CAA Press Conference on February 9, 2023

[EvanJ]

I just read that CAA Comissioner Joe D'Antonio is having a press conference tomorrow (February 9, 2023) to announce media rights.

[HUSID80]

UGH probably like Ground Hog Day: six more years of FLO!

[dutchPride86]

UGH probably like Ground Hog Day: six more years of FLO!

Pretty close! 4 more years on Flo sadly, with I guess a few extra conference games a year on CBS SportsNet. Gotta love the line:

"The contract includes new requirements that will enhance the quality of broadcasts across all streamed sporting events."

If they actually realize how bad Flo is, why re-up with them?! Ugh


https://caasports.com/news/2023/2/9/foo ... ports.aspx

[EvanJ]

Getting the Women's Basketball Final on TV is good, albeit we are unlikely to be in it any time soon. I'd love if the Men's Soccer and Women's Soccer Finals were televised.

I recently had Flo streams start and stop, so I hope the quality improves, and my internet speed is fast enough. ESPN Plus has so many more games for less money, but sometimes the streams stop when the games go to commercial and make me refresh.

[Wags]

UGH probably like Ground Hog Day: six more years of FLO!

Pretty close! 4 more years on Flo sadly, with I guess a few extra conference games a year on CBS SportsNet. Gotta love the line:

"The contract includes new requirements that will enhance the quality of broadcasts across all streamed sporting events."

If they actually realize how bad Flo is, why re-up with them?! Ugh


https://caasports.com/news/2023/2/9/foo ... ports.aspx

I was on today's Zoom call and asked (a couple of others asked basically the same as well) about the promise to enhance the quality of the Flo broadcasts.

Clearly, there is a recognition and acknowledgment from D'Antonio that the Flo broadcasts need some significant improvement. So, as a start, that's a good thing because you can't fix something if you don't admit it needs fixing.

However, D'Antonio said there wouldn't be any sort of significant or direct iinvestment or help on Flo's part to enhance the broadcast quality. Each CAA institution is in charge of production and that will remain in place. D'Antonio said that "the new requirements" (as you mentioned above) are basically new FloSports broadcast parameters for each school to follow in order to up their games as far as improving the broadcasts. D'Antonio is confident that each school will take that on in a serious way and as a result, we will see the improvement in the quality as events are streamed that way through FloSports.

So, as is alluded to in this thread above, dropping FloSports for another carrier might've been better news, or FloSports taking a more direct charge with an investment of its own might've been better, but at the very least, the CAA admits the issue and is trying to work with each CAA school and with FloSports to make improvements. Maybe that'll happen. Time will tell.

As far as reach with the other partner, 20 CAA regular-season men’s basketball games still isn't that many, but then again, with the quality of some of the teams in the bottom half of the CAA, it may be better to limit the number of those broadcasts on CBS SportsNetwork and with only the better teams for a while until some of these other CAA programs (especially the newcomers) can gain their footing in the conference and improve their teams.

[jaspegs]

I don’t understand how almost every other conference has deals with ESPN+ yet somehow the CAA thinks Flo is the best choice. Just don’t see how there’s a way Flo is willing to pay enough money where you’d turn down a deal with ESPN +. Such amateur hour from this conference as usual.

[Wags]

I don’t understand how almost every other conference has deals with ESPN+ yet somehow the CAA thinks Flo is the best choice. Just don’t see how there’s a way Flo is willing to pay enough money where you’d turn down a deal with ESPN +. Such amateur hour from this conference as usual.

Even if it's better financially in the shorter term (and I don't know that it is), it seems shortsighted because if you increase your exposure and put out a better streaming product for your games through a better carrier, you'll probably make more money in the longer run.

[jaspegs]

I don’t understand how almost every other conference has deals with ESPN+ yet somehow the CAA thinks Flo is the best choice. Just don’t see how there’s a way Flo is willing to pay enough money where you’d turn down a deal with ESPN +. Such amateur hour from this conference as usual.

Even if it's better financially in the shorter term (and I don't know that it is), it seems shortsighted because if you increase your exposure and put out a better streaming product for your games through a better carrier, you'll probably make more money in the longer run.

Exactly. And I know this has been discussed but it doesn’t help from a recruiting perspective either.

[Wags]

I don’t understand how almost every other conference has deals with ESPN+ yet somehow the CAA thinks Flo is the best choice. Just don’t see how there’s a way Flo is willing to pay enough money where you’d turn down a deal with ESPN +. Such amateur hour from this conference as usual.

Even if it's better financially in the shorter term (and I don't know that it is), it seems shortsighted because if you increase your exposure and put out a better streaming product for your games through a better carrier, you'll probably make more money in the longer run.

Exactly. And I know this has been discussed but it doesn’t help from a recruiting perspective either.

Which, if you're looking to grow the conference and make more money, is probably THE most important thing. Nothing will accomplish those more than raising the level of player talent across the conference. So if you want to do all of that, start with the best streaming product you can have and let that come around full circle, through better exposure, better recruiting, and let it all lead to a higher quality league and more money.

[Cards]

Exactly. And I know this has been discussed but it doesn’t help from a recruiting perspective either.[/quote]
Which, if you're looking to grow the conference and make more money, is probably THE most important thing. Nothing will accomplish those more than raising the level of player talent across the conference. So if you want to do all of that, start with the best streaming product you can have and let that come around full circle, through better exposure, better recruiting, and let it all lead to a higher quality league and more money.[/quote]

EXACTLY!

[HUSID80]

Couldn't agree more on ESPN vs Flo on all counts , but does anyone know if ESPN actually bid on covering the CAA.

Most people I know, even college hoop fans have no clue as to what Flo is...EVERYONE knows ESPN...shame another four years!

[Polito]

This conference is a joke, and its leadership is dismal. The CAA is becoming an embarrassing place to call home.

There is no easy answer or clear path for HU, but what is clear that somehow someway by any miracle possible HU needs to work its butt off and do everything it can to find a way out down the road. Unfortunately, because HU also has lacking leadership and next to zero athletic vision for the future, that's not likely in the near-term.

And because HU canned the one sport driving this entire landscape and the only thing that makes a department attractive for re-alignment, there's no where to go at the moment. And because HU doesn't win enough championships in the only other sport that means a darn and hasn't made a national name for itself with repeated NCAAT trips, there's no where to go.

So I'm really just complaining with no solution, which is a waste of time lol. But it's so infuriating that it's hard to just keep quiet.

Add on top of that the fact that this CAA expansion is awful, as I warned from the start, and we now have one of THE worst conferences in the NCAA. Good times, good times.

[dutchPride86]

Among the many maddening things about the CAA is the conference's inability to spotlight its best product. What good is having a couple extra national TV games on CBSSN if it's going to be nights like tonight where you have Hampton Elon on TV over a full slate of games?! Or both Uncw Charleston games and the Hofstra Charleston game on Flo only. Not only should the conference be going out of its way to spotlight its best teams, but getting national TV games should be an incentive for the crappy programs to improve, not something handed out unilaterally to every team in the conference. Wags I know you said you were on the call here last week... was there talk of more flex games in the new deal?

Also, since its going to continue to be on the schools to push local TV coverage themselves, Hofstra HAS to be more aggressive getting their home games carried by SNY, YES, or MSG. SNY is airing the NC AT Monmouth game at the same time as Hofstra's game tonight, just like they aired Monmouths home game Saturday against us. I've even seen more Stony Brook games on SNY this year than Hofstras (including the women's game yesterday). And these are all just SNY simulcasting the school's feed going out on Flo, not like SNY paying for a truck or announcers. I've seen plenty of Northeastern games simulcast on NESN over the years, Drexel has games on NBC Philly and Delaware has games on the mid-atlantic local.

Maybe if the general public actually saw Hofstra listed on TV at home more than once or twice a year it wouldn't be so hard to get anyone to show up at The Mack

[Wags]

was there talk of more flex games in the new deal?

Nope. The new deal of at least 20 games on CBS Sports Network is only two more games than the 18 that were shown this year. I guess it's possible that the "at least" part of that could include adding some marquee games like this year's UNCW-Charleston or Hofstra-Charleston games rather than flexing to those from some of the less attractive games, but I would think once they'd have the TV schedule for the 20 next year, that might be set without flexing.

Maybe if the general public actually saw Hofstra listed on TV at home more than once or twice a year it wouldn't be so hard to get anyone to show up at The Mack

Possibly. Certainly wouldn't hurt.

[Wags]

was there talk of more flex games in the new deal?

Nope. The new deal of at least 20 games on CBS Sports Network is only two more games than the 18 that were shown this year. I guess it's possible that the "at least" part of that could include adding some marquee games like this year's UNCW-Charleston or Hofstra-Charleston games rather than flexing to those from some of the less attractive games, but I would think once they'd have the TV schedule for the 20 next year, that might be set without flexing.

I guess there are already some CAA wild-card games that CBS Sports Network already adds. Just saw that Stony Brook at Charleston was added by the network on 2/25. Assuming they'll do the same kind of thing next year.

[Jojogunne]

I saw that, too:

https://stonybrookathletics.com/news/20 ... -game.aspx

This means both of Charleston's last two games (vs. Towson on 2/23 and vs. SBU on 2/25) will be on CBSSN.

[EvanJ]

was there talk of more flex games in the new deal?

Nope. The new deal of at least 20 games on CBS Sports Network is only two more games than the 18 that were shown this year. I guess it's possible that the "at least" part of that could include adding some marquee games like this year's UNCW-Charleston or Hofstra-Charleston games rather than flexing to those from some of the less attractive games, but I would think once they'd have the TV schedule for the 20 next year, that might be set without flexing.
Possibly. Certainly wouldn't hurt.

The 18 includes the CAA Semifinals and Final, so it is 15 before that. My interpretation is that the 20 does not include the CAA Tournament, so it would be an increase of 5.

By moving up Stony Brook at Charleston to 12:00 P.M., CBS Sports Network makes sure we will know what we need to do to get the 1 seed when we start at 2:00 P.M. when Charleston ends.

[Cards]

So as of the current NET rankings, the CAA has 7 teams ranked at 301 or worse. And we can't say that it is just the new additions, as NU, W&M, and Elon are three of the 7. Of course, of the four new additions to the conference, ALL are ranked over 300. Pitiful! JUST PITIFUL! Imagine, it was not that many years ago when the likes of VCU, Old Dominion, George Mason, and James Madison players were running up and down the court at the Mack. A once strong mid major conference is now a joke!

[stuball888]

That puts all those teams in the bottom 20 percent
Thats more than half the conference

[stuball888]

Campbell comes in next season us sitting at 260