A Jersey Guy says Mike Aresco is the new commissioner.

[DELdaBull]

August, 14, 2012

Aug 14

3:00

PM ET

By Andrea Adelson | ESPN.com

Today, the Big East officially enters a new era.

All those adjectives used to describe the Big East? You know 'em too well. Too passive. Too reactionary. Too old school.

Throw them in the trash, along with all those jokes about the Big Least.

[+] Enlarge

Cal Sport Media via AP Images

The Big East made a bold move with the hire of Mike Aresco, tasked with delivering a lucrative television deal for the newly reconfigured league.

The Big East proved itself forward thinking and visionary on Monday when it hired CBS executive Mike Aresco as its new commissioner. This is a bold move, made to ensure this conference not only survives into the future -- but thrives into the future.

Nearly one year ago, the Big East was left for dead when Syracuse, Pitt, TCU and West Virginia decided to leave. Remaining members went to their contacts and dialed out for help, hoping a lifeline would save them from what West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck called a "sinking ship."

Then-commissioner John Marinatto did his best to calm the waters, inviting in some of the better teams outside the automatic qualifying conferences. Temple joins this year; Boise State, San Diego State, UCF, SMU, Houston and Memphis next year; Navy in 2015.

At that point, the Big East had little choice but to invite in the best of the rest in order to actually field a football conference. Marinatto was blamed for not being a visionary leader, for not anticipating the stunning departures, for being completely unprepared to handle a second wave of realignment that gutted the fabric of the Big East.

So he resigned, a mutual decision designed to ensure the Big East move forward with somebody who could steer the league during the most critical stage in its history. No. 1 on the commissioner wish list – somebody with a television background. Why? The Big East enters make-or-break television negotiations in September, negotiations that the league has been eagerly anticipating for over two years.

Marinatto used to say it was a huge benefit to the Big East that it had last dibs at securing its TV media rights deal, because it could sit back, examine and analyze all the rich deals that have preceded it. The Big East saw how the Pac-12 used its leverage to secure an eye-popping deal. The Big East saw the value the ACC got.

But does the Big East truly benefit? Ever since turning down a reported deal from ESPN last May, there has been much speculation about what the new television deal the Big East gets will be worth. With a completely reconfigured lineup, there are countless educated guesses but no real answers.

Now that the Big East has hired Aresco, perhaps those answers become clearer. Aresco has an extensive college programming background. He was the architect of the groundbreaking billion-dollar deal the SEC received from CBS a few years ago. He led the billion-dollar TV rights deal between CBS and the NCAA for the men’s basketball tournament.

Before working at CBS, he had his hand in college sports programming at ESPN. This is a man not only with contacts in the television world, but contacts across every conference in the college world. He has a sparkling resume, a reputation that has earned him nothing but raves from the colleagues who have sat across from him at the bargaining table.

Couple his hire with the announcement that noted sports media business guru Chris Bevilacqua will help steer the upcoming TV negotiations, and you see the Big East finally gets it. The Big East clearly and truly understands its future hinges on what happens with this TV rights deal. And it clearly and truly understands the role television plays in the marketplace.

Let’s face it. Television has changed the face of college football. These multi-billion dollar deals have made conferences grow richer and stronger; programs grow richer and stronger. But they also have set off the ground-shaking realignment that has caused upheaval over the last three years. No conference has felt that more than the Big East.

But now the Big East has its shot to make everything right, with a man who has made a living negotiating television rights deals.

After all the darkness, there is now hope.

A new day truly has arrived for the Big East.

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigeast/post/_/id/35217/big-east-wins-the-day-with-aresco-hire

That was good

[slbpsi63]

August, 14, 2012

Aug 14

3:00

PM ET

By Andrea Adelson | ESPN.com

Today, the Big East officially enters a new era.

All those adjectives used to describe the Big East? You know 'em too well. Too passive. Too reactionary. Too old school.

Throw them in the trash, along with all those jokes about the Big Least.

[+] Enlarge

Cal Sport Media via AP Images

The Big East made a bold move with the hire of Mike Aresco, tasked with delivering a lucrative television deal for the newly reconfigured league.

The Big East proved itself forward thinking and visionary on Monday when it hired CBS executive Mike Aresco as its new commissioner. This is a bold move, made to ensure this conference not only survives into the future -- but thrives into the future.

Nearly one year ago, the Big East was left for dead when Syracuse, Pitt, TCU and West Virginia decided to leave. Remaining members went to their contacts and dialed out for help, hoping a lifeline would save them from what West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck called a "sinking ship."

Then-commissioner John Marinatto did his best to calm the waters, inviting in some of the better teams outside the automatic qualifying conferences. Temple joins this year; Boise State, San Diego State, UCF, SMU, Houston and Memphis next year; Navy in 2015.

At that point, the Big East had little choice but to invite in the best of the rest in order to actually field a football conference. Marinatto was blamed for not being a visionary leader, for not anticipating the stunning departures, for being completely unprepared to handle a second wave of realignment that gutted the fabric of the Big East.

So he resigned, a mutual decision designed to ensure the Big East move forward with somebody who could steer the league during the most critical stage in its history. No. 1 on the commissioner wish list – somebody with a television background. Why? The Big East enters make-or-break television negotiations in September, negotiations that the league has been eagerly anticipating for over two years.

Marinatto used to say it was a huge benefit to the Big East that it had last dibs at securing its TV media rights deal, because it could sit back, examine and analyze all the rich deals that have preceded it. The Big East saw how the Pac-12 used its leverage to secure an eye-popping deal. The Big East saw the value the ACC got.

But does the Big East truly benefit? Ever since turning down a reported deal from ESPN last May, there has been much speculation about what the new television deal the Big East gets will be worth. With a completely reconfigured lineup, there are countless educated guesses but no real answers.

Now that the Big East has hired Aresco, perhaps those answers become clearer. Aresco has an extensive college programming background. He was the architect of the groundbreaking billion-dollar deal the SEC received from CBS a few years ago. He led the billion-dollar TV rights deal between CBS and the NCAA for the men’s basketball tournament.

Before working at CBS, he had his hand in college sports programming at ESPN. This is a man not only with contacts in the television world, but contacts across every conference in the college world. He has a sparkling resume, a reputation that has earned him nothing but raves from the colleagues who have sat across from him at the bargaining table.

Couple his hire with the announcement that noted sports media business guru Chris Bevilacqua will help steer the upcoming TV negotiations, and you see the Big East finally gets it. The Big East clearly and truly understands its future hinges on what happens with this TV rights deal. And it clearly and truly understands the role television plays in the marketplace.

Let’s face it. Television has changed the face of college football. These multi-billion dollar deals have made conferences grow richer and stronger; programs grow richer and stronger. But they also have set off the ground-shaking realignment that has caused upheaval over the last three years. No conference has felt that more than the Big East.

But now the Big East has its shot to make everything right, with a man who has made a living negotiating television rights deals.

After all the darkness, there is now hope.

A new day truly has arrived for the Big East.

http://espn.go.com/b...ith-aresco-hire

That was good

Great article. This move has made this conference relevant. it gives us a new identity. It is going to take time to turn over the skeptics, but winning on the field will do that. We have to earn it. I am pumped by this move. the Presidents got it right. Kudos to them.

[Triple B]

maybe he can bring another person from CBS Sports over to the Big East. Like Brett McMurphy? haha. Brett could be the official Big East Press Manager or something?

He's with ESPN now .... which is perfect ... the ol two birds with one stone.

[macphisto]

Fantastic move. What's interesting is that he's both a Big East guy and not a Big East guy. He didn't grow up in the conference career wise, but he is a UConn alum. That could definitely help to hold UConn in conference - but the TV deal will be what really holds it together.

This guy knows about how to present to an audience. He know negotiation, but he knows TV as well. He's coming to sell us and promote our image.

I agree, the days of the Big Least are over. We will likely deal with that talk for one more season, but I'm sure he will help our conference build itself up image wise - helping us to recruit better athletes which will help us be more competitive across the board.

My feeling is that the ACC best watch themselves. They are in trouble with the upcoming TV deal for us. FSU is going to bail and a new deal will keep our current teams from being tempted to leave.

[SRQ]

BE should hope that FSU & Clemson sit tight until after BE signs new deal. If they jump after that, it would not be too much of a reach to see an ACC school or two seek the last spot at the BE table opposite Navy

Edited August 15, 2012 by SRQ

[mikemcp88]

I really like this move. It also says a lot about how many people think this was a good get including ESPN who is actually praising the BE recent moves. This guy gets its about the money and knows the future starts with the TV deal. I hope he comes through and has a good vision of where this conference needs to go to become an elite conference again. Even though the ACC is the best fit geographically, I would love to be with the BE for the long term since after all they brought us into a BCS conference.

[Cow Pie]

This is a good pick since he is a TV guy and knows how to negotiate contracts himself, market the conference, and make our brand more swagertastic.

[Mama_Bull]

Executive From CBS Will Lead Big East ConferenceBy TIM ROHAN

Imagine Mike Aresco’s enthusiasm Tuesday when he was named the commissioner of the Big East, a conference that is essentially a television free agent in a landscape of expanding media, in which networks have trampled over one another bidding for college sports.

Aresco, a CBS executive, has done some trampling himself since 1984, when he worked for ESPN.

“There just isn’t going to be a major conference available for many, many, many years, and consequently, the Big East has extraordinary value,†he said.

Aresco, 62, will assume his position Sept. 1, when the Big East’s 60-day exclusive negotiating window opens with ESPN.

Aresco would only offer that “that value’s going to be recognized and maximized.â€

Sean McManus, the president of CBS Sports, used the words “groundbreaking†and “landmark†when describing Aresco’s negotiations for rights to the N.C.A.A. men’s basketball tournament and the Southeastern Conference. If either deal were set to expire within the decade — a tribute to Aresco’s talent — McManus said Aresco’s departure would have been harder to stomach.

“Negotiations are very, very tough deals, but he always shakes hands and walks away, personally and professionally, respected and usually liked, by the people who he was negotiating with — that’s not always true in this business,†McManus said.

Neal Pilson, the television consultant and former president of CBS Sports, described Aresco in a way that may best personify the little-brother mentality of the Big East conference’s past and the its preferred future — at the big-boy’s table with the other N.C.A.A. power players.

Aresco lacks an ego — a self-absorbed personality or superfluous pomp, Pilson said, that the Big East rarely had, nor has time for now, with ground to make up. Aresco’s also widely respected, and well liked, attributes that became harder to apply to the Big East when pillars, Syracuse and Pittsburgh, left and found a more secure television contract. Aresco’s approachable, Pilson said, he is an innovator and flexible, as the Big East must become now.

A new television deal could bring legitimacy and stability to a conference desperate for both. It could unite a conference with teams from Connecticut to Idaho to California. Most important, Pilson said, if the Big East members are satisfied with their next TV deal, the carousel of conference realignment could stop. There would have been enough money to go around.

During negotiations last year, the Big East turned down an ESPN offer of nearly $1 billion.

“It’s a good time to be a rights owner right now because you have a lot of different cable networks and broadcast networks that understand how critical live sporting events are,†McManus said, adding, “I don’t think the Big East is going to have all that difficult a time generating a lot of money and a lot of interest.â€

The Big East announced on Monday the hiring of Bevilacqua Helfant Ventures, the firm that negotiated the Pacific-12’s TV deal last year. In an agreement with Fox and ESPN, the conference will make $3 billion over the 12-year deal.

Chris Bevilacqua, who orchestrated the deal, said the Big East’s pact might not be the same, but could follow a similar trajectory. A regional network may be more difficult for the geographically challenged conference.

“The marketplace is going to determine their value, so it’s hard to predict where it all ends,†Bevilacqua said. “But I can tell you that I’m very confident that there’s a very strong marketplace for content.â€

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/15/sports/ncaabasketball/big-east-names-tv-executive-as-new-commissioner.html

[theman123]

Hmm... A basketball guy, whaddya know?

[NewEnglandBull]

Hmm... A basketball guy, whaddya know?

No, a media/tv guy.