LOCAL MEDIA COVERAGE

[Dawg_tired]

Marketing is wasted on a bad product. Drake has been a bad product until Devries got here. We had plenty of coverage in 2008. Then we got Homer Phelps and the program went to hell in a hurry.

[SalukiWorld]

Winning is the best form of advertising. I lived in Chicago for 25 or so years and never knew Loyola existed or had a basketball team until they joined the Valley. They got no publicity in Chicago until the Final Four season. I don’t live in Chicago anymore but was back there over Christmas and Loyola highlights were on the local evening news. Never saw that before the Final Four run.

Now, making the Final Four is a dubious goal for a Valley school but you have to remember how much competition there is in Chicago for sports. Just for college basketball you have Illinois, Northwestern, UIC, DePaul, Chicago State, etc

[NuncEstBibendum]

I lived in Chicago for 25 or so years and never knew Loyola existed

[VUGrad1314]

This isn't a local media note but a national one: With the MWC heading to FOX, I can't help but wonder if this is good news for MVC content vis a vis getting our games on the ESPN family of networks more often. It would seem like they have a bit of a content hole that maybe the MVC can help fill. I wonder if maybe they'll talk the MVC up a little more now as well. Just some early musings this morning.

[TreeFan]

This isn't a local media note but a national one: With the MWC heading to FOX, I can't help but wonder if this is good news for MVC content vis a vis getting our games on the ESPN family of networks more often. It would seem like they have a bit of a content hole that maybe the MVC can help fill. I wonder if maybe they'll talk the MVC up a little more now as well. Just some early musings this morning.

I like the way you think, but unfortunately, they will not talk up the MVC more. The only way ESPN (and the ESPN family of networks) would talk up the MVC more is if the MVC had multiple teams ranked in the top 25.

Last night (on ESPN) during the Purdue/Illinois game, a graphic was put up on the screen showing conference records at home...they had six conferences listed....and as one could imagine, none of those conferences were mid-majors. They weren't interested in showing the conferences with the best home records in the nation, they were interested in showing the "Big 6" home records. Incidentally, the ACC's home record (conference games) is under .500.

[BCPanther]

This isn't a local media note but a national one: With the MWC heading to FOX, I can't help but wonder if this is good news for MVC content vis a vis getting our games on the ESPN family of networks more often. It would seem like they have a bit of a content hole that maybe the MVC can help fill. I wonder if maybe they'll talk the MVC up a little more now as well. Just some early musings this morning.

Fun fact: The MVC actually pays ESPN for the 4 ESPN2 slots every year and ESPN also makes money by licensing the Title Game to CBS. The Valley is nothing more than content for ESPN+ and a small revenue stream as far as ESPN is concerned.

[siudawgs]

Even with print media in continued decline, MVC programs are generally covered pretty well because their programs tend to be big fish in small ponds (markets). Loyola and Drake, as mentioned, would be exceptions, although Loyola's Final Four run has helped get on the radar to an extent in Chicago.

While Todd Hefferman has been on the SIU beat for quite a while, the Southern Illinoisan's coverage is sadly milktoast and lacking creativity/energy. Jim Benson is OK but strikes me as a Muller apologist at the Pantagraph.

There are, though, some very solid young beat writers around the league in Springfield, Mo., Evansville, Cedar Falls, etc., and Dave Reynolds is a real pro while dealing with a difficult head coach in Wardle, though I miss Kirk Wessler's perspective in Peoria from an opinion standpoint. Todd Golden is pretty solid in Terre Haute, but I think he's set the world record for turning routine sentences into questions for no apparent reason.

[VUGrad1314]

I personally think we have one of the best in Valpo in Paul Oren and Michael Osipoff is pretty good too. We're blessed to be covered so well.