Big East and Pac 10 Networks, be careful what you wish for
While you were grilling steaks and enjoying the weather, UC Berkley’s chancellor Robert Birgeneau spent his Memorial Day with fellow alumni in New England where he brought up the possibility of a Pac 10 Network, which would be a clear and desperate effort by the league to catch up to the financial hegemon that is the Big Ten.
It seems as if the Big East has a similar plan in it’s sights.
Marinatto said a Big East TV network “is definitely on the table,” but the soonest it could begin would be after their current television deals expire after the 2012-13 school year.
But will either television networks become the saving grace both conferences are hoping for, or will it simply become one expensive experiment that confirms the lack of national appeal of either conferences?
A quick look at the past seasons’ Nielsen ratings for bowl games.
Big Ten
Bowl | Matchup | Rating | Change | Last year’s matchup | Last year’s rating |
Rose | Ohio St / Oregon | 13.2 | +1.5 | USC / Penn State | 11.7 |
Capital One | Penn State / LSU | 6.8 | +0.4 | Georgia / Michigan St | 6.4 |
Orange | Iowa / Georgia Tech | 6.8 | +1.2 | Virginia Tech / Cincinnati | 5.4 |
Alamo | Texas Tech / Michigan St | 4.8 | +0.2 | Missouri / Northwestern | 4.6 |
Champs Sports | Wisconsin / Miami | 3.9 | -1.3 | Florida St / Wisconsin | 5.2 |
Outback | Auburn / Northwestern | 3.5 | +0.4 | Iowa / South Carolina | 3.1 |
Insight | Iowa St / Minnesota | 0.4* NFL Network | -0.8 | Kansas / Minnesota | 1.2 |
Big East
Bowl | Matchup | Rating | Change | Last year’s matchup | Last year’s rating |
Sugar | Florida / Cincinnati | 8.5 | +0.7 | Utah / Alabama | 7.8 |
Gator | Florida St / W Virginia | 4.0 | -0.1 | Nebraska / Clemson | 4.1 |
Meineke | Pittsburgh / North Carolina | 3.9 | -0.6 | W Virginia / North Carolina | 4.5 |
St Petersburg | UCF / Rutgers | 1.6 | +0.3 | South Florida / Memphis | 1.3 |
Papajohns.com | S Carolina / Connecticut | 1.6 | -0.4 | Rutgers / N Carolina St | 2.0 |
Pac 10
Bowl | Matchup | Rating | Change | Last year’s matchup | Last year’s rating |
Rose | Ohio St / Oregon | 13.2 | +1.5 | USC / Penn State | 11.7 |
Emerald | USC / Boston College | 4.6 | +/- 0 | California / Miami (FL) | 4.6 |
Holiday | Arizona / Nebraska | 3.7 | -0.9 | Oregon / Oklahoma St | 4.6 |
Sun | Oklahoma / Stanford | 3.3 | +1.1 | Oregon St / Pitt | 2.2 |
Poinsettia | Utah / California | 2.4 | -1.3 | TCU / Boise St | 3.7 |
Las Vegas | BYU / Oregon St | 2.2 | -0.3 | Arizona / BYU | 2.5 |
EagleBank | UCLA / Temple | 1.9 | -0.3 | Wake Forest / Navy | 2.2 |
Though it’s just a small sample, it is indicative of the lack of national appeal by both the Pac 10 and Big East. In fact, BCS selections since 2002 pretty much sums it up, 6 current Big East and 8 Pac-10 teams were selected while a whopping 15 Big Ten teams participated in BCS games during the same time span. BCS games involving Big East squads averaged a 7.56 rating compared to the 12.64 averaged by BCS games involving Big Ten squads.
The top 32 rated post season games on record involved 17 Big Ten, 14 Pac 10, and 0 Big East squads. That’s right, 0 Big East squads. So herein lies the big question in regards to creating a network with the looming possibility that not many people would watch.
Side by side comparison of post season games played in 2009-10 between the Big Ten, Big East and Pac 10.
Would marginal schools like Cincinnati command the entire state of Ohio or just the city of Cincinnati, a legitimate question that can also be asked of Pittsburgh, South Florida, Rutgers, Louisville and Syracuse. Just because they are located in the states of Pennsylvania (vs Penn State), Florida (vs Florida/Florida State/Miami), New Jersey, New York and Kentucky (vs Kentucky), will there actually be demand for the Big East Network throughout the entire footprint or just regionally in those individual cities when there are more prominent and statewide institutions they must compete with within their own states? It makes all the difference when it comes to negotiating prices with cable providers. Other than being able to deliver the entire state of West Virginia, it is hard to make a case for any Big East network to demand the same subscription fees that the Big Ten earns in it’s respective footprint.
A worrisome proposition when the Big Ten is dangling $13 million a year to prospective expansion candidates just from their network alone. Would the Big East Network even come close to that?
The Pac 10 is more fortunate where it’s institutions have a broader appeal in their respective states (Oregon/Oregon State can deliver Oregon, USC/UCLA/Stanford delivers California, Arizona/Arizona State delivers Arizona and Washington, Washington State will deliver Washington) But their Achilles’s heel lies in the lack of national appeal or specifically, in the East and South. This is evident by the conference’s lackluster television ratings during the regular and post season year after year. Other than USC, few other programs would turn heads in Big Ten or SEC country.
So before the Pac 10 and Big East dive head first into a conference-based network just to keep up with the Big Ten, they should keep in mind such an experiment, should it fail would only confirm the existence of a college football hierarchy that many in the Big Ten and SEC already hold to be true.
Simply, not all conferences were made equal.
Full table of 2009-10 post season games, matchups and Nielsen ratings. Excluding BCS games, 3 matchups involving Big Ten schools top the list before the first game involving a Pac 10 or Big East institution.
Bowl | Matchup | Rating | Change | Last year’s matchup | Last year’s rating |
BCS Title | Alabama / Texas | 17.2 | +1.4 | Florida / Oklahoma | 15.8 |
Rose | Ohio St / Oregon | 13.2 | +1.5 | USC / Penn State | 11.7 |
Sugar | Florida / Cincinnati | 8.5 | +0.7 | Utah / Alabama | 7.8 |
Fiesta | Boise St / TCU | 8.2 | -2.2 | Texas / Ohio St | 10.4 |
Capital One | Penn State / LSU | 6.8 | +0.4 | Georgia / Michigan St | 6.4 |
Orange | Iowa / Georgia Tech | 6.8 | +1.2 | Virginia Tech / Cinncinati | 5.4* |
Alamo | Texas Tech / Michigan St | 4.8 | +0.2 | Missouri / Northwestern | 4.6 |
Emerald | USC / Boston College | 4.6 | +/- 0 | California / Miami (FL) | 4.6 |
Cotton | Oklahoma St / Ole Miss | 4.5 | +0.1 | Ole Miss / Texas Tech | 4.4 |
Chick-fil-A | VA Tech / Tennessee | 4.2 | +0.3 | LSU / Gerogia Tech | 3.9 |
Gator | Florida St / W. Virginia | 4.0 | -0.1 | Nebraska / Clemson | 4.1 |
Champs Sports | Wisconsin / Miami | 3.9 | -1.3 | Florida St / Wisconsin | 5.2 |
Meineke | Pittsburgh / North Carolina | 3.9 | - 0.6 | W. Virginia / North Carolina | 4.5 |
Liberty | Arkansas / East Carolina | 3.8 | +1.1 | Kentucky / E Carolina | 2.7 |
Holiday | Arizona / Nebraska | 3.7 | -0.9 | Oregon / Oklahoma St | 4.6 |
Outback | Auburn / Northwestern | 3.5 | +0.4 | Iowa / South Carolina | 3.1 |
Sun | Oklahoma / Stanford | 3.3 | +1.1 | Oregon St / Pitt | 2.2 |
Little Caesars | Marshall / Ohio | 2.6 | - | ||
Poinsettia | Utah / California | 2.4 | -1.3 | TCU / Boise St | 3.7 |
New Mexico | Fresno St / Wyoming | 2.4 | -0.2 | Colorado St / Fresno St | 2.6 |
GMAC | Central Michigan / Troy | 2.4 | +0.2 | Tulsa / Ball St | 2.2 |
Las Vegas | BYU / Oregon St | 2.2 | - 0.3 | Arizona / BYU | 2.5 |
Texas | Navy / Missouri | 2.1 | +1.8 | Rice / W. Michigan | 0.3 |
Humanitarian | Bowling Green / Idaho | 2.1 | - 0.3 | Maryland / Nevada | 2.4 |
Independence | Texas A&M / Georgia | 2.0 | +1.0 | La Tech / N. Illinois | 1.0 |
EagleBank | UCLA / Temple | 1.9 | - 0.3 | Wake Forest / Navy | 2.2 |
Hawaii | Nevada / SMU | 1.7 | -1.3 | Notre Dame / Hawaii | 3.0 |
Music City | Kentucky / Clemson | 1.7 | -1.1 | Vanderbilt / Boston College | 2.8 |
St Petersburg | UCF / Rutgers | 1.6 | +0.3 | South Florida / Memphis | 1.3 |
Papajohns.com | S Carolina / Connecticut | 1.6 | -0.4 | Rutgers / N Carolina St | 2.0 |
Armed Forces | Houston / Air Force | 1.6 | +0.1 | Houston / Air Force | 1.7 |
International | S Florida / Northern Illinois | 1.1 | -1.0 | U Conn / Buffalo | 2.1 |
New Orleans | Middle Tenn / S Miss | 0.7 | - 0.1 | S. Miss / Troy | 0.8 |
Insight | Iowa St / Minnesota | 0.4 | - 0.8 | Kansas / Minnesota | 1.2 |