When do you bury news? On the weekend!
When do the networks put out terse statements on lost sports properties? Either late at night or on the weekends, like 3:19 p.m. ET on Saturday.
NBC has conceded losing the Big East Conference to ESPN which matched the Peacock’s offer this week. There was a slight chance that NBC could have picked up the conference had ESPN not worked out the number of exposures on its networks, but apparently that was done today.
In a tweet, NBC Sports Public Relations put out a ten word statement not even mentioning ESPN.
Statement on the Big East: “We wish the Big East and its incumbent partners well.”
— NBCSportsPR (@NBCSportsPR) February 23, 2013
ESPN public relations maven Mike Soltys tweeted a 17-word statement announcing the retention of The Big East.
ESPN has matched an offer for the Big East and we look forward to continuing our relationship.
— Mike Soltys (@espnmikes) February 23, 2013
NBC Sports Network had offered a six year deal to air Big East football and basketball games at a fee of over $20 million annually. Games would have been aired on both NBC Sports Network and the NBC mothership. We have yet to get details from ESPN, but look for games to be shared between ESPN and its unholy ally, Fox Sports, namely Fox Sports 1.
The Big East has worked out a separate contract with CBS for basketball.
I’ll provide more details as they become available.
