In a prepared statement, ESPN told SportsBusiness Journal: "Conference USA never fulfilled their contractual obligation relating to ESPN’s future rights. We are exploring possible solutions to resolve this situation but remain prepared to take any necessary steps to protect our rights."
Conference USA spokeswoman Courtney Morrison-Archer disagreed, responding in an e-mail: "We have great respect for ESPN and have appreciated our partnership. We disagree with the assertion that ESPN was disadvantaged and are disappointed that they feel as if they were. On the contrary, ESPN had every opportunity to step up and address our concerns. Following a long and protracted discussion, the conference board of directors voted to move in a different direction. Conference USA reached an agreement with Fox on terms clearly more favorable than those offered by ESPN, and we believe the conference fully complied with its contractual obligations to ESPN."
about 1 year ago
MinerMike
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Hmmmmm?!......
Is it just coincidental that C-USA continues to get ZERO acknowledgement or consideration from E$PN? I hate to be a conspiracy theorist, however this looks extremely suspect! Is E$PN now seeing how competitive and exciting that this conference is becoming that they can see the writing on the wall and now want back in?!
And then there's this....
Relations between the conference and ESPN have become so strained that the network threatened legal action against Conference USA.
The intentional lack of attention that our conference has been suffering this basketball season makes this controversy look more and more significant.
Our pal Iliana Limón of the Orlando Sentinel had this to report in her column: ESPN reportedly questioning new Conference USA agreement with Fox
The deal was significant for Fox as well.
Looks like E$PN doens’t want any competition. I suppose C-USA has enough pull in its respective television markets that they don’t want to give way to any potential loss in revenues in said markets. I don’t seem them creating this type of fuss over the MWC, WAC or any other “Mid-major” therefore it must be television revenue generated.
That is what my impression was after I read this. It makes sense, ESPN feels betrayed because a "Mid-Major" conference is turning them down. In response they pull the highly unprofessional move of trying to hurt the C-USA by not covering our sports.
It has been evident throughout the season. All of the C-USA games on ESPN have been poorly covered on Sportscenter, there have been almost NO articles about our League, and they can’t even keep the boxscores for C-USA updated during the games. I don’t know what the contract states, but C-USA and FOX feel pretty strongly that they didn’t breach anything, and ESPN is acting like a spoiled bitch with all of their claims.
"BCS does not apply to basketball. It's football. You can't tell me Memphis is a mid-major. You can't tell me UTEP, with its history of players, crowd attendance and NCAA Tournament berths, is a mid-major. Same for Gonzaga and St. Mary's - it doesn't apply. These are high-major programs that can play. All we can do is win games and hope others recognize. … We should pass the eye test - if anybody ever watches us." - Tim Floyd
It's very arbitrary....
Once I read this I couldn’t wrap my mind around any other reason why a conference which is so tightly wound from week to week wasn’t getting any better attention. It’s not like we’re somewhere in the middle of pack, the conference RPI is very respectable and the constant roller coaster that we see week in and week out illustrates how tough this conference is. To clarify, I’m not attempting to compare us to any other conference, I’m simply pointing out that we’re unlike any other conference this season and this is definetly news worthy. That’s why I continue to spout and have faith that the committee will recognize this conference for what it is and will make the right call come selection Sunday.
I don't want to go too far into conspiracy
ESPN still has current contractual obligation, what they are I’m not sure, but I’m sure they could end up getting sued if they don’t hold up their end. Either way, I’d much rather be on ESPN, as I’m sure we’d all agree. If they were really trying to match the FOX deal then let them. I just don’t get it. I’ve been seeing how much NMSU, and the WAC come out on ESPN, ESPN2, AND ESPN3.com, and it just doesn’t make any sense. How do they get so much exposure, and we get 3 or 4 games a year??
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