Jim Delaney will retire in 2020

[betarhoalphadelta]

Rumor around Missouri is Delaney and his team became frustrated with Missouri and eliminated them for emotional reasons.  IF true (and I suspect there are elements in truth based upon Missouri was in then then suddenly not) I think that is his biggest mistake.   I know he wanted the TV market of NJ/NY, but Missouri is a growing state that actually watches college sports.   I still think that was a mistake on his part...

Especially now that the St Louis Rams are the Los Angeles Rams. I don't think St Louis fans are suddenly going to join the Kansas City bandwagon, so half of the state's NFL rooting interest just walked away.
Missouri doesn't have an NBA team (so basketball is helped), and just lost 1/2 of their state's rooting interest in the NFL. 

[Entropy]

I thought Mizzou was finished as soon as Tom Osbourne tossed Nebraska's name into the hat?

word around here is the Delaney was not impressed that Missouri started talking about joining the BIG before it happened.  Many alumni blame the University and loose lips for not being in the BIG.

[Entropy]

The application should just have one question.

1. Are you Larry Scott?

As long as you answer no, you are probably minimally qualified to be a Power 5 commission.

I'd add a 2nd question...  Have you ever been a Commissioner in the Big12?

[WhiskeyM]

I'd have to disagree with the folks who imply that any commish would have positioned the B1G the same.  2 things stand out to me.

Being able to snag Penn State was a huge get.  Others may not have had the desire to break tradition, or the foresight to see the bigger picture then.

Big Jim also told ESPiN to f*ck themselves, and started a conference network.  That was a big risk.  Even with the large alumni bases he inherited, going into that territory with cable and streaming was a ballsy move.  Now everybody is trying to copy the success.  I don't see just anybody going down that road.

[847badgerfan]

I'd have to disagree with the folks who imply that any commish would have positioned the B1G the same.  2 things stand out to me.

Being able to snag Penn State was a huge get.  Others may not have had the desire to break tradition, or the foresight to see the bigger picture then.

Big Jim also told ESPiN to f*ck themselves, and started a conference network.  That was a big risk.  Even with the large alumni bases he inherited, going into that territory with cable and streaming was a ballsy move.  Now everybody is trying to copy the success.  I don't see just anybody going down that road.

My thoughts exactly. His first 20 years were great. Really great, in fact. It's the last 10 that are not great, or good even. Madison Square Garden for the hoops tourney? A 2nd headquarters in NYC? Expansion to 14? All Bleh.

[Anonymous Coward]

Getting ahead of a bad argument:

https://mobile.twitter.com/mgoblog/status/1103332881328410634

[Anonymous Coward]

I'd have to disagree with the folks who imply that any commish would have positioned the B1G the same.  2 things stand out to me.

Being able to snag Penn State was a huge get.  Others may not have had the desire to break tradition, or the foresight to see the bigger picture then.

Big Jim also told ESPiN to f*ck themselves, and started a conference network.  That was a big risk.  Even with the large alumni bases he inherited, going into that territory with cable and streaming was a ballsy move.  Now everybody is trying to copy the success.  I don't see just anybody going down that road.

Obviously we don't agree, which is fine. But I have to be steadfast that putting it your way gives Delany too much credit while disregarding the destiny of market forces. A "Big Ten Network" isn't some impossible riddle that no one else would have puzzled through. And there was scarce extra negotiating beyond "our states have the most people" in its construction.
Then your post has this kind of double blind eye (in Delany's favor), where it disproportionately praises Delany for the Big Ten's inevitable wealth while simultaneously forgiving him for the football quarters where - born of Delany's latest TV contracts - sometimes there are literally more commercials than plays from scrimmage. To me, that's nonsense. The only reliable thing that everyone can say about Delany is that he made himself many boats full of money.

What's the argument that he improved the fan experience or at least slowed its degradation? All answers are welcome to include extra but must at least account for Rutgers, "Leaders & Legends" and games now running 4-hours in regulation.

[Anonymous Coward]

My thoughts exactly. His first 20 years were great. Really great, in fact. It's the last 10 that are not great, or good even. Madison Square Garden for the hoops tourney? A 2nd headquarters in NYC? Expansion to 14? All Bleh.

I agree his most recent years were a disaster. I'd say the job report for his first 20 reads "was present and unremarkable" - a positive period for the Big Ten, no doubt, but my argument is that there was precious little to revolutionize or mess up, so what's the point in praise?

As for adding the Nits, we need more insider info about those negotiations before canonizing Delany for that -- who reached out to whom, how many realistic competitor conferences were there, whether any of those could equal the Big Ten in dollars and growth, etc?

Delany gets bad grades when it actually mattered and a check mark for showing up to work when it didn't.