Big Beast Looks Bad

Big East Conference Pulls the Plug on Villanova Football

http://articles.philly.com/2011-04-12/sports/29410179_1_john-marinatto-football-members-big-east-conference

What an utter embarrassment for the Big East. The league tried to strong-arm Villanova into upgrading their football program. Now that the school appeared ready to make the move, the Big Beast pulls the rug out from under a charter member and solid citizen of the league.

Why did they pressure Villanova into undertaking this exhaustive study and never mention Georgetown or Notre Dame? Both those schools are in much better financial shape than Villanova and Notre Dame is already an established Division IA Football program with all the facilities and other supports in place. Why not tell ND to get in for football or start looking for another league for your other sports?

Never mind, I get it. Money; specifically TV money. Once ‘Nova saw how lucrative the Big East Football TV package is, they decided they could make the move and not lose money, just as UConn did. Did some Big East Football schools decide that since TCU has come in with another top 10 TV market that the league doesn’t need Villanova Football anymore and doesn’t want to share any more of the TV revenue? That is a likely scenario. The stadium won’t bring in much revenue, they won’t gain much of a TV share of the Philadelphia viewing audience, at least initially, and Villanova will take years to develop enough of a football following to make a significant contribution to the league coffers with merchandise sales, additional TV revenue, ticket sales and Bowl appearances.

On the surface this makes the Big East look very bad. Even Tim Higgins and Jim Burr can see that.