It was nice to see the Atlantic 10 ink a tv deal with NBC Sports. That's a conference which plays some serious hoops, and having more of it on my television is a good thing. And they're getting paid, so everyone wins.
The response by bloggers was tentative. First, the financials hadn't been released, and second, there aren't that many people searching the internet for articles about basketball deals. We're barely into October. It's football season.
Today, point one was addressed. We now have the financials. As to the second point – it being football season – the release of the financials kind of changed that as well.
It seems it's always football season.
Under the terms of the tv deal, the A-10 receives $40 million over 8 years. That's $5 million a year. There are 16 teams (and at this point, math isn't heading in their favor). $5 million, divided by 16 teams,is $312,500 per team, per year.
That's it?
Meanwhile, the Big East – admittedly a stronger basketball conference – could be close to getting $14 million per team/per year. Why? Football. The terms even specify this, dividing 70% of the money toward football, and 30% toward basketball.
So the Atlantic 10 getting a deal is a step in the right direction, but it also shows us what a basketball conference is really worth. And that's not very much, at least compared to football.
