Katz on C7 meeting and Big East Info

[MUMac]

I agree, Jim. When I think of the original Big East, I still think of John Thompson, Lou Carnesecca, Jim Boehiem, Rollie Massimino and later Jim Calhoun. That was the face of the Big East.

[TulsaWarrior]

Jim you're right the coaches will fuel the upstart league.

Coaches (that relates to institutional support and not messing with happy)

Everything else will stem from that. A network partner needs something to market.

[Mark Miller]

I still say the future network and the league must take 5 guys and base the entire marketing campaign around them to promote the new league. Give those guys a financial commitment to stay 3 years. Those 5 are John Thompson III, Jay Wright, Steve Lavin, Buzz Williams and Brad Stevens. Make those 5 the cornerstone of the new league and build it up.

Awesome idea.

[TheSultan]

I go back and forth on this. At times, I think it would be great for the C7 to start out on a network like NBCS or FoxSports and have them promote the heck out of the league. But I worry that, despite all this promotion, a league like the C7 may not generate significant numbers. And if you can't get enough eyeballs to watch your product, I am not sure how long you stay in the forefront of basketball fans and recruits.

In the end, perhaps we can get something like the tiered rights you see in college football. ESPN gets a Big Monday game...the rest of the weekday games go to NBCS. ESPN also gets a Saturday afternoon game with the rest of the weekend games on NBCS.

[warriorfan4life]

I like the idea of partnering with Fox, as they have had great past success building a channel from the ground up in Fox News.

[TheSultan]

Yeah, I also think they think more toward the future instead of the past. NBC and NBC Sports just has the "feel" of a network from the 1990s. Fox does a good job broadcasting and pushes the envelope a bit more. Good point.

[MUMac]

When Fox took over the NFC from CBS, many laughed. Fox was an upstart and had little else to offer. They helped make the NFL the popular sport it is today (yes, it was popular prior to Fox, but Fox helped take it to a new level). Fox is innovative and does an excellent job marketing and producing their product.

I agree with Sultan, NBC gives me the wrong feel.

If they can get with Fox, do it and don't look back.

[TheSultan]

Speaking of terrible NBC Sports Network ratings...

http://www.awfulannouncing.com/2013/...medium=twitter

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

You really are being sensitive to call the following phrase "slander".

Actually, just being inaccurate. It cannot be slander because slander is spoken.

It could be considered libel, but that's still a stretch.

[CaribouJim]

I still say the future network and the league must take 5 guys and base the entire marketing campaign around them to promote the new league. Give those guys a financial commitment to stay 3 years. Those 5 are John Thompson III, Jay Wright, Steve Lavin, Buzz Williams and Brad Stevens. Make those 5 the cornerstone of the new league and build it up.

I would market the heck out of the "urban-ness" of the league as well - I could imagine something similar to the MU video that precedes the MU line-up where they are passing the ball to each other in different spots on campus. Have a star player on each team with their city skyline or an iconic spot as a backdrop and pass the ball to another city - MU's could be that building that was featured on the opening of Laverne and Shirley and was featured in SI way back when - see the link below. For SJU their guy could be at that legendary playground - can't remember the name. I really hope the HQ is in NYC.

Whatever the marketing campaign is it should should be unique as possible. Not crazy about a focus on the coaches, but if you have to do that at least in the beginning I can live with it I guess. In general, college coaches get too much face time as it is.

http://marquette.scout.com/2/545125.html