Pitt Athletic Director On Paying Higher Amount To Leave Big East Early: 'NO'
by Patrick_the_Ruminator on Feb 21, 2012 6:19 PM EST
in The Big East Falls Apart
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PrintPittsburgh will apparently not be leaving the Big East early. The Panthers' athletic director Steve Pederson told Jerry DiPaola of the Pittsburgh Tribune the answer to the question on paying a higher amount than the $5 million Big East exit fee in one word: "No."
There had been speculation in the Pittsburgh media that Pitt would try to leave in 2012 as West Virginia did for the Big 12. So much for that. If Pederson is so adamant that the Panthers will not be throwing any extra money at the Big East to leave early, then Pitt might stay the full 27 months of the Big East exit period. You have to wonder if that decision would lock in Syracuse until 2014 as well.
And in case you were wondering about the potential of Boise State to join the Big East in 2012, there was this tweet from Brett McMurphy today.
none RT @chadlorance: @McMurphyCBS any talk at those meetings about Boise joining Big East in '12?
— Brett McMurphy (@McMurphyCBS) February 21, 2012
Stay tuned to our Big East Falls Apart section for more on the departures of Pittsburgh and Syracuse.
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Posturing
Never negotiate your position in the press, especially if you’re on the offense. The Big East management is made up of incompetent buffoons, and SU and Pitt know that. The Big East needs them more in 2012 than they need the Big East, so they’ll get out early.
Patrick, you really ought to learn how to read between the lines of these things. It’s never obvious until it is obvious.
Go Cuse. Go Utes. Go Kings (hockey version). Go Panthers (hockey version). Go Marlins. Go Dodgers. I despise the NFL and NBA, so don't bore me.
But unlike the Big XII, the ACC don't need Syracuse or Pitt desparately
Okay, somebody in the Big East has made this necessary. "BC" in my nickname references the icon. I AM NOT A BOSTON COLLEGE FAN.
Other than getting more money for TV
Sure, they don’t need them.
Go Cuse. Go Utes. Go Kings (hockey version). Go Panthers (hockey version). Go Marlins. Go Dodgers. I despise the NFL and NBA, so don't bore me.
by LeftCoastMan on Feb 22, 2012 2:15 PM EST up reply actions
The only guarantee was that the Big XII would lose their contract without 10 teams in 2012.
There is no benefit to the ACC to have Syracuse and Pitt early, especially not in 2012.
Okay, somebody in the Big East has made this necessary. "BC" in my nickname references the icon. I AM NOT A BOSTON COLLEGE FAN.
This doesn't mean anything
Of course Pederson would say that. Why say you’re publicly willing to pay more and make yourself appear weaker? Pitt won’t leave for 2012, but don’t assume that means 2013 is out of the question.
Cardiac Hill contributor
by oaklandzoo12 on Feb 21, 2012 9:38 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
Pitt and Cuse will be out
in 2013, I can assure you. Probably for anywhere between 7.5 and 10 million, and I would guess the lesser of those two numbers.
I agree
As I said above, negotiating through the press is rarely successful, probably why it cost WVU $20 million.
I don’t think 2012 is going to happen for SU and Pitt, but it’s still possible. Again, Big East Light needs SU and Pitt way more than those two need the Conference USA East.
Go Cuse. Go Utes. Go Kings (hockey version). Go Panthers (hockey version). Go Marlins. Go Dodgers. I despise the NFL and NBA, so don't bore me.
by LeftCoastMan on Feb 22, 2012 1:03 PM EST up reply actions
I still think Boise will be here in 2012
SU and Pitt are the only schools who have yet to schedule a 5th game, which makes since because the BE has little motivation to help them with their OOC schedule. Yet no schools have a 6th team scheduled yet. If it were truly every school for themselves surely at least one school would be competent enough to line up a 6th OOC game. This makes me believe there has to be some negotiations in place to bring in another team for 2012.
He's right though...
…WV paying $20 million to leave is ridiculous! No matter where it’s coming from, the folks in West Virginia that support that University should be up in arms. Anyone who thinks the Big East caved has their head in the sand. The league got $20 mil for losing West Virginia!!!! If I were Pitt and Cuse I would not pay to leave early either. They will be gone in 2013 for perhaps a bit more than the $5 million exit fee, but that will be it.
Agreed
of course, Luck will say that the money only comes from the athletic department and is not tied to student tuition or tax money at all, but anyone that knows anything about big-institution finances know that all of the money in that organization is all tied and pooled together eventually.
For most big universities, the general fund or student body already subsidizes the athletic department (through student fees and tax money somehow), and now that WVU is an extra 10 mill in the red, they will need more subsidies in order to effectively run their athletic department.
Not exactly
If WVU were paying the whole thing, yeah, it would be silly, but the Big 12 appears to be footing about half the bill. Given that
- it’s been reported pretty widely that some of the Big 12’s TV contracts had out clauses if the Big 12 fell below ten members, which could have cost them a lot of money
- if the Big 12 didn’t get WVU this year, the Big 12 schools would have the same problem that the Big East schools do (needing to find another non-con game on very short notice)
It probably makes a lot of sense for the Big 12 to cover half the bill.
And WVU paying $11 million to leave two seasons earlier than following the 27-month rule would have them leaving is not ridiculous; the Big 12 is almost certainly worth at least $6M/yr more than the Big East.
But they don't even get a full share for three years.
They could have played one more season and gotten out in 2013 for a little more than the $5 mil. PittGuy’s range is on the mark. The hoops schools had already indicated in the Fall that they saw no need to keep the schools around for three more seasons. They hold the cards until July 1 2013 so they could easily out vote the football schools to let Cuse and Pitt go early. I think the Big East football package is going to be bigger than what was rejected with the new line-up and markets so it is yet to be seen what the difference is money wise especially since WVU does not get full money for three years.
However
in order to keep their television contract the Big XII needed West Virginia immediately. Over the next 5 years WVU will make back what they lost and then some, especially when compared to Big East revenue. The BE might very well get a bigger contract but it still won’t touch the Big XII’s.
Despite what many think, Oliver Luck is not a stupid man and he has an impressive resume. We all know there is way more going on behind the scenes than what news outlets are reporting. He know what he’s doing, as does President Clements.
"that place laid the foundation for who I am. A lot of outsiders make fun of it and say negative things about West Virginia. Fuck them" - Jerry West
by MountaineerAirman on Feb 24, 2012 9:54 AM EST up reply actions
The Big XII
Paid $9mil of that, which will be repaid by WVU through the Big XII tv contract.
None of the money came from state funds. A great deal of it came from private donations.
"that place laid the foundation for who I am. A lot of outsiders make fun of it and say negative things about West Virginia. Fuck them" - Jerry West
by MountaineerAirman on Feb 24, 2012 9:51 AM EST up reply actions
Doesn't it bother you just a bit...
…that $20 million dollars that could have gone to some other portion of the University, that could have been donated to fund scholarships for non-athletes, that could have gone into facilities, or any other acedemic portion of the Univeristy went essentially to nothing? It’s $20 million dollars in a day and age where colleges are raising student costs like crazy. Pitt and Cuse are right not to pay more than they have to for an early exit. Everyone would have been out by 2013. You can kill Marinatto for a lot of things – a lot of things – but he certainly did not blink on this. He got WVU to pay four times the exit fee and WVU leaving will have zero effect on next year’s Big East football revenues. I know WVU wanted out, but there comes a point where you say this is not money a University should be willing to part with.
I have faith
that the people running the state’s flagship universities are not idiots, and I’m not going to sit here and pretend, like many do, that I know how much money goes where when it comes to anything related to this situation, or anything else. Obviously the AD thought it was worth it, because his teams stand to benefit it, but the President and the Board of Governor’s were also on board with the idea.
WVU has steadily risen through the academic rankings in the past several years. If we coninute to do so, I’ll view this move as positive for the whole university. If we begin to drop again, then I’ll definite;y think the money is mishandled.
As it stands I’m going to have faith in the powers that be. Maybe that’s the military culture coming out in me.
"that place laid the foundation for who I am. A lot of outsiders make fun of it and say negative things about West Virginia. Fuck them" - Jerry West
by MountaineerAirman on Feb 24, 2012 11:49 AM EST up reply actions
Position
As others have said, this is a negotiation. If the Big East goes to Pitt and says they’ll let Pitt out after the 2012-2013 academic year if Pitt pays an extra, say $2 million, would Pitt say no? I doubt it.
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