The Big East Conference and ABC and ESPN have gone into arbitration to settle differences over their football television contract.
The sides could not agree on a new deal after football powerhouses Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College chose to leave the conference and were replaced by lower-profile schools.
The Big East football contract began in 2001 and runs through the 2007 season. Negotiations for a new contract weren’t scheduled to begin until next year. However, a clause in the contract allows it to be reopened for negotiations when there’s a change in membership, and go to an arbitrator if the sides cannot agree.
In a prepared statement, an ESPN spokesman said, “We’ve enjoyed a great relationship with the Big East for nearly 25 years. Our contract calls for arbitration as a means to determine value resulting from a change in conference composition. We anticipate a fair resolution and expect to continue our relationship for many years to come.”
Conference realignment is scheduled to begin this year, first with Miami and Virginia Tech leaving the Big East for the ACC. Boston College will move to the ACC next season. Taking those schools’ places in the Big East football and basketball ranks will be Conference USA schools Cincinnati, Louisville and South Florida. DePaul and Marquette also will join, but for basketball only.
Experts say the loss of the football powerhouses could lead to the football contract being reduced in value by at least 50 percent. Additionally, it’s expected that the time slots for Big East football under the new contract will be similar to those in Conference USA’s deal, which featured many midweek “specialty” time slots and allowed the networks to cherry-pick marquee games.
According to 2002 tax filings, the latest available, the Big East generated $28.2 million in revenue from football and basketball television and radio rights for the 2001-02 school year. The league would not break out financial terms for each contract, but based on per-school payout information in the tax filings, the football television contract is worth an estimated $16 million annually.
Big East officials confirmed the league is in arbitration on the football contract but would not comment further.
Whatever money ABC and ESPN save through a new Big East football contract will be more than offset by increased rights fees for the revamped ACC.
The networks announced their new seven-year deal with the ACC last week. It calls for them to pay about $2.7 million per school for the regular season, almost $30 million for football this year, up from about $23 million under the previous contract. Next year those rights are expected to increase to about $38 million when Boston College joins and the ACC plays a championship game, for which it will be paid an additional $5 million.
