What do you all think about affiliate membership in general, Does it strengthen or weaken a league? Maybe it doesn't matter or depends upon the league or sport?

Take the Big East for example. The Big East has several affiliate members and the conference logo is on the campuses of Denver, Florida, Vanderbilt, UConn, Temple, Cincy, Old Dominion and soon to be Quinnipiac and Liberty.
does this help get the brand in front of people strengthening it or does it take away from the brand identity since not every sport has the same core members?
does it help with recruiting in the sports involved?

(04-03-2016 04:03 PM)gosports1 Wrote:  What do you all think about affiliate membership in general, Does it strengthen or weaken a league? Maybe it doesn't matter or depends upon the league or sport?

Doesn't matter, with very rare and very particular exceptions.

Football affiliate memberhip matters in FBS.

An affiliate membership in the Big Ten matters because of BTN tv.

Wikipedia doesn't show any affiliate memberships for the SEC, and not many for the PAC-12.

Quote:Take the Big East for example. The Big East has several affiliate members and the conference logo is on the campuses of Denver, Florida, Vanderbilt, UConn, Temple, Cincy, Old Dominion and soon to be Quinnipiac and Liberty.
does this help get the brand in front of people strengthening it or does it take away from the brand identity since not every sport has the same core members?

Doesn't matter, because those sports don't matter. Sorry.

Quote:does it help with recruiting in the sports involved?

That's possible. Big East being in Denver may well help Providence land a recruit instead of, I don't know, Syracuse who never plays there.

I have no problems with affiliate membership. It provides teams with a home when they wouldn't likely have one otherwise. By the same token, the conference brand is strengthened as well for the most part. Both conference and school benefit from the arrangement.

I think the MAC is a slightly stronger brand with West Virginia for men's soccer. C-USA with New Mexico, South Carolina and Kentucky. Most of these affiliates are P5 schools in G5 conferences because their current homes don't offer it.

The MVC is stronger with Dallas Baptist as an affiliate for baseball. the B1G with Johns Hopkins and the Big East with Denver for men's lacrosse.

If its for a minor sport, its irrelevant. Really only matters for revenue sports. I'm not sure there are any true affiliates for basketball, baseball, or FBS football anymore.

(04-03-2016 04:20 PM)Tom in Lazybrook Wrote:  If its for a minor sport, its irrelevant. Really only matters for revenue sports. I'm not sure there are any true affiliates for basketball, baseball, or FBS football anymore.

Dallas Baptist baseball in the Valley, Hawaii football in the MW and Navy in the AAC would like to have a word with you about true affiliation in these sports.

(04-03-2016 04:25 PM)jdgaucho Wrote:  

(04-03-2016 04:20 PM)Tom in Lazybrook Wrote:  If its for a minor sport, its irrelevant. Really only matters for revenue sports. I'm not sure there are any true affiliates for basketball, baseball, or FBS football anymore.

Dallas Baptist baseball in the Valley, Hawaii football in the MW and Navy in the AAC would like to have a word with you about true affiliation in these sports.

I stand corrected. Forgot about Hawai'i/Navy.

Any others?

We all know UMass is currently a football-only affiliate in the MAC and NMSU / Idaho in the Sun Belt, though that will end within the next two years.

In baseball Sacramento State, North Dakota and Northern Colorado are affiliates in the WAC since the Big Sky doesn't offer the sport.

(04-03-2016 04:28 PM)Tom in Lazybrook Wrote:  

(04-03-2016 04:25 PM)jdgaucho Wrote:  

(04-03-2016 04:20 PM)Tom in Lazybrook Wrote:  If its for a minor sport, its irrelevant. Really only matters for revenue sports. I'm not sure there are any true affiliates for basketball, baseball, or FBS football anymore.

Dallas Baptist baseball in the Valley, Hawaii football in the MW and Navy in the AAC would like to have a word with you about true affiliation in these sports.

I stand corrected. Forgot about Hawai'i/Navy.

Any others?

Idaho and NMSU in the Sun Belt, but not for long.

You can't be an affiliate in basketball (you play basketball in your "home conference"). I suppose, maybe, you could convince your basketball conference to let you play everything else somewhere else. But I'm not even sure that's rules-legal if your conference approves of it.

http://www.d1baseball.com/conferences/ lists 32 conferences including Independents (something called New York Tech). I think that's everyone in DI except for the Big Sky. There might be some Big Sky schools as affiliates in western conferences, I dunno.

I think there's an NCAA rule that if your conference offers a sport at the level you're playing, you can't play in a different conference. (So Notre Dame couldn't join some other FBS league while playing Big East basketball.)

(04-03-2016 04:30 PM)jdgaucho Wrote:  We all know UMass is currently a football-only affiliate in the MAC and NMSU / Idaho in the Sun Belt, though that will end within the next two years.

In baseball Sacramento State, North Dakota and Northern Colorado are affiliates in the WAC since the Big Sky doesn't offer the sport.

UMASS is fully independent. They had a chance with the MAC and chose to basically commit slow football suicide unless the Sunbelt or CUSA throws them a lifeline or if the MAC accepts them back. Or if they get really lucky and the AAC looks backs their imperfections

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(04-03-2016 04:30 PM)jdgaucho Wrote:  We all know UMass is currently a football-only affiliate in the MAC and NMSU / Idaho in the Sun Belt, though that will end within the next two years.

In baseball Sacramento State, North Dakota and Northern Colorado are affiliates in the WAC since the Big Sky doesn't offer the sport.

So basically Hawai'i/Navy football and a bunch of Western baseball teams that can't find a home is it?

(04-03-2016 04:38 PM)johnbragg Wrote:  

(04-03-2016 04:28 PM)Tom in Lazybrook Wrote:  

(04-03-2016 04:25 PM)jdgaucho Wrote:  

(04-03-2016 04:20 PM)Tom in Lazybrook Wrote:  If its for a minor sport, its irrelevant. Really only matters for revenue sports. I'm not sure there are any true affiliates for basketball, baseball, or FBS football anymore.

Dallas Baptist baseball in the Valley, Hawaii football in the MW and Navy in the AAC would like to have a word with you about true affiliation in these sports.

I stand corrected. Forgot about Hawai'i/Navy.

Any others?

Idaho and NMSU in the Sun Belt, but not for long.

You can't be an affiliate in basketball (you play basketball in your "home conference"). I suppose, maybe, you could convince your basketball conference to let you play everything else somewhere else. But I'm not even sure that's rules-legal if your conference approves of it.

http://www.d1baseball.com/conferences/ lists 32 conferences including Independents (something called New York Tech). I think that's everyone in DI except for the Big Sky. There might be some Big Sky schools as affiliates in western conferences, I dunno.

I think there's an NCAA rule that if your conference offers a sport at the level you're playing, you can't play in a different conference. (So Notre Dame couldn't join some other FBS league while playing Big East basketball.)

Providence had its women's volleyball in America East for a while even though the Big East sponsored it. They joined the BE in 2014. I guess the conference OK'd it for whatever reason (competitiveness?)

I want to say PC volleyball was in America East for a few years because the program wasn't fully funded. I could be wrong.

PC was in BE volleyball when the league first formed up to a few years ago when it left and became independent for a couple of years, joined America East and then rejoined the BE.
I think PC has committed to fully funding the sport like the just did with mens lax. Again I could be wrong. Any VB fans out there?

for what its worth I don't think the mens or womens swimming and diving teams are funded either

(04-03-2016 04:46 PM)Cyniclone Wrote:  

(04-03-2016 04:38 PM)johnbragg Wrote:  

(04-03-2016 04:28 PM)Tom in Lazybrook Wrote:  

(04-03-2016 04:25 PM)jdgaucho Wrote:  

(04-03-2016 04:20 PM)Tom in Lazybrook Wrote:  If its for a minor sport, its irrelevant. Really only matters for revenue sports. I'm not sure there are any true affiliates for basketball, baseball, or FBS football anymore.

Dallas Baptist baseball in the Valley, Hawaii football in the MW and Navy in the AAC would like to have a word with you about true affiliation in these sports.

I stand corrected. Forgot about Hawai'i/Navy.

Any others?

Idaho and NMSU in the Sun Belt, but not for long.

You can't be an affiliate in basketball (you play basketball in your "home conference"). I suppose, maybe, you could convince your basketball conference to let you play everything else somewhere else. But I'm not even sure that's rules-legal if your conference approves of it.

http://www.d1baseball.com/conferences/ lists 32 conferences including Independents (something called New York Tech). I think that's everyone in DI except for the Big Sky. There might be some Big Sky schools as affiliates in western conferences, I dunno.

I think there's an NCAA rule that if your conference offers a sport at the level you're playing, you can't play in a different conference. (So Notre Dame couldn't join some other FBS league while playing Big East basketball.)

Providence had its women's volleyball in America East for a while even though the Big East sponsored it. They joined the BE in 2014. I guess the conference OK'd it for whatever reason (competitiveness?)

Huh. Must not be an NCAA rule then, at least not for all sports.

(04-03-2016 04:41 PM)Tom in Lazybrook Wrote:  

(04-03-2016 04:30 PM)jdgaucho Wrote:  We all know UMass is currently a football-only affiliate in the MAC and NMSU / Idaho in the Sun Belt, though that will end within the next two years.

In baseball Sacramento State, North Dakota and Northern Colorado are affiliates in the WAC since the Big Sky doesn't offer the sport.

So basically Hawai'i/Navy football and a bunch of Western baseball teams that can't find a home is it?

Pretty much. Plus the "mentioned several times already" Dallas Baptist baseball and Missouri Valley membership.

(04-03-2016 04:20 PM)Tom in Lazybrook Wrote:  If its for a minor sport, its irrelevant. Really only matters for revenue sports. I'm not sure there are any true affiliates for basketball, baseball, or FBS football anymore.

Hockey is a revenue sport and is mostly in single sports conferences, with the B1G as the lone exception.

Our hockey fan base has to pay major seat licenses annually in addition to the ticket prices and provides most of our revenue. Been selling 250,000 annual ticketsales for almost ten years.

(04-03-2016 06:32 PM)NoDak Wrote:  

(04-03-2016 04:20 PM)Tom in Lazybrook Wrote:  If its for a minor sport, its irrelevant. Really only matters for revenue sports. I'm not sure there are any true affiliates for basketball, baseball, or FBS football anymore.

Hockey is a revenue sport and is mostly in single sports conferences, with the B1G as the lone exception.

Which is why threads about schools joining the Big Ten for hockey attract interest on the CSCR board. Threads about schools jumping between other hockey conferences really don't.

I'm about to google up the CSNBBS thread about the NCHC and see how long that was.

EDIT: Six pages. For completely turning Division I hockey upside down.

(04-03-2016 06:35 PM)johnbragg Wrote:  

(04-03-2016 06:32 PM)NoDak Wrote:  

(04-03-2016 04:20 PM)Tom in Lazybrook Wrote:  If its for a minor sport, its irrelevant. Really only matters for revenue sports. I'm not sure there are any true affiliates for basketball, baseball, or FBS football anymore.

Hockey is a revenue sport and is mostly in single sports conferences, with the B1G as the lone exception.

Which is why threads about schools joining the Big Ten for hockey attract interest on the CSCR board. Threads about schools jumping between other hockey conferences really don't.

I'm about to google up the CSNBBS thread about the NCHC and see how long that was.

EDIT: Six pages. For completely turning Division I hockey upside down.

Most fans here don't have a hockey team to follow. It's a chicken or egg scenario.

The only affiliate relationships I see that don't really strengthen a conference are the ones that make a difference as to whether a conference sponsors a sport at all - the Atlantic Sun/SoCon lacrosse leagues, for example, are such a broad collection of schools both geographically and institutionally, it does little for the brand as a whole. Sun Belt men's soccer is in the same boat, although it has paid some dividend with the addition of Coastal Carolina.

The Mountain West having Hawai'i and Colorado College as affiliates, though, are mutually beneficial relationships. The Mountain West gets to have 12 members in both football and women's soccer, and Colorado College can affiliate with more academically similar institutions than they would find in the current incarnation of C-USA, the Tigers' previous home.




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(04-03-2016 04:03 PM)gosports1 Wrote:  What do you all think about affiliate membership in general, Does it strengthen or weaken a league? Maybe it doesn't matter or depends upon the league or sport?

Take the Big East for example. The Big East has several affiliate members and the conference logo is on the campuses of Denver, Florida, Vanderbilt, UConn, Temple, Cincy, Old Dominion and soon to be Quinnipiac and Liberty.
does this help get the brand in front of people strengthening it or does it take away from the brand identity since not every sport has the same core members?
does it help with recruiting in the sports involved?

I'm going to say it does matter in the "Revenue Sports." So we see so few examples of affiliate membership in football, mbb and wbb. Most of the other sports are considered non revenue and so there is comparatively little attention payed to conference affiliation.

The MAc has a number of affiliates ni wrestling which is an important sport in the mid west. The MAC also happens to be a high quality league as well and was only made stronger with the additions.