Questions continue to be asked about whether ESPN has been “a key behind-the-scenes player at a time of high-profile realignment in college sports,” according to a front-page cover story by Wieberg & Berkowitz of USA TODAY. For all that ESPN has “lent to the growth of major-college athletics,” there is an “undercurrent of concern about the influence of the self-proclaimed Worldwide Leader in Sports.” ESPN as a TV rights holder is a “business partner to a wide array of conferences and schools.” And as a “leading broadcast, print and online news outlet, ESPN also reports the news it's often a party to making.” Former Ohio State Univ. AD Andy Geiger said, "We're doing business with an entertainment company whose only way of surviving involves the number of eyeballs watching the screen. That is the driving force in what I see as all the decisions being made." ESPN Senior VP/College Sports Programming Burke Magnus said, "We haven't been advocates of change in this realm because our business interests are best served by stability." Wieberg & Berkowitz note ESPN’s 20-year, $300M partnership with the Univ. of Texas on The Longhorn Network “rankled some of the Big 12's remaining schools” and gave Texas A&M a “final excuse to bolt the Big 12." The question is whether ESPN can "objectively weigh in on realignment discussions when one conference stands to gain, another to lose and the network has contractual ties with both.” Univ. of Oklahoma AD Joe Castiglione said, "I suppose it is a conundrum for them." He added, “We all agree there's a concern. I'm just not sure how we do anything about it." Former Univ. of New Mexico President Louis Caldera said, "Are (conference) commissioners talking to ESPN? All the time." But Magnus said, "We have lots of conversations with our partners through the day-to-day relationships that we have with them. Do we have specific meetings where expansion possibilities are evaluated and formally discussed and schools ruled in and ruled out? I'm telling you, it doesn't work that way" (USA TODAY, 11/1).
TWITTER REAX TO ARTICLE: MidwestSportsFans.com's Robert Crowe on his Twitter feed wrote, "Some very interesting stuff here by USA Today." The Birmingham News' Jon Solomon called the article a "good read." SI.com's Stewart Mandel wrote, "Good piece, broad voices.” Former Marshall Univ. Associate AD Randy Burnside: "The #occupywallstreet crew should read today's USA Today in regards to ESPN and consider a field trip to Bristol.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST: The AP’s Ralph Russo wrote more than “anything else, a seemingly insatiable appetite for college football on television might keep the Big East in business” following West Virginia's impending departure for the Big 12. Media consultant Chris Bevilacqua said, “Even as we sit here today, as gloomy as it may appear, the Big East can still have a nice outcome for a variety of reasons. Not the least of which is supply and demand." Russo noted Big East Commissioner John Marinatto “might have botched realignment and expansion, but he could be right about one point he has stressed for months: Being the last league to negotiate a TV deal will work to the Big East’s advantage.” Bevilacqua: “They’re the last ones on the market with a conference football package and you have multiple buyers -- that always leads to nice outcomes” (AP, 10/31).
