Honestly can't say enough great things about the Big East's current deal with Fox. It really is fantastic, and even though ratings aren't yet what we'd want them to be - it is AMAZING for fans. I want to lay out three scenarios for you
1. Tuesday night, Cats hosting DePaul - game is on FS1, anyone with a cable package can turn on, no problem
2. I got home from the game, and turned on TV. I saw Wake was keeping it close to Duke and figured I'll check out that game. Unfortunately in Philly, Duke - Wake Forest WAS NOT ON TV. It was only on the ACC network and ESPN3. Now, I think watchespn is a GREAT platform - but the game wasn't on TV in Philadelphia and required me to boot up my computer, etc. (which I didn't do)
3. Last night, I figured I'd try and watch St. Joe's against St. Bonnies. The game is ONLY available on the Bonnies digital network, which is free - but looks a lot more like a periscope televised event.
I don't think our FS1 setup will last forever, but right now, Villanova has ABSOLUTELY the best TV deal in the country. We've had games on FOX Network, CBS Network, ESPN family of networks, FS1, CBS Sports, and FS2. Not a SINGLE GAME hasn't been on a national broadcast or national cable network. Duke can't even say the same thing!
Now people may complain that no one watches it because it's not on ESPN. I'd say, the only people we should care about are 1) recruits and 2) fans. Recruits don't really watch college basketball (much more NBA focused) unless it's a specific team they want to watch - they can ALWAYS find Villanova and our Fans get to see everything
My only issue is that FS1 still doesn't have great penetration on hotel cable setups (and I travel quite a bit)
