Aresco was hired as a TV genius. That's his background, that's his strength. Aresco and Bevilacqua were supposed to slice and dice the content to maximize revenue and exposure. Instead, it seems the Aresco League gets a contract that pretty much anybody in Aresco's chair could have negotiated.

"But what could he have done"?

He could have been creative. Once it was clear that there wasn't a big pot of money coming from a bidding war, get creative. Do something different.

Since the New Big East was built and rebuilt on the strength of big markets, go with a pro-sports type model, reserving most of the content for local distribution. Get the games on a local outlet who will promote them and the university locally, and show them nationally on NBC-SN who doesn't care anyway, and on NBC Sports' internet platform they built for the Olympics that is now sitting there collecting dust.

Propose a deal to ESPN or FoxSports1 where, for a fixed price per game, they get as many regular season football games as they want that year. There's your national exposure.

Figure out a strategy to fill the void that will be created when the "SEC Network" games go from syndication to the SEC Network. Say that out loud.

Shake the tree, maybe Turner Sports or WGN falls out. Maybe some of those rich SMU and Tulane alumni buy up five years worth of fall Saturdays on MSNBC and the league runs its own production.

As far as we can tell, the old ESPN contract just gave ESPN the right to counteroffer. So Aresco could have tried to do any of this. And if he did try, let it leak. Maybe something turns up.

taken that manager's job at Dennys instead

(02-24-2013 11:47 PM)Theodoresdaddy Wrote:  taken that manager's job at Dennys instead

now THAT's funny!