B1G in contact with Rutgers?
- Thread starter spliff45
- Start date
But do they really? I mean how many of the 20 million people in the NYC/Jersey metro area really give a rats a** about Rutgers?
hawkeyescott
Well-Known Member
Probably not many but that isn't the point. The point being is the BTN would come off of a sports pack and onto a basic tier which will create more $ for the BTN which is 51% owned by the conference.
But could they get it on to a basic tier? Could they strong arm TV execs in the Big Apple?
tm3308
Well-Known Member
Kinda doubt it. Is a cable company more likely to bow to the will of some 600,000 subscribers, or make the other 19.4 million pay for a package that they don't want?
ssckelley
Well-Known Member
About 3% care about Rutgers according to a New York Times sports blog. But of the college football fans in NYC, Rutgers is by far the most popular. As another poster pointed out money drives a lot of these decisions and with Rutgers the Big Ten is tapping a huge market. Academically Rutgers is the best available in the Big East.
Believe it or not Rutgers in the Big Ten would benefit Iowa with recruiting in the east.
DwayneTwill
Well-Known Member
I'm skeptical. Texas can't even get the Longhorn Network on in Austin.
hawkfaninTX
Well-Known Member
that post that Jon did about Iowa being the 15th most popular program, had Rutgers as the biggest draw in the NY market. sign them up, I actually think they improve greatly in the big ten. plus i think they played in the first football game ever, that's great history right there!
Why are so many people in love with this expansion crap. 16 team conferences is probably the worst idea for college football I've ever heard. Why not just remain in two separate 8 team conferences and agree to have your champions play each other at the end of the year....oh wait...
B1G list of candidates for expansion in the next 20 years.
- ND
- Texas
- No one else brings anything to the league other than to ruin more traditions.
B1G list of candidates for expansion in the next 20 years.
- ND
- Texas
- No one else brings anything to the league other than to ruin more traditions.
tm3308
Well-Known Member
So they're the biggest draw in the NYC market. That doesn't seem to say a whole lot, kind of like "Boise State is the best team in the WAC" (I know they aren't in the WAC anymore).
New Yorkers, by and large, don't seem to give a rat's a** about college sports. Rutgers doesn't bring much of anything that we couldn't get by adding a Notre Dame or Texas. So why go after a school that adds nothing athletically, when there are other schools that deliver as much or more in just about every aspect?
New Yorkers, by and large, don't seem to give a rat's a** about college sports. Rutgers doesn't bring much of anything that we couldn't get by adding a Notre Dame or Texas. So why go after a school that adds nothing athletically, when there are other schools that deliver as much or more in just about every aspect?
ssckelley
Well-Known Member
Your analogy is horrible comparing Boise State to the NYC market. But it did give me a laugh so perhaps you were joking.
Even though most New Yorkers do not "give a rat's a**" about college football they are still the #1 market in the country for college football as there are more than 20 million people that live in NYC. According to the blog on the NY Times website 14% do "give a rat's a**" about college football which is 2.9 million people. That makes NYC the biggest college football market in the country.
Seriously people you are missing a huge factor. How many of you wouldn't want to go to NYC for a road trip?
Beyond that, how many Michigan, OSU, and PSU grads do you think live in that area? How many potential students do you think live in that area?
Think beyond sitting at home watching football on your big screen. That is a small part of the equation.
Beyond that, how many Michigan, OSU, and PSU grads do you think live in that area? How many potential students do you think live in that area?
Think beyond sitting at home watching football on your big screen. That is a small part of the equation.
DwayneTwill
Well-Known Member
NYC has the most people who don't care about college football. I think it'll be hard to get the BTN on basic cable there.
tm3308
Well-Known Member
Of which Rutgers delivers just 20%.
Chicago isn't as big of a market, but 19% care about college football. And the Big Ten owns that 19% because Chicago is in the middle of Big Ten country. NYC is an outlier, with no such geography working in its favor.
Big Ten fans (or Notre Dame fans) make up 19% of the Chicago population. That's a huge chunk. Rutgers, Michigan, Penn State, and Ohio State's COMBINED foothold in NYC makes up just 4.9% of the total population. That's not a lot of leverage to strong arm cable companies to pick up the BTN.
Chicago is a smaller market, but the Big Ten has WAY, WAY more leverage there.
ssckelley
Well-Known Member
Twill you going to compare BTN to the LHN here again? Another bad comparison as the BTN has been extremely successful to this point and LHN has been a failure.
If the Big Ten added Rutgers it would have 2 of the top 3 teams the NYC market cares most about and if they add Notre Dame you have all top 3 and 4 of the top 5 (Michigan is 5th). I think whichever cable company did add add BTN to its basic cable package would get quite a few additional subscribers.
ssckelley
Well-Known Member
Go look at that list again and read my response to Twill. BTN would have a lot more leverage in the NYC market if it added Rutgers.
Honestly I think it is a mute point anyway as it appears they are heading to the ACC.
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tm3308
Well-Known Member
They'd have more leverage with Rutgers, but again, that doesn't say much. They have ZERO leverage in NYC right now.
Owning less than 5% of the city's population isn't a whole lot of leverage.
ssckelley
Well-Known Member
6% of 20 million is still 1.2 million people. That is a lot of people wanting BTN added to their basic cable packages and the first cable company to do it will grab a lot of extra subscribers.
silvanthalas
Well-Known Member
Have you looked at some of the channels in your cable/satellite package lately?
tm3308
Well-Known Member
How many of the garbage channels on Mediacom cost as much as the BTN? I don't know the price of the BTN, but I'd guess it's among the most expensive channels in the cable package.
