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Google didn’t follow the business model of Yahoo and today is roughly eight times as large as its primary competitor. Motorola was responsible for the first ever mobile telephone call but today has all but disappeared in the age of Apple’s i-phone. In its futile attempt to catch-up, the one-time pioneer, Motorola, released the Droid with marginal success. So what exactly does this have to do with college sports? Stay with me for just a moment.
I think we can all accept the fact that college athletics is big time business. As conference expansion has captivated the college landscape we have become all too familiar with issues like TV contracts, market share and conference championship games. The point is if the Big East tries to simply follow the trend it will likely become the Droid of college sports, a product that pales in comparison to its sexier competitors.
The Big East should heed the advice of Big East Commissioner John Marinotto and “think outside the box.” If the Big East attempts to supersize the league by adding schools like East Carolina, Memphis and/or Central Florida what really will the league accomplish? No, the league should be focused on creating its own identity and taking advantage of opportunities with a strategic growth plan.
THE SPLIT
The first step in any plan has to be to give the Big East football schools some independence. A complete divorce of the basketball schools would be counter productive with the possibility of a Big East Network on the horizon. Additionally, basketball is largely being ignored in the conference shuffle currently underway. This could be to the advantage of the Big East or another league for that matter that decides to embrace hoops rather than ignore it.
A plan should be devised to separate the football schools into its own entity, with its own bylaws and under the direction of its own commissioner. However, the two leagues should maintain a relationship and package its basketball product as one for television negotiations and the launch of the Big East Network. Two entirely separate leagues that meet once per year for a must-see college basketball event at the World’s Most Famous Arena – Madison Square Garden – each March.
The quid pro quo that was established with the basketball members following the 2003 ACC raid greatly limits expansion possibilities for the football league. With 16 existing basketball members, any additional football expansion will almost certainly be matched with the addition of a basketball member under the current structure. While the intent is to protect the basketball members’ interests, it has proven to be a noose around the collective necks of the football membership.
Back to my original point – the Big East does not need to simply follow suit with the actions of the Big Ten, PAC 10 and others. An attempt to add four football members today could be disastrous and would water down what is already a league lacking a true super power at the top. However, a strategic alliance with the existing basketball membership with complete independence for a new football league could be the answer. The void being created in basketball by today’s conference reshuffling creates a golden opportunity for the Big East.
A separation would do little to affect the prestige of Big East basketball so long as the football and basketball schools agree to meet for a joint conference tournament each year. Both leagues would have the freedom to expand as it sees fit. If both end up with 12 or even 16 members then so be it! It would only add to the excitement of what would become the single greatest college basketball event outside of the Final Four each year.
EXPANSION - MEMPHIS?
The addition of a Memphis as an all-sports member to the football league would be a home run on the hardwood and balance the football scheduling. Adding Memphis would be a short-term solution and buy the league a year or two as it awaits a potential windfall of money that could result from the launch of a Big East Network. If successful, the Big East Network will almost certainly create the type of revenue stream necessary to attract interest from other schools already affiliated with another BCS conference (i.e. Maryland, Boston College).
However, adding Memphis only – a college football doormat – will do little to bolster the competiveness of the football league. That is why Memphis is nothing more than a short term solution with long-term potential. East Carolina is much more desirable as a football member but brings little in terms of basketball – today’s bread and butter. So the debate is would it be best to add the highest quality football or basketball option in a new nine-school league? Valid points can be made on both sides but I’d move first on Memphis because it helps solidify the new nine-member league as a basketball powerhouse. Adding ECU can be looked at as a marginal improvement in football but arguably places the basketball league a notch below the ACC.
Long-term the answer to the Big East is to attract the interest of existing BCS level schools. However, before this can be accomplished a sufficient revenue stream must be discovered. Locked into a rather shitty deal with ESPN until 2013, the Big East has a weak sales pitch to make today to prospective members. But, if given time, the Big East Network could make the Big East a destination worth considering for any number of eastern schools.
While college football is driving the bus in terms of today’s conference reshuffling and mega TV deals, college hoops could in fact be the new “gadget” that leads the Big East Conference(S) to riches beyond its wildest dreams. A conference split with an agreement to move forward on a new Big East Network and mega-basketball tournament could be the “outside the box” idea that Commissioner Marinotto and company have been looking for. Oh, and help the Big East avoid becoming the “Droid” of college athletics.
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