ISP/ESPN Form Partnership to Manage USF Multimedia

[Guest]

Of course some will be mad because all the details and full explanation of the contract wasn't released to the public.

FWIW: I believe the contract is a public record, thanks to the good ol' Florida Sunshine Law.

[Joe]

Hmm, are you now able to gauge the dollar value of these contracts too, to deem what is fair?  Pretty amazing, why aren't you running this Athletic Department.  

I would say given the strength of conference and name FSU, and USF are fairly priced.  I would guess it would take us about 8-10 years before anyone at USF could expect more than a nominal increase.  It's about a franchise value.  If anyone doesn't think there isn't a buyout provision and or ability to renegotiate clearly hasn't seen a real contract in their lives.  Boys, there are usually more details then what's printed in the paper...I know that's difficult for a few of you to grasp.

Of course some will be mad because all the details and full explanation of the contract wasn't released to the public.

Hey maybe Joe could read it to us.

Doing it again Bien.

I have made my point clear in my posts that I believe the money is unbelievable right now.

I am more concerned about the LENGTH of the contract. 2.2 Million is unbelievable for the Bulls right now, will it be that way in say 2012? I'm not sure. But locking yourself in for that length when you an athletic program that has a lot of growing ahead of it concerns me.

FSU can sign at 10 years 66 Million because their programs don't really have much more growth to them. Auburn can do the same. Their fanbases are established, along with the consistencies in their sports programs. 10 years for them is nothing, especially considering these programs will make ISP Millions.

Compare that to USF, who doesn't have the fanbase, the success, nor the advertiser's demand that bigger schools have.

There might be a buyout provision, I'm not sure. However, the face of this agreement, compared to other similarly situated agreements can backfire on USF DOWN THE LINE.

Please forgive me for injecting my expiriences from my job into this...

[Greg Auman]

Some good thoughts here. USF is one of four Big East schools that now have deals with ISP: Villanova just re-upped through 2013, and Syracuse and Pittsburgh have been with them as well.

I understand the concern about the length of the deal, but again, the revenue isn't capped at $2.2-million. It's a starting point. Think of it like a guarantee: USF will get at least $2.2-million a year in revenues from advertising on radio and TV broadcasts, etc. ... It's likely to be more than that, and more so by the year 2016. This contract doesn't limit the revenue at any point in the deal -- it puts it in the hands of one of the industry leaders in college sports marketing.

My understanding is that the previous deal was significantly undervalued for USF -- obviously they've moved to the Big East since it was signed, so there's been a major change in the prominence of USF athletics and the caliber of its opponents as well, which adds to the value of its product.

Hope that answers some questions. Anything else, you can visit the blog, shoot me an e-mail at auman@sptimes.com or just keep posting here ...

[BullyPulpit]

Greg and Eric have explained this deal perfectly.....

The $2.2 million is a GUARANTEED MINIMUM. We will never do worse than that over the course of the 10 year period, even if ISP doesn't "make" $2.2 Million off of our marketing sales. After the first $2.2 million is earned by ISP, we then share the "profit" with ISP and ESPN, in (what appears to be) a 1/3 split.

Therefore, if USF is fortunate enough to continue to grow at the exponential pace we have experienced over our first decade, we will still reap the benefits of the added money. Say by 2015 USF is generating $11.2 million dollars annually in marketing agreements, then the first $2.2 million would go to USF and ISP, ESPN, and USF would all get $3 million each off of the "profit". That would be $5.2 million for USF.

Finally, for those of you who don't think ISP will use their best efforts to market USF, realize that if they don't generate at least $2.2 million annually for USF they technically lose money out of the deal. Also, if you look at the UCLA article above, USF will benefit from large national contracts that we might not otherwise be able to pull in by being affiliated with ISP.

I have just about full faith in our athletic department leadership right now. They have done an incredible job transforming USF sports over the past decade and I am confident they have us going down the right path. Additionally keep in mind that your LAST contract does have bearing on what your NEXT contract will be worth. Seeing as we were earning $500,000 under the last contract, expecting a much bigger GUARANTEED increase than 400% would be somewhat naive. Just my two cents.

[Bullpride08]

Hmm, are you now able to gauge the dollar value of these contracts too, to deem what is fair?  Pretty amazing, why aren't you running this Athletic Department.  

I would say given the strength of conference and name FSU, and USF are fairly priced.  I would guess it would take us about 8-10 years before anyone at USF could expect more than a nominal increase.  It's about a franchise value.  If anyone doesn't think there isn't a buyout provision and or ability to renegotiate clearly hasn't seen a real contract in their lives.  Boys, there are usually more details then what's printed in the paper...I know that's difficult for a few of you to grasp.

Of course some will be mad because all the details and full explanation of the contract wasn't released to the public.

Hey maybe Joe could read it to us.

Doing it again Bien.

I have made my point clear in my posts that I believe the money is unbelievable right now.

I am more concerned about the LENGTH of the contract. 2.2 Million is unbelievable for the Bulls right now, will it be that way in say 2012? I'm not sure. But locking yourself in for that length when you an athletic program that has a lot of growing ahead of it concerns me.

FSU can sign at 10 years 66 Million because their programs don't really have much more growth to them. Auburn can do the same. Their fanbases are established, along with the consistencies in their sports programs. 10 years for them is nothing, especially considering these programs will make ISP Millions.

Compare that to USF, who doesn't have the fanbase, the success, nor the advertiser's demand that bigger schools have.

There might be a buyout provision, I'm not sure. However, the face of this agreement, compared to other similarly situated agreements can backfire on USF DOWN THE LINE.

Please forgive me for injecting my expiriences from my job into this...

We really need you as an AD...they've been making all these stupid moves without consulting you how crazy!

[SeaBull]

so this is a good thing?....    *runs and hides*

The length was a little scary at first but as I think about it more, the less foggy my goggles get. In ten years, "if" the least we were to do would be to win the Big East and get a BCS birth, we will have done something no one else in college football has ever done in such a period...ever, including FSU and Miami. That's giving us 10 whole years, most people expect this in 5.

Right now, our number one concern off the field should be marketing. Our marketing SUCKS so if an outside company wants to PAY US to market FOR US...let them in! Not only is it revenue but it's MARKETING. Before this we could count on annoying brighthouse commercials and pathetic USF commercials. You know the ones that show students who aren't even wearing green.

Why not let someone else handle the marketing over the next ten years while our AD and coaches handle the product? $2.2 million a year? We aren't FSU, lets not pretend like we deserve $6.6 million.

[E.T.]

... Our marketing SUCKS ...

I always disagree with this statement, a better - more true statement would be that our marketing budget sucks, because we don't have enough donors.

:GoBulls

An additional $2.2 million a year !  AWESOME !!!

[Joe]

Hmm, are you now able to gauge the dollar value of these contracts too, to deem what is fair?  Pretty amazing, why aren't you running this Athletic Department.  

I would say given the strength of conference and name FSU, and USF are fairly priced.  I would guess it would take us about 8-10 years before anyone at USF could expect more than a nominal increase.  It's about a franchise value.  If anyone doesn't think there isn't a buyout provision and or ability to renegotiate clearly hasn't seen a real contract in their lives.  Boys, there are usually more details then what's printed in the paper...I know that's difficult for a few of you to grasp.

Of course some will be mad because all the details and full explanation of the contract wasn't released to the public.

Hey maybe Joe could read it to us.

Doing it again Bien.

I have made my point clear in my posts that I believe the money is unbelievable right now.

I am more concerned about the LENGTH of the contract. 2.2 Million is unbelievable for the Bulls right now, will it be that way in say 2012? I'm not sure. But locking yourself in for that length when you an athletic program that has a lot of growing ahead of it concerns me.

FSU can sign at 10 years 66 Million because their programs don't really have much more growth to them. Auburn can do the same. Their fanbases are established, along with the consistencies in their sports programs. 10 years for them is nothing, especially considering these programs will make ISP Millions.

Compare that to USF, who doesn't have the fanbase, the success, nor the advertiser's demand that bigger schools have.

There might be a buyout provision, I'm not sure. However, the face of this agreement, compared to other similarly situated agreements can backfire on USF DOWN THE LINE.

Please forgive me for injecting my expiriences from my job into this...

We really need you as an AD...they've been making all these stupid moves without consulting you how crazy!

Don't be a jerk.

It's a message board and I was giving my opinion.

Kinda like you do when you give us those great 5 paragraph answers to why Ricky Ponton transferred...

[THEUSFFAN]

ISP is the country's leader in sports marketing.  It is very clear that they are doing something right that is beneficial to the schools.  The bad part about blog postings is that assumptions sometimes are turned into what people think is the truth.

Great deal for USF.  ISP won't turn a profit for a while b/c the marketing opportunities at usf are not worth 2.2 right now.

[E.T.]

...

Great deal for USF.  ISP won't turn a profit for a while b/c the marketing opportunities at usf are not worth 2.2 right now.

Welcome, great first post!

Agree with this and a great point to really show ISP's enthusiasm and commitment to making this deal work. Some argue about the length of the deal, but I'm also sure that some on the other side argued about the money.

Also, when people wanna blame USF Marketing, go to ISP's message board