Villanova Has To Pay To Be On The Radio

[EvanJ]

On a La Salle message board somebody said Villanova pays to get their Men's Basketball on the radio. I'm shocked. Villanova is undefeated, tied for the most wins with 7, first in Warren Nolan's Nolan Power Index, first in the Sagarin, and the only school to be 8th or better in the RPI, AP Poll, and Coaches' Poll. Kentucky, who is Number 1 in both polls, is 15th in the RPI and 12th in the Sagarin. In addition, the 76ers being so bad could help Villanova.

[RollPride15]

As a local, I can tell you that the two eminent sports radio shows in the area (WIP and the Fanatic) are 90% interested in the Eagles, and everything else is something of a distant second. Despite being a great city for college hoops, it takes something like a deep postseason run--St. Joe's in the Jameer days--to get hosts talking about college basketball. Here's my suspicion: It looks like the Fanatic broadcasts 'Nova hoops, but that's going to be superseded by Sixers and Flyers lots of nights, and Nova's fanbase isn't really large enough to call in a ton of advertising revenue, so 'Nova would rather pay for the publicity on a big channel than languish alone on their college station.

[HofstraHockey]

Very few teams have stations paying them for the the rights. Islanders pay Hofstra to be on the air.