which then enables at least one bloodletting.

But it wasn't even a triple negative, or poor grammar at that, hence the facepalm smiley.

I know, I just want the "triple negative law" to be enacted.

The "triple negative law" is not something to invoked on a whim and that didn't fit the criteria ... and the only grammar faux pas was the use of the hyphens where commas should have been.

- Commas are overrated -

[Triple B]

- Commas are overrated -

That's why misuse the ellipsis.

[Gismo]

How does one invoke the triple negative law? I don't not think that I haven't ever heard of it.

[Mama_Bull]

How does one invoke the triple negative law? I don't not think that I haven't ever heard of it.

[Cow Pie]

University presidents aren't experts in contracts and getting the highest price bid. I like consulting experts who have a history of getting good deals

University presidents aren't experts in contracts and getting the highest price bid. I like consulting experts who have a history of getting good deals

Do you know what a University President does? A large % of their job duties is to negotiate deals and lobby for political items with the government. Dealing with the government is a lot more difficult then sitting down with some NBC executives.

This is just laziness that costs the conference $$... the SEC or Notre Dame didn't bring in consultants to negotiate their cup cake TV deals, they suited up and did it themselves.

i can't tell you how wrong you are...

media deals are insanely complex and if i was commish of the big east... knowing this is the biggest moment in conference history... i'd hire people with a proven track record of success in this arena.

How complex can it be... X amount of $ per game, for this sport, for X amount of years... I **** more complex things then that

Apparently some time in your young life you're were traumatized by a consultant. It's okay .....We can help. Please tell us about the incident.

This is how I felt when I read that we hired a consultant...

But seriously its not the consultants I hate, its the lazy people running the Big East who ahve tricked everyone into believing that a TV deal is too darn difficult to negotiate, but these same people can manage to lobby Congress, various State Legislatures, go on crusades against Governors/very powerful corrupt congressmen, negotiate merchandise deals with various firms, sign partnerships with every possible company under the sun... but they can't work out a TV deal... its not a case of can't, but is a case of they are too lazy.

My argument is mute anyway since the new BEast Commish is a CBS Executive... he will likely take over the negotiations from these two PAC12 clowns.

[SANJAY]

Mute point?

I am 99.9% sure that the new commissioner will leave the tv consultants in place as lead negotiators.

[Cow Pie]

Mute point?

I am 99.9% sure that the new commissioner will leave the tv consultants in place as lead negotiators.

He is a TV Executive... why would he leave the NBC deal to two consultants... he won't fire them, but I can bet that this new guy will do it his way.

[Gismo]

I don't have a problem with consultants. If they feel they will get a better deal with consultants then go ahead and hire them.

I do believe if they thought they could do a better job negotiating the contracts and bidding themselves then they would. The hiring of outside consultants leads me to believe that they aren't confident they can do better.