Scandal? ESPN told ACC which teams to take.

[BASSooner]

http://www.businessinsider.com/scandal-espn-told-acc-which-teams-to-take-from-big-east-conference-2011-10


If true, an epic sh*t storm awaits. Big East will go sue happy all over ESPiN

[AlbqSooner]

Sounds like tortious interference with contract, but I have not done research on that subject in15 years or so.

[MyT Oklahoma]

We should all be so lucky. Hope it's true.

[mhackl]

I hope they sue the pants off of ESPIN!

[SoonerMom2]

I read on one of the sites that they are sure that ESPN interferred with our going to the PAC 12 which would explain why everything fell apart because if left the Big 12, the LHN would fail. I sure hope the Big East sues them for a bundle. Where is the NCAA that they have allowed a network to get involved in conference realignment?

[Sooner5030]

You mean ESPN might have provided their opinion on which teams to invite? So what. Stop accepting their money if it's such a travesty. If my stakeholders are paying for a product and the ingredients of that product may change I will provide my opinion on the new ingredients.

This whole expansion circus sure has caused a lot of problems yet may yield little benefit to the schools, conferences and fans. WTF is the SEC thinking? They are stuck at 13 and adding anyone else will dilute the potential earnings per school.

[Flagstaffsooner]

Sounds like tortious interference with contract, but I have not done research on that subject in15 years or so.


Those damn tortoises sticking their necks in College Football again!:upset:

2446

[AlboSooner]

I hope they sue the pants off of ESPIN!

Big East doesn't have any money. ESPN owns college football

[Keller Sooner]

Dirty bastuds!

[stoops the eternal pimp]

Any opportunity to bring them down a notch would be great for sports

[Sooner_Tuf]

I wouldn't mind playing whack-a-mole with ESPNs administration.

[NYC Poke]

Sounds like tortious interference with contract, but I have not done research on that subject in15 years or so.

Sounds about right to me.

And what's really scandalous is how silent all the commentators have been. I've only seen one little blurb on the subject buried in the middle of a Yahoo!Sports blog.

And hey, if ESPN really wants a say in "their" "product," why don't they just take over all the college football programs, pay the coaches, fund the scholarships, pay for the facilities, etc.? Or maybe they just want the SEC and Texas?

[Frozen Sooner]

Sounds like tortious interference with contract, but I have not done research on that subject in15 years or so.

I'm interested in your theory on this. I only skimmed the article, but it looks to me like ESPN simply told the ACC which Big East teams would be seen as good fits and enhance the value of broadcasting ACC games to ESPN. They didn't interfere with anyone's contractual relationships themselves, did they?

Entirely possible I'm missing something.

[cleller]

Don't make ESPN mad or they might not let us play Bama or LSU.

[sooneredaco]

Don't make ESPN mad or they might not let us play Bama or LSU.

Sad but has a lot of truth to it

[jkjsooner]

I didn't even see anything in those articles that definitively states that ESPN ever said anything specific about which teams to add.


“We always keep our television partners close to us,’’ he said. “You don’t get extra money for basketball. It’s 85 percent football money. TV - ESPN - is the one who told us what to do. This was football; it had nothing to do with basketball.’’

I think some may be taking this quote too literally. When they say "ESPN is the one who told us" I think it simply means that they're extrapolating on what their value might be and adding the teams that they perceive will increase that value. On the face it appears that ESPN had a direct discussion with the ACC but statements like this can often be misleading.

It would be like a fan going to the game in red face paint and saying, "Fox Sports told me to do this." Most likely this means that the fan saw that Fox Sports likes showing shots of face painted fans and 'listened' to Fox's preferences."


I could be wrong about all this...

[Lott's Bandana]

Pasting what I had posted in the Realignment Thread, 24 hours before this thread started:


10/9/2011 06:03 PM
ESPN Behind ACC's Raid On Big East

from the Boston Globe:


“Pittsburgh and Syracuse both are good fits, and they both have outstanding basketball programs. That’s definitely a plus.’’

The overwhelming force behind the move, DeFilippo insisted, was television money.
The ACC just signed a new deal with ESPN that will increase the revenue for each school to approximately $13 million. With the addition of Pittsburgh and Syracuse, said DeFilippo, another significant increase will come.
“We always keep our television partners close to us,’’ he said. “You don’t get extra money for basketball. It’s 85 percent football money. TV - ESPN - is the one who told us what to do. This was football; it had nothing to do with basketball.’’




They are who we think they are.


Next post:

- ESPN creates LHN and aTm bolts, causing 6 weeks of cataclysmic posturing in the BigXII, leading some to believe the conference is imploding.

- ESPN creates the ACC Network, then tells the ACC to raid the Big East in order to generate more revenue for the conference ESPN covers.


It appears ESPN is quietly attempting to manipulate the entire sport of D-1A College Football at its roots for its gain. While probably good business, this relationship in the financial world would have an SEC investigation triggered immediately. (SEC irony noted)
A major corporation that already has the rights for ACC/SEC and LHN as well as the BCS for several more years, is attempting to destroy historical conference alignments in order to pump fans into their network offerings.

If Yahoo Sports doesn't touch this, nobody will.

Bottom line: the next decade will bring enormous change in the landscape of CFB and the entity driving this change is not the NCAA, it is the Mouse. Spend 5 minutes watching The Disney Channel and look forward to that each Saturday...Wonder Bread Football, rinse repeat.

Follow-up post:

Since ESPN signed their deal with the ACC, they realized the ACC has not traditionally been a power conference in the last decade. Therefore, they got the ACC to strengthen their membership in order to boost ratings at their otherwise BCS Orange Bowl yawner starring that very same weak ACC champion, which ESPN will broadcast for several more years.

ESPN seems to have told Texas to not drop their LHN to go to the PAC, therefore leaving the BigXII an AQ conference with their star player at the head (ignore the playing field, this is all about eyeballs) and with a BigXII viable, their BCS Fiesta Bowl continues to have a tie-in which they rolled the dice will often? be their own beauty contest entry.

Frankly, ESPN doesn't give a rats about the PAC and they don't have to because the Rose Bowl is set in concrete.

I don't have to say the Sugar Bowl has been locked up for some time.




Didn't think we needed another thread about this subject, but alas...

[sooneron]

Bristol CT could be hit with a huge meteor and the sporting world would be all the better for it.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

^...all your posts today pure gold..maybe plutonium

[badger]

Some Nike dude told a seething group of college leaders that companies like his shouldn't be able to dictate what colleges do... but they will, because they want money and they will never turn down money.

ESPN probably feels the same way. No, colleges shouldn't be so focused on athletics when their mission is academic achievement, but they will, because colleges want and need money and they will always sell their souls to the highest bidder.

[sooneron]

^...all your posts today pure gold..maybe plutonium

Comes in handy for my plutonium 234 space modulator...
http://icons.iconarchive.com/icons/sykonist/looney-tunes/256/Marvin-Martian-icon.png

[NYC Poke]

I'm interested in your theory on this. I only skimmed the article, but it looks to me like ESPN simply told the ACC which Big East teams would be seen as good fits and enhance the value of broadcasting ACC games to ESPN. They didn't interfere with anyone's contractual relationships themselves, did they?

Entirely possible I'm missing something.

Fro, it wouldn't be that hard to come up with a few colorable causes of action that would survive motions for summary judgment. The goal here would not be winning at trial, it would be the embarrassing/explosive stuff that you could dig up during discovery. That's where your leverage would be, and that would be the whole real point of the litigation, anyway.

[OU_Sooners75]

I read on one of the sites that they are sure that ESPN interferred with our going to the PAC 12 which would explain why everything fell apart because if left the Big 12, the LHN would fail. I sure hope the Big East sues them for a bundle. Where is the NCAA that they have allowed a network to get involved in conference realignment?

Can you provide a link?

Not doubting you...but you are always posting hearsay without posting links to back it up.

[Frozen Sooner]

Fro, it wouldn't be that hard to come up with a few colorable causes of action that would survive motions for summary judgment. The goal here would not be winning at trial, it would be the embarrassing/explosive stuff that you could dig up during discovery. That's where your leverage would be, and that would be the whole real point of the litigation, anyway.

Fair enough.

[SoonerinSouthlake]

Big East doesn't have any money. ESPN owns college football

this is why their being in Bed with whorn is such a bad thing....not just because of high school highlights.

[dwarthog]

Any opportunity to bring them down a notch would be great for sports


This! (I am thinking a couple of notches would be even better....)

[King Barry's Back]

Fro, it wouldn't be that hard to come up with a few colorable causes of action that would survive motions for summary judgment. The goal here would not be winning at trial, it would be the embarrassing/explosive stuff that you could dig up during discovery. That's where your leverage would be, and that would be the whole real point of the litigation, anyway.

Dude, you are entirely missing the point. ESPN is the big dog. If you want to be rich, you don't want to be the one p*ssing off the big dog.

Looking for stuff to embarrass the big dog is a recipe for being poor.

[King Barry's Back]

Dude, you are entirely missing the point. ESPN is the big dog. If you want to be rich, you don't want to be the one p*ssing off the big dog.

Looking for stuff to embarrass the big dog is a recipe for being poor.

I think this came off a little more obnoxious than I intended. What I'm saying is this, ESPN is paying ACC members $13 million per year. If someone came into your house and paid you $13 million, you wouldn't want to p*ss them off. You'd want to make them happy, and you'd want them to keep paying you.

And if you were about to make changes, and they said, "You know, if you did this, you would get even more money...." you would listen.

And unless you had a good reason not to do it, you probably would.

[NYC Poke]

Dude, you are entirely missing the point. ESPN is the big dog. If you want to be rich, you don't want to be the one p*ssing off the big dog.

Looking for stuff to embarrass the big dog is a recipe for being poor.

The Big East is getting ready to be poor anyway.

I'm really kind of surprised cut the legs out from under UConn. I mean, that's their home state.

[SoonerMom2]

Can you provide a link?

Not doubting you...but you are always posting hearsay without posting links to back it up.

http://frankthetank.wordpress.com/2011/01/20/espn-ut-how-it-saves-the-big-12-and-whats-in-it-for-espn/

ESPN is out to keep super conferences from happening. This is from January which I was sent earlier to show that things haven't changed since then with ESPN still interferring to keep the super conferences from happening.

I run a blog and post links all the time and I will start doing it here in the future.