[NU Sports] 64 out of 120

Wed Sep 21 12:21:41 CDT 2011

The funny thing is, it is a legitimate claim geographically -- NU is the
only Big Ten team in Chicago, and half our campus being in Evanston is just
the next town over from Chicago (and reachable by Chicago public transit).
Champaign is three hours away, far too distant to even be considered remote
metropolitan area. U of I is Champaign's BT team.

Arguing who has more alumni in Chicago or who has more fans in Chicago is
meaningless if you look at it this way. Interestingly enough, I read
something somewhere that NU has the least alumni in Chicago of any BT school
except Penn State (I don't know if Neb had been included in that study).

On Wed, Sep 21, 2011 at 9:37 AM, rstetson at capps-assoc.com <
rstetson at capps-assoc.com> wrote:

> The Chicago's Big Ten team has hit a nerve down in shampoobanana.
>
> The illnoise guys keep talking about who really is Chi's team
>
> Sent from my Verizon Wireless Phone
>
>
> -----Original message-----
> From: "Beamsley, Jeff" <Jeff.Beamsley at covisint.com>
> To: Sportsbiz <sportsbiz at gmail.com>, Jonathan Hodges <
> j-hodges at alumni.northwestern.**edu <j-hodges at alumni.northwestern.edu>>
> Cc: Northwestern Wildcats <nwu-sports at tssi.com>
> Sent: Wed, Sep 21, 2011 14:25:37 GMT+00:00
> Subject: Re: [NU Sports] 64 out of 120
>
> Reading the NYT article that Stephen posted does bring this whole
> discussion into more focus.
>
> While NU is the team with the smallest fan base in the BT (515K), it is
> also the BT team with the greatest opportunity to expand its fan base
> because of its location in the Chicago Metro area.  This is exactly what
> Phillips is up to with the games at Wrigley and the "Chicago's Big Ten
> Team" tag line.  According to this article, the Chicago college football
> market has 1.75M fans who root for somebody.
> Once you get out of the BT and the SEC, NU and their existing fan base
> can really hold their own in any other conference.
>
> In the PAC-12, for example, NU would rank right in the middle just after
> A State and ahead of Colorado, Az, O state, Utah, Stanford, and W State.
> While all of those teams play good football, the west coast doesn't
> really care about college sports.
>
> The article also makes it clear why the BT can afford to stand pat.  The
> BT already has the top three fan bases in the country (OSU, UoM, and
> PSU).  Texas and ND are the only other teams with big enough fan bases
> to make a difference to the BT.  All of the other teams in the top ten
> already have solid conference commitments.  So the BT has plenty of
> leverage to require any new team to accept both the BTN and an equal
> revenue split.
> In the case of ND, they have a national fan base that could suffer in
> any regional conference deal from losing the national exposure that they
> currently have.  For example, ND is second only to Rutgers in the NYC
> market.  Texas by comparison doesn't even rank.  So ND is likely to
> remain independent for as long as they can.
>
> That leaves Texas in an odd position.  They are a regional power.  The
> Pac12 would like to have access to the football-crazed Texas market to
> sell their good football product, but neither the Pac12 or the BT are
> going to cut Texas a special deal.  Oklahoma has also said that Texas
> will have to restructure their TV network in order to keep the Big12
> alive.
>
> Not sure Texas wants to go it alone, so it will be interesting to see
> what they do.
>
> Bottom line, though, is that NU appears to be in good shape with a lot
> of upside.
>
> Jeff
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com [mailto:nwu-sports-bounces@**tssi.com<nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com>
> ]
> On Behalf Of Sportsbiz
> Sent: Wednesday, September 21, 2011 12:34 AM
> To: Jonathan Hodges
> Cc: Northwestern Wildcats
> Subject: Re: [NU Sports] 64 out of 120
>
> So, now the Pac-12 has decided they like 12 after all and the Big
> 10/Pac-12
> symmetry will be maintained.  Oklahoma has laid down a demand that Texas
> "reform" the Longhorn Network and the Big 12 fire the current
> commissioner
> in which case they will stay.  Of course, now that the Pac-12 is
> holding,
> they don't really have much of an alternative.  The SEC officially
> denies
> the Missouri story but that may be only a delay until the Big 12 picture
> clears and Missouri may want to wait to see what ultimately happens to
> the
> Big 12.  The Missouri chancellor happens to be chairing the Big 12
> executive
> committee currently placing him in an awkward position to say the least
> -
> just ask the president of Pitt.
>
> Meanwhile, in NYC, the remaining members of the Big East have
> recommitted to
> the conference.  The only question is who exactly are the remaining
> members.  UConn sent neither the AD nor the President to the meeting of
> ADs,
> just a low level staffer, reinforcing the feeling that it was headed to
> the
> ACC.  The identity of the Rutgers delegate isn't known.  TCU reportedly
> wasn't invited but went anyway and Villanova was specifically not
> invited
> and was all bent out of joint.  The Big East will now start sifting
> through
> its list of expansion candidates, assuming the Big 12 stays together.
> High
> on the list are Houston, UCF, Navy, Air Force and East Carolina which
> reportedly has already applied (in this case applied is not a pseudonym
> for
> accepted).
>
> While the picture starts to clear, still more fun days lie ahead.
>
> Mark
> *Mark S. Ament*
> sportsbiz at gmail.com
> SportsBiz - The Business of Sports
> Illuminated<http://**thesportsbizblog.blogspot.com<http://thesportsbizblog.blogspot.com>
> >
> When it comes to sports, you know it's all about the money
> Follow me on Twitter <http://www.twitter.com/**msament<http://www.twitter.com/msament>
> >
>
>
> *
> *
>
>
>
> On Tue, Sep 20, 2011 at 6:17 PM, Jonathan Hodges <
> j-hodges at alumni.northwestern.**edu <j-hodges at alumni.northwestern.edu>>
> wrote:
>
>  At this point I believe the conference realignment is mostly a TV
>>
> money
>
>> grab
>> and not a true split away from the NCAA.  I think we'll see the ACC &
>>
> SEC
>
>> stop at 14 (mostly to expand their TV footprint) while the Big Ten
>>
> will
>
>> likely stay on the sidelines at 12 (doesn't last year's move look good
>>
> in
>
>> retrospect, and the process was much better than what's going on this
>> round).  Oh, and I don't see the BCS being substantially changed
>>
> (maybe the
>
>> Mountain West, with whatever schools end up there, gets a bid in place
>>
> of
>
>> one of the failed conferences if the Big East/XII "leftovers" merge -
>>
> or,
>
>> then again, the BCS could always lift the 2 schools/conference limit
>>
> and
>
>> just add another at large bid, which would give them more flexibility
>>
> and
>
>> the ability to make more money).  Also, I think ND will keep its NBC
>> contract, BCS deal, and independence.
>>
>> Although the media loves to play up the paying player story, the
>>
> school
>
>> presidents are strongly against it and aren't close to budging (even
>>
> if a
>
>> handful of coaches give it some lip service - ultimately that would be
>>
> a
>
>> bad
>> move for them, though, as they reap the biggest rewards with their
>>
> huge
>
>> contracts nowadays).  Also, there's all of those other sports that
>>
> have a
>
>> home with the NCAA, and IF a group of schools were to break away from
>>
> the
>
>> NCAA in football, things would be rather uncomfortable and if
>>
> basketball
>
>> doesn't stay under the NCAA umbrella (with the tourney financing the
>>
> whole
>
>> organization) then it could collapse.  Those breakaway schools don't
>>
> want
>
>> to
>> create a whole new organization for all of the other sports.
>>
>> Also, I don't see a push to a playoff right now.  Again, maybe
>>
> somewhere
>
>> down the road, but right now the reorganization is not about creating
>>
> some
>
>> kind of balanced mega conference bracket; it's about TV money and
>> establishing large footprints.
>>
>> But then again I don't think anyone could have predicted any of this
>> happening before the Big Ten announced it was looking around just over
>>
> a
>
>> year and a half ago, so what do I know.  At this point, just be glad
>>
> that
>
>> Northwestern has been in the same conference since its founding in
>>
> 1896 and
>
>> sit back and enjoy the ride given that the Big Ten is certainly one of
>>
> the
>
>> top two most stable conferences in the nation and NU doesn't have to
>>
> worry
>
>> about going anywhere.
>>
>> --
>> Jonathan Hodges
>> Contributor, HailToPurple
>> Web: http://www.hailtopurple.com/**jhodges/<http://www.hailtopurple.com/jhodges/>
>> Twitter: @hailtopurple
>> Email: j-hodges at alumni.northwestern.**edu<j-hodges at alumni.northwestern.edu>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Sep 20, 2011 at 5:37 PM, Jim Leonard <jleonard518 at yahoo.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>> > I would really like to be wrong. I think this realignment is all a
>>
> huge
>
>> > mistake and takes us one giant step closer to ruining college
>>
> athletics.
>
>> > However, once the four 16-team conferences are in place, about 98%
>>
> of the
>
>> > revenue and brand recognition will be on one side of the fence.
>> > Historically, that balance of power will not sustain itself.
>> >
>> > Jim
>> >
>> >
>> > ______________________________**__
>> > From: Alan Abrahamson <alan.abrahamson at gmail.com>
>> > To: Clark Zahn <clzahn at mindspring.com>
>> > Cc: Northwestern Wildcats <nwu-sports at tssi.com>
>> > Sent: Tuesday, September 20, 2011 4:02 PM
>> > Subject: Re: [NU Sports] 64 out of 120
>> >
>> > As Keith Jackson might have said, "Whoa, Nellie."
>> >
>> > Maybe Jim will, in time, be proven right. But let's cross that
>>
> bridge
>
>> when
>> > we get there ...
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > On Tue, Sep 20, 2011 at 1:58 PM, Clark Zahn <clzahn at mindspring.com>
>> wrote:
>> >
>> > > If that happens I don't think I want NU to be one of the 64, even
>>
> if we
>
>> > > could compete.
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > -----Original Message-----
>> > > >From: Jim Leonard <jleonard518 at yahoo.com>
>> > > >Sent: Sep 20, 2011 1:34 PM
>> > > >To: Northwestern Wildcats <nwu-sports at tssi.com>
>> > > >Subject: [NU Sports] 64 out of 120
>> > > >
>> > > >My fear is that the 64 teams in the 4 conferences will eventually
>> break
>> > > from the NCAA. That will eventually mean players get paid and it
>> probably
>> > > means they can no longer play the other 56 schools. That would
>>
> mean NU
>
>> > would
>> > > have a very hard time competing. This is all a mistake.
>> > > >
>> > > >My friend sent me a report that Missouri has an offer from the
>>
> SEC.
>
>> This
>> > > could all be decided before Persa is back.
>> > > >
>> > > >Jim
>> > > >
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > ______________________________**_________________
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>> > > nwu-sports at tssi.com
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>> > >
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>> > ______________________________**_________________
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>> >
>> >
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>>
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