What the SNY deal really means

If you heard me this morning on Sports Talk with Bill and Mike on 104.7 FM, you know why the TV deal between UConn and SNY is so important.

If you didn't, here it is:

When all Hades was breaking loose this summer with schools talking relocating to different conferences and such, one of the sticking point to what made Rutgers so appealing to the Big Ten was its place in the New York City market.

Guess what?

That's gone. It now belongs to the Huskies.

Here are the details from the press release:

►Comprehensive UConn Huskies Football Season Preview Show

►Randy Edsall's Weekly Press Conference

►In-Depth Post-Game Shows [Following all SNY-televised UConn football games]

►UConn Huskies Season-in-Review/Bowl Preview Special

►UConn's "Football Signing Day" Press Conference

►Re-airs of every UConn Huskies Football Game [subject to availability]

►Huskies Power Hour: A 60-minute cut-down version of that week's game.

► SNY Spotlight with Head Coach Randy Edsall. SNY Spotlight is an exclusive signature series - created by SNY's Original Entertainment Division - that features in-depth interviews with New York's most influential leaders in sports and entertainment


It's not just football. It's men's basketball and a little bit of women's, which is a shame.

►Comprehensive UConn Huskies Men's basketball Season Preview Show

►In-Depth Pre-Game Shows Prior to Select SNY-Televised UConn Basketball Games

►UConn Huskies Season-in-Review Special

►Re-airs of Every UConn Huskies basketball Game Shown on SNY

► SNY Spotlight with Men's Head Basketball Coach Jim Calhoun and Women's Head Basketball Coach Geno Auriemma

This has two effects.

The first is, as mentioned earlier, the Big East has a school not named Rutgers, embedded in NYCs TV market. If schools start looking to move again, and they will, the Big East suddenly looks more appealing. Now, don't be too shocked to see Rutgers pop up on YES, but if you are a school looking to make the jump up to the Big East or from another large conference to the Big East, the exposure on SNY is a nice perk.

The second is that should the Big East fail at securing its future, UConn is now positioned itself to jump ship if the right opportunity strikes. So if the Big Ten or even the ACC came calling, UConn has a major bargaining chip.

On a side note to the SNY deal, the rest of Connecticut should be receiving the network on Comcast before the season opener at Michigan.