http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball...gotiations

The Big East namesake was part of the television negotiations with NBC, according to a source – a potential provision of roughly $2 million for the network to market a new name should the league sell the Big East handle to the departing Catholic 7.

He also throws out a wild guess of $8-10M for the value of the name.

Hat tip to Monroedoctrine, who posted it on the C-7 board.

Kruciff on the Big East board indicates that the contract mandates a name change. That's not what Fowler says--he writes "potential provision"--so if Aresco does sell the name, NBC would kick in some money to launch the new name.

I hate that certain fans of schools who haven't played a down of Big East football think they deserve the name over schools who have been playing in the Big East since 1979.

Boo hoo, if you guys wanted to ensure you were called the Big East no matter the circumstances then you'd have stayed. Since you left/divorced/whatever term you'd like to describe the name is up in the air. No one forced you to depart.

It seems that it is at least a feasible possibility that the C7 will end up with the name for a fee (which in my opinion is the better overall strategy for all parties involved) and the nBE can go about branding itself in a manner that will allow it to incorporate the western members. It is hard to sell it Big East name to the public when you see the logo and UH vs SMU playing a game.

The real question is what is the going cost of the name and is the C7 willing to use the nuclear threat option of trying to force dissolution to get the name at a nominal fee.

(02-25-2013 03:35 PM)laxtonto Wrote:  It seems that it is at least a feasible possibility that the C7 will end up with the name for a fee (which in my opinion is the better overall strategy for all parties involved) and the nBE can go about branding itself in a manner that will allow it to incorporate the western members. It is hard to sell it Big East name to the public when you see the logo and UH vs SMU playing a game.

The real question is what is the going cost of the name and is the C7 willing to use the nuclear threat option of trying to force dissolution to get the name at a nominal fee.

For the love of God- the C7 CAN NOT dissolve the Big East by themselves. It's amazing how many folks still think they can. Without football members agreeing- it is a non starter.

(02-25-2013 02:59 PM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  Boo hoo, if you guys wanted to ensure you were called the Big East no matter the circumstances then you'd have stayed. Since you left/divorced/whatever term you'd like to describe the name is up in the air. No one force you to depart.

The pre-nup was known to Boise State, Houston and Memphis, according to the contracts that have been made public. Presumably it was made known to the rest as well. No one forced you to join, either.

The name is, as you say, up in the air. Which is a retreat from the usual NBE position, which has been "you're leaving, it's ours, go kick rocks." I really don't think you guys can afford to keep the name and let us have half the Realignment Fund including entry fees due.

What is significant about this article to me is
1. It contradicts the recent Aresco "we're going to fight for the name!" nonsense and
2. The low dollar value NBC put on launching a new conference name. (Of course, that's in line with the low dollar value NBC put on the conference.)

I'll also put on my tin foil hat for a minute. If the NBE schools know that, realistically, their best course of action is selling the name to the C-7, then maybe it makes sense to force the C-7 out for 2013 rather than pay twice to rebrand everything. Whether ESPN or NBC-SN ended up with the league, there were still going to be 25 or so Aresco LEague football games on ESPN this fall. So might as well get that Metro Conference or Big 11 or Challenger League or whatever branding out there early. Of course, now that ESPN has the rights to the new league, they'll do whatever amount of pumping up the new name they feel like doing.

(02-25-2013 03:55 PM)stever20 Wrote:  

(02-25-2013 03:35 PM)laxtonto Wrote:  It seems that it is at least a feasible possibility that the C7 will end up with the name for a fee (which in my opinion is the better overall strategy for all parties involved) and the nBE can go about branding itself in a manner that will allow it to incorporate the western members. It is hard to sell it Big East name to the public when you see the logo and UH vs SMU playing a game.

The real question is what is the going cost of the name and is the C7 willing to use the nuclear threat option of trying to force dissolution to get the name at a nominal fee.

For the love of God- the C7 CAN NOT dissolve the Big East by themselves. It's amazing how many folks still think they can. Without football members agreeing- it is a non starter.

No.. not on their own, but there is enough of s schism to attempt to make terms with some of the more disillusioned members. Its a numbers game. At some point it will be possible to at least threaten to make it beneficial for one ore two of the existing football school to consider the option.

It is all about leverage. At some point the current football schools will give a number "X" and the c7 will return with "Y". The more leverage the C7 can put on the idea that they can sway members before the date that the new members get the vote, the more likely the number goes closer to Y than X.

(02-25-2013 04:07 PM)laxtonto Wrote:  

(02-25-2013 03:55 PM)stever20 Wrote:  

(02-25-2013 03:35 PM)laxtonto Wrote:  It seems that it is at least a feasible possibility that the C7 will end up with the name for a fee (which in my opinion is the better overall strategy for all parties involved) and the nBE can go about branding itself in a manner that will allow it to incorporate the western members. It is hard to sell it Big East name to the public when you see the logo and UH vs SMU playing a game.

The real question is what is the going cost of the name and is the C7 willing to use the nuclear threat option of trying to force dissolution to get the name at a nominal fee.

For the love of God- the C7 CAN NOT dissolve the Big East by themselves. It's amazing how many folks still think they can. Without football members agreeing- it is a non starter.

No.. not on their own, but there is enough of s schism to attempt to make terms with some of the more disillusioned members. Its a numbers game. At some point it will be possible to at least threaten to make it beneficial for one ore two of the existing football school to consider the option.

It is all about leverage. At some point the current football schools will give a number "X" and the c7 will return with "Y". The more leverage the C7 can put on the idea that they can sway members before the date that the new members get the vote, the more likely the number goes closer to Y than X.

Why would the current football teams(only one with votes) slit their throats for the c7? They can't go to the C7- the GOR that the C7 is going to have will preclude that. Just get it out of your head that the C7 can dissolve the conference because it can not happen....

(02-25-2013 04:07 PM)laxtonto Wrote:  

(02-25-2013 03:55 PM)stever20 Wrote:  

(02-25-2013 03:35 PM)laxtonto Wrote:  It seems that it is at least a feasible possibility that the C7 will end up with the name for a fee (which in my opinion is the better overall strategy for all parties involved) and the nBE can go about branding itself in a manner that will allow it to incorporate the western members. It is hard to sell it Big East name to the public when you see the logo and UH vs SMU playing a game.

The real question is what is the going cost of the name and is the C7 willing to use the nuclear threat option of trying to force dissolution to get the name at a nominal fee.

For the love of God- the C7 CAN NOT dissolve the Big East by themselves. It's amazing how many folks still think they can. Without football members agreeing- it is a non starter.

No.. not on their own, but there is enough of s schism to attempt to make terms with some of the more disillusioned members. Its a numbers game. At some point it will be possible to at least threaten to make it beneficial for one ore two of the existing football school to consider the option.

It is all about leverage. At some point the current football schools will give a number "X" and the c7 will return with "Y". The more leverage the C7 can put on the idea that they can sway members before the date that the new members get the vote, the more likely the number goes closer to Y than X.

No. Just no.

1. The C-7 and Fox are apparently talking about a Grant of Rights. So that rules any UConn/Cincy discussion out immediately. (I don't think a GOR is as strong as advertised, but it will take a messy lawsuit to prove that, much like West Virginia breaking out of the Big East. Very expensive.)

2. If the C-7 dissolve the Big East, we give up all the exit fees and tournament credits from the departing schools. And dissolving the Big East doesn't in any way guarantee title to the Big East name. The Aresco League could just as easily claim it out of the dumpster, and I have no idea how that tangle of lawsuits would end. But I don't think it would end with the name being awarded to the parties who dissolved the entity associated with the name.

3. There have been media reports that, to dissolve the conference would require 2 football schools to vote yes. I have no idea why, it's not in the bylaws. Maybe it's in the pre-nup. Maybe it's a misreading of the bylaws that the existence of the league is a "football matter" which must be voted on by a majority of football schools. I'm inclined to believe it's probably not true, but I'm listing it anyway, because I don't know for certain.

4. If the C7 does dissolve the Big East, I'm not sure our new conference has an autobid. There were assurances that the C7 league would have an autobid, but I'm not sure if that's based on the NCAA rules for autobids or based on the NCAA leadership having goodwill and sympathy for our position. If we dissolve the league and royally screw the NBE schools, that goodwill and sympathy is not guaranteed at all.

(02-25-2013 04:03 PM)johnbragg Wrote:  

(02-25-2013 02:59 PM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  Boo hoo, if you guys wanted to ensure you were called the Big East no matter the circumstances then you'd have stayed. Since you left/divorced/whatever term you'd like to describe the name is up in the air. No one force you to depart.

The pre-nup was known to Boise State, Houston and Memphis, according to the contracts that have been made public. Presumably it was made known to the rest as well. No one forced you to join, either.

The name is, as you say, up in the air. Which is a retreat from the usual NBE position, which has been "you're leaving, it's ours, go kick rocks." I really don't think you guys can afford to keep the name and let us have half the Realignment Fund including entry fees due.

What is significant about this article to me is
1. It contradicts the recent Aresco "we're going to fight for the name!" nonsense and
2. The low dollar value NBC put on launching a new conference name. (Of course, that's in line with the low dollar value NBC put on the conference.)

I'll also put on my tin foil hat for a minute. If the NBE schools know that, realistically, their best course of action is selling the name to the C-7, then maybe it makes sense to force the C-7 out for 2013 rather than pay twice to rebrand everything. Whether ESPN or NBC-SN ended up with the league, there were still going to be 25 or so Aresco LEague football games on ESPN this fall. So might as well get that Metro Conference or Big 11 or Challenger League or whatever branding out there early. Of course, now that ESPN has the rights to the new league, they'll do whatever amount of pumping up the new name they feel like doing.

Just to throw another log on the fire, Blaudschun this weekend alluded to the fact that a possible 2013 C-7 exit is still part of the discussions. Perhaps thats connected to the name negotiatons. Leaving in 2013 is worth roughly 25 million to the the C-7 (3 million a school vs 500K a school) and that doesnt even count the value of waiving the penalty amount due for leaving prior to 2015.

Big East name=WAC name.

It's a toxic name now. Yes, like the WAC, the Big East was once upon a time a great conference that competed at the highest level. That's not the case anymore with all the defections, lost identity and bad PR going on. If the C-7 want it so bad, sell the rights to them. Divide that money to the football schools that will be in the conference in 2014. Start all over. The MWC did it and had some success (although some people at the beginning thought the MWC schools were still in the WAC but that's expected it).

(02-25-2013 04:30 PM)UTEPDallas Wrote:  Big East name=WAC name.

It's a toxic name now. Yes, like the WAC, the Big East was once upon a time a great conference that competed at the highest level. That's not the case anymore with all the defections, lost identity and bad PR going on. If the C-7 want it so bad, sell the rights to them. Divide that money to the football schools that will be in the conference in 2014. Start all over. The MWC did it and had some success (although some people at the beginning thought the MWC schools were still in the WAC but that's expected it).

Not really. The Big East was criticized as not being deserving of an automatic BCS bid. It was never much of a question that the confernece was better than the non-AQ conferences. The criticism was they wernt as good as the the other AQ conferences. So, as a conference that must EARN its way to the BCS--whats left to criticize? The name still would have more prestige and recognition than any other non-AQ conference. So, I'd disagree that name is "toxic" or valueless. Its actually far more valuable than an unknown unrecognizable name like Conference America that would bring to mind some obscure FCS conference that will be eliminated in the NCAA "play in" game.

(02-25-2013 04:30 PM)UTEPDallas Wrote:  Big East name=WAC name.

I was about to get ghetto, until I realized you were talking about football.

Quote:It's a toxic name now. Yes, like the WAC, the Big East was once upon a time a great conference that competed at the highest level. That's not the case anymore with all the defections, lost identity and bad PR going on. If the C-7 want it so bad, sell the rights to them. Divide that money to the football schools that will be in the conference in 2014. Start all over. The MWC did it and had some success (although some people at the beginning thought the MWC schools were still in the WAC but that's expected it).

The WAC is a good point--nothing would have been any better or worse for those schools post-1998 if they had a new or recycled name (Skyline?) instead of the WAC name.

I'm guessing that if the C7 doesn't get the name, no one will. The name is one of those assets to be divided up per the pre-nup. If the Aresco group insists on some outrageous price, the C7 will and should turn them down. However, they won't let Aresco have the name either without the same price tag. So, my guess is that no one will get it if there's a tug of war. This is a problem calling for a Solomonesque solution because this baby can't be cut in half either.

The name really has little or no value to the Football schools. They are not "The Big East" and everyone knows it. Continuing with the name will simply remind everyone that this is a watered down product from what the league once was. The smarter move would be to come up with a new name to create some new excitement about what the league can be as it moves forward. A new name would signal that; the old one will not.

(02-25-2013 02:56 PM)darkdragon99 Wrote:  I hate that certain fans of schools who haven't played a down of Big East football think they deserve the name over schools who have been playing in the Big East since 1979.

1) No one forced the C7 to depart. When you leave you don't get to take name with you.

2) They have as much right to the name, as any team that has ever played in the BE has.

(02-25-2013 02:29 PM)johnbragg Wrote:  Kruciff on the Big East board indicates that the contract mandates a name change. That's not what Fowler says--he writes "potential provision"--so if Aresco does sell the name, NBC would kick in some money to launch the new name.

Sort of. The provision was for NBC to spend $2M in promotions of the new name, not that NBC would be kicking any money back to the Aresco League. I take that to mean free promo ads on the various networks.

For the 500th time. This has been discussed ad-nauseum here. THE C7 CAN'T DISSOVLE BE. Not without Football member votes. This has been hashed over and over.

(02-25-2013 04:37 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(02-25-2013 04:30 PM)UTEPDallas Wrote:  Big East name=WAC name.

It's a toxic name now. Yes, like the WAC, the Big East was once upon a time a great conference that competed at the highest level. That's not the case anymore with all the defections, lost identity and bad PR going on. If the C-7 want it so bad, sell the rights to them. Divide that money to the football schools that will be in the conference in 2014. Start all over. The MWC did it and had some success (although some people at the beginning thought the MWC schools were still in the WAC but that's expected it).

Not really. The Big East was criticized as not being deserving of an automatic BCS bid. It was never much of a question that the confernece was better than the non-AQ conferences. The criticism was they wernt as good as the the other AQ conferences. So, as a conference that must EARN its way to the BCS--whats left to criticize? The name still would have more prestige and recognition than any other non-AQ conference. So, I'd disagree that name is "toxic" or valueless. Its actually far more valuable than an unknown unrecognizable name like Conference America that would bring to mind some obscure FCS conference that will be eliminated in the NCAA "play in" game.

The Big East lost both its AQ label along with their old guard schools (for the most part) and its basketball identity. Regardless if the media pundits thought the Big East deserved the BCS autobid or not, the conference still had Pitt vs Syracuse or Rutgers vs West Virginia in football and Georgetown vs Villanova and Notre Dame vs UConn in basketball. Miami won a MNC in the BE, Virginia Tech became a national brand and Syracuse and UConn won NC's in basketball. All of that is either gone or about to be gone. That's why I think the Big East name is toxic to the football conference in 2014 and let the C-7 keep the name since the Big East ironically started as a basketball conference in the late 70's.

(02-25-2013 04:49 PM)Melky Cabrera Wrote:  I'm guessing that if the C7 doesn't get the name, no one will. The name is one of those assets to be divided up per the pre-nup. If the Aresco group insists on some outrageous price, the C7 will and should turn them down. However, they won't let Aresco have the name either without the same price tag. So, my guess is that no one will get it if there's a tug of war. This is a problem calling for a Solomonesque solution because this baby can't be cut in half either.

The name really has little or no value to the Football schools. They are not "The Big East" and everyone knows it. Continuing with the name will simply remind everyone that this is a watered down product from what the league once was. The smarter move would be to come up with a new name to create some new excitement about what the league can be as it moves forward. A new name would signal that; the old one will not.

Fowler clearly states that the provision is only if the Big East name is sold to the C7 - that implies either the football schools will own the name or the C7 will buy the name.

Again, if I were Aresco, I'd sell the name after the 2013-2014 season. It means less to the football schools at that point, as there is no more AQ associated with the name. Get some additional $$ for it and move on.