11:1 Blindfolded Dart Throwing is back!

September 2, 2011 at 4:19 pm · Filed under Big Ten

Article from NittanyWhiteOut - Penn State Nittany Lions Blog. Read more here

Shh, can you sense it?! That’s the sound of 108,000 voices unleashing an avalanche of sound under the lights, the smell of brats and burgers wafting in the crisp, fall air, the endless caravan of cars filtering into Happy Valley, and the wave upon wave of fans making their weekly pilgrimage to the House that Joe built. Penn State Football is back!! Which only means we can finally kick off our annual no-holds barred, Blindfolded Dart Throwing pick’em!

Kevin, now of Nittany Lions Den fame is back to join Devon and myself for this year’s version. And this will be awarded to the loser. No, seriously.

So without further delay, here we go!

	Devon	Charlie	Kevin
UNLV / Wisconsin
Youngstown State / Michigan St
Northwestern / Boston College
Akron / Ohio State
Indiana State / Penn State
Tennessee Tech / Iowa
Mid Tennessee / Purdue
Minnesota / USC
W Michigan / Michigan
Chattanooga / Nebraska
Arkansas State / Illinois
Indiana / Ball State
Last Week	-	-	-
Current Record	0-0	0-0	0-0

No related posts.

Comments off

Rose Bowl applauds Big Ten Championship Trophy’s Public Debut

August 31, 2011 at 4:59 pm · Filed under Big Ten, Nitt Links

Article from NittanyWhiteOut - Penn State Nittany Lions Blog. Read more here

Stagg-Paterno Trophy on the left, Rose Bowl trophy on the right

And there you have it, the Stagg-Paterno Championship Trophy made it’s first public appearance today during the initial kickoff of the B1G Mobile Tour at the Big Ten offices in Park Ridge, Illinois.

Consider me a minimalist, but I’m a fan. The trophy, to be presented to the winner of the inaugural Big Ten Championship Game is essentially a modified replica of its Rose Bowl brethren. Dull. Unimaginative. Threadbare.

But who said football trophies should be creative anyways? The opportunity for creativity when it comes to combining a silver football with the corresponding platform it rests on is minimal at best. And we’ve all seen what can happen when you start designing ‘creative‘ football trophies.

Ugh. Throw a camel and some sheep in there and I think someone in Iowa is missing their nativity scene.

Frankly, we should all consider ourselves lucky that the Big Ten went with a simplistic, yet elegant version of a time-tested institution in light of the monstrosity the Iowa Corn Growers Association rolled out for the Cy-Hawk Trophy. An eyesore that lasted a little less than four days before cooler heads prevailed and the trophy tossed.

At the very least, the dull design of the Championship trophy should avoid ruffling any feathers. And at best, the design will serve as an fitting reflection of the conservative conference it represents.

Penn State fans will get a chance to to have their picture taken with the Stagg-Paterno Championship Trophy when Nebraska makes it’s Happy Valley debut as a conference foe on November 12th.

No related posts.

Comments off

Penn State to earn record Big Ten payout

July 20, 2011 at 10:45 am · Filed under Big Ten, Headline, Nitt Links

Article from NittanyWhiteOut - Penn State Nittany Lions Blog. Read more here

The Penn State athletic department will be collecting a slightly bigger check from the conference this year.

Stu Durando of St Louis Today is reporting that Illinois and fellow B1G schools will receive its largest payout from the conference to date.

The conference will pay Illinois a record $22.6 million, with $7.9 million coming from the network, according to figures provided by the university.

And because of the Big Ten’s balanced revenue-sharing system the St Louis Today numbers can be applied to every other conference member with the exception of Nebraska who won’t earn a full share until 2017.

So thanks to the continued success of the Big Ten Network, Penn State and its fellow conference brethren will reportedly be receiving close to $22.6 million this year from the Big Ten. A truly staggering sum that dwarfs the $18.3 million SEC schools will reportedly earn and the $12 million Big 12 members will receive on average (Big 12 does not share revenue equally among its members) this fiscal year.

And to think fans were somewhat worried that the Big Ten would fall back into the pack in terms of revenue when TV agreements were first renegotiated by the Pac-12, Big 12 and SEC this offseason.

Apparently, the BTN is emerging to be a far more formidable cash cow than most have expected. Stu Durando’s breakdown of Illinois’ conference payout should provide Big Ten fans with even more reasons for optimism.

The breakdown of the Big Ten’s payment to Illinois includes $16.6 million from television, of which $8.2 million comes from ESPN and ABC.

The BTN, just 4 years running, has pretty much already closed the gap with the more established networks in its ability to fill our coffers. Of the $22.6 million Penn State is set to receive, $7.9 million will come from the BTN. That’s just $300,000 less than the $8.2 million each B1G members is currently receiving from the ESPN and ABC.

Just 4 years in, the BTN is almost generating as much revenue for the conference as ESPN and ABC. Now imagine the revenue stream should the Big Ten Network continues to grow as analysts expect.

The Big Ten Network continued to see its revenue grow in 2010. It generated $227 million as advertising revenue jumped 22 percent over 2009 based on statistics from industry analyst Derek Baine of SNL Kagan.

Estimates by SNL Kagan suggest the network will continue to be a boon for the Big Ten. By 2015, the BTN is projected to generate $333 million.

As it stands now, the BTN generates $7.9 million for its member schools, a whopping 21 percent increase from last year’s $6.5 million share. This year’s $22.6 million payout is also more than a $2 million increase from the $20 million each members received last fiscal year and the $19 million payout earned in the 2008-09 fiscal year.

And to think the Big Ten gets to renegotiate it’s television contract with ABC/ESPN, one that is set to expire in 2016, pretty soon. In light of recent TV agreements signed with the Pac-12, Big 12 and SEC, that number could very well be astronomical.

Related Posts:

1. Longhorn Network to test Big 12 fans’ patience
2. Amid ratings decline, Penn State still top 2010-11 bowl ratings
3. Nitt Links welcomes the Nebraska Cornhuskers to the B1G conference

Comments off

Amid ratings decline, Penn State still top 2010-11 bowl ratings

January 13, 2011 at 3:57 pm · Filed under Big Ten, Featured, Football, Headline, Penn State

Article from NittanyWhiteOut. Read more here

The news doesn’t get better in the midst of one of the toughest television years for college football. Bowl ratings, on average are down 9% from last season including a 11% drop for the BCS title game that went down to the wire between Auburn and Oregon.

Disappointing, but understandable considering that the 4 BCS bowls, plus the title game shifted from Fox and ABC to ESPN, who had to outbid Fox by $100 million to carry the games from 2011-14. A drop in viewership is a usual and expected effect of this broadcast-to-cable shift. Old-line networks (ABC, NBC, Fox, CBS) play to 116 million TV homes while ESPN is limited to about 100 million subscribers, just 86% of the broadcast base resulting in 15-16 million viewers that don’t get satellite or cable who are being disenfrancished.

As sports have moved to cable, we’ve seen the viewership fall. It has happened in the N.B.A., the British Open, “Monday Night Football,” the Breeders’ Cup and Nascar. The nine Chase for the Sprint Cup races that left ABC for ESPN last year had a 20 percent drop in viewers, to 4.4 million.

And on top of that, let’s not forget the matchups that viewers were faced with. The Orange and Fiesta ended in lopsided blowouts between teams that struggle to carry a national audience (UConn, Stanford, Virginia Tech), and even the Granddaddy of them All was handcuffed to a matchup between B1G squad Wisconsin and TCU, a mid major without the cachet of most traditional programs, thanks to a BCS rule requiring them to do so once every 4 years.

So, understandably the ratings for the BCS Title (-11%), Rose (-15%), Sugar (-4%), Orange (-1%) and Fiesta (-25%) bowls are significantly lower when compared to last season. And as much as ESPN would like to spin the numbers in a positive light, the ratings decline remains a tough blow in the fight between broadcasters and cable whose ad-supported networks are battling the advantage of subscriber fees that ESPN charges. It’s tough to sell an unattractive yet overpriced product to prospective sponsors.

But it’s not all bad news. Penn State, once again, has dominated bowl ratings. In fact, the Outback Bowl between the Nittany Lions and the Florida Gators rank 4th among all bowls, BCS and non-BCS drawing more viewers than the Orange and Fiesta bowls. The 7.05 rating represents an eye popping 101% increase more than doubling the 3.5 rating earned last season during an OT thriller between Auburn and Northwestern. Amidst a bowl season when 23 of the 33 returning bowls drew lower ratings than a year ago, including 13 that plummeted by 20% or more, the Outback bowl emerged as a clear winner.

There was a bit of hesitation back in December when the Outback Bowl selected the Nittany Lions with the #2 pick of B1G teams passing over fellow programs with identical 7-5 records; Michigan, Northwestern, and particularly Iowa who beat the Lions in their conference opener. But, it’s tough to blame the Outback Bowl for making a fiscally sound decision. And based on the 7.05 rating that doubled last season’s OT thriller, the Outback Bowl committee was right all along.

* Nielsen Media Research

Comments off