Bilas says ACC should be at MSG

[Hall2012]

Honestly, I expect pretty impressive attendance at the BET this year for several reasons:
Overall: Fans of 8 of the 10 teams (yes, I'm including St. John's) can feel like they have at least a somewhat reasonable chance to cut down the nets this year.
1. With crazy high expectations for this year, a ton Creighton and Xavier fans likely booked their trips to NYC early - the injuries are a buzz kill for sure, but with tickets bought and trips booked, they'll still show.
2. Strong finishes to the season have energized the Seton Hall and Providence fan bases. They may not necessarily have bought early, but they're close enough to plan the trip late.
3. Add St. John's - who exceeded expectations this year and gave their fans a reason to be excited. I expect Johnny fans to show.
4. Add Nova, who's fans are always there, and 4 of the 5 schools within driving distance have good reason to be excited for this year's tournament. I think the potential Nova-SJU quarterfinal could sell out. I just wish it was the 7pm game.
5. 70% of the teams in this tournament are currently projected in the NCAA field. That will draw casual fans to The Garden.

[Bill Marsh]

MSG is pivotal to the identity of this conference. Big East should pay whatever it takes to keep it.

I agree. And it seems to me that the powers making the decisions for the C7 were hell bent on keeping MSG when this all went down a few years ago. And to me, unless the ACC and/or Big 10 go nuclear with their negotiations, I have the feeling that the C7 powers would do everything in their power to match what is proposed. Maybe I am naive in that thought but it is still my hope. Also, how would Fox fit into this equation? They have put a lot into The Big East and it is good for them to have it's flagship basketball conference on the biggest stage as well. Would they help with negotiations? And I guess

I am assuming that The Big East and Fox still have a partnership at that point.

Two things factor into the Big East partnership with Fox and negotiations with MSG:

1. The BE contract with Fox runs through 2025 and the contract with MSG runs through 2026.

2. Last year Fox bought half the rights to the Big Ten Network. A lot of people not previously interested in FS1 are suddenly going to have it included in their cable package and will know where it is on the menu. That can only help the Big East. It also means that the ratings picture should have become clearer by the 2023-25 window when the Big East will be in the market for a new TV contract.

[stever20]

MSG is pivotal to the identity of this conference. Big East should pay whatever it takes to keep it.

I agree. And it seems to me that the powers making the decisions for the C7 were hell bent on keeping MSG when this all went down a few years ago. And to me, unless the ACC and/or Big 10 go nuclear with their negotiations, I have the feeling that the C7 powers would do everything in their power to match what is proposed. Maybe I am naive in that thought but it is still my hope. Also, how would Fox fit into this equation? They have put a lot into The Big East and it is good for them to have it's flagship basketball conference on the biggest stage as well. Would they help with negotiations? And I guess

I am assuming that The Big East and Fox still have a partnership at that point.

Two things factor into the Big East partnership with Fox and negotiations with MSG:

1. The BE contract with Fox runs through 2025 and the contract with MSG runs through 2026.

2. Last year Fox bought half the rights to the Big Ten Network. A lot of people not previously interested in FS1 are suddenly going to have it included in their cable package and will know where it is on the menu. That can only help the Big East. It also means that the ratings picture should have become clearer by the 2023-25 window when the Big East will be in the market for a new TV contract.

I don't know that your 2nd point is all that accurate. FS1 is already in almost as many homes as ESPN. I mean as of Nov. FS1 was in only 3.5 million fewer homes than ESPN was.

Also, I really don't know how much of an impact the Big Ten is going to really have. We're talking about like 2-3 basketball games a week total(with some being you can believe on Big Fox) and then 2 football games a week(with 1 a week almost guaranteed on Big Fox).

[Bill Marsh]

I agree. And it seems to me that the powers making the decisions for the C7 were hell bent on keeping MSG when this all went down a few years ago. And to me, unless the ACC and/or Big 10 go nuclear with their negotiations, I have the feeling that the C7 powers would do everything in their power to match what is proposed. Maybe I am naive in that thought but it is still my hope. Also, how would Fox fit into this equation? They have put a lot into The Big East and it is good for them to have it's flagship basketball conference on the biggest stage as well. Would they help with negotiations? And I guess

I am assuming that The Big East and Fox still have a partnership at that point.

Two things factor into the Big East partnership with Fox and negotiations with MSG:

1. The BE contract with Fox runs through 2025 and the contract with MSG runs through 2026.

2. Last year Fox bought half the rights to the Big Ten Network. A lot of people not previously interested in FS1 are suddenly going to have it included in their cable package and will know where it is on the menu. That can only help the Big East. It also means that the ratings picture should have become clearer by the 2023-25 window when the Big East will be in the market for a new TV contract.

I don't know that your 2nd point is all that accurate. FS1 is already in almost as many homes as ESPN. I mean as of Nov. FS1 was in only 3.5 million fewer homes than ESPN was.

Also, I really don't know how much of an impact the Big Ten is going to really have. We're talking about like 2-3 basketball games a week total(with some being you can believe on Big Fox) and then 2 football games a week(with 1 a week almost guaranteed on Big Fox).

I'll defer to your knowledge re how many homes FS1 is in. But it's one thing to be on the network, it's something else to know where the channel is and to be in the habit of going there for content.

Yes, we're talking about 50 B1G basketball games and football games, which seems like a lot of new eyeballs to me even with some of them being on the regular Fox channel.

You're right that we don't know how much of an impact it will have, but the press generally saw it as a positive for the Big East when it was announced last year. So, it has potential. We will have to wait and see how it works out. And that's the point. It's a new dynamic, which means the landscape is changing and we can't just assume that the first 4 years of .Fox ratings will continue as they have been.

[Barley]

No one wants to attend the Big Ten Tournament
-Resale market ticket prices are not an encouraging sign.

If Maryland doesn’t make a run, the B1G could see a lot of empty seats over the weekend. Things could get even worse next year, when the Tournament heads to Madison Square Garden. The closest team to there, of course, is our good friend Rutger, who has finished in 14th in all three seasons of conference play. Not to mention that the 2018 Tourney will be held a week earlier next year, as to not conflict with the Big East’s long-standing tourney in MSG.

[kayako]

I think that's for all three games today which is very poor attendance.

Wouldn't surprise me. Watched a bit of Syracuse vs. Miami and the crowd looks no different than yesterday's, maybe even worse.

[ecasadoSBU]

Anyone else praying for Syracuse to be kicked out? Losing right now 55-52. Send those Orange fans home!

[Jet915]

Anyone else praying for Syracuse to be kicked out? Losing right now 55-52. Send those Orange fans home!

Syracus is an interesting case. They are 8-9 vs rpi top 100 which a very good for a bubble team if it wasnt for their 4 losses to teams whose rpi >100.

[ecasadoSBU]

Syracuse bounced... What happens now?

[kayako]

lol! Hopefully Palm is right and Lunardi is wrong with Syracuse. I hope they rot in ACC for eternity.