Journal files
Dave Gavitt
PROVIDENCE -- The Big East is finally ready to return to its roots.
Citing a desire to reemphasize the vision of Dave Gavitt back in 1979, the seven basketball-only members of the current Big East, plus three additions, announced their long-awaited plans at a press conference in New York Wednesday morning.
The Big East will now include new members Butler, Creighton and Xavier, plus holdovers DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence College, St. John's, Seton Hall and Villanova. Georgetown, Providence, St. John's and Seton Hall are all founding members of the Big East, which began conference play in 1979. Villanova was added in 1980, while DePaul and Marquette joined in 2006.
Over the life of the conference, football members dominated expansion issues and by this fall only one founding member (Connecticut) chasing its football dreams remained in a Big East that was ready to expand again to Florida and into Texas for the first time. Instead of that future, the basketball schools have chosen to chart their own path.
"I see today as the culmination of the work of Dave Gavitt. I think Dave is smiling down on us today," said PC president Rev. Brian Shanley, whose father, Joseph, was a partner with the ad agency that coined the name Big East. "Today we relaunch the Big East, reboot the Big East."
The Big East has partnered with Fox Sports 1, a new rival to ESPN, for its television and marketing rights. The 12-year agreement has been reported to be worth as much as $500 million, or roughly $40 million a year for the 10 schools. PC and the other non-football schools were pocketing less than $2 million a year from ESPN in recent years.
The league also reaffirmed its relationship with Madison Square Garden as the home of the Big East Tournament through 2026. "We are confident that the tournament will continue to be one of the toughest tickets you can find at the Garden every spring," said MSG executive vice president Joel Fisher.
The league looked at several candidates before settling on Butler, Creighton and Xavier. Each of those schools announced they were withdrawing from their current conference earlier Tuesday. Creighton (Missouri Valley) and Xavier (Atlantic 10) are Catholic schools while Butler (A-10) is a private, nondenominational school in Indianapolis.
"We never intended to be a Catholic conference," Father Shanley said. "There is no truth to the rumor that we took two more Jesuit schools because we now have a Jesuit Pope. We decided this before that occurred."
Asked if the group would soon expand to 12, as has been widely reported, Shanley said "we're at 10 for next year. Whether and how we get to 12 is negotiable. We've discussed some potential partners (but) for now we're very happy at 10."
The 10 schools split into a perfect East/West divide and also allow for a 18-game, round-robin schedule in men's and women's basketball. No information was provided on how many sports this new Big East will sponsor but basketball, soccer, and track and field will be nationally competitive while sports like lacrosse, rowing and field hockey will add "affiliate members" to fill out leagues.
The league's presidents led the way in these initial stages but will now step aside and let their athletic directors crunch future details. Dan Beebe, a former commissioner with the Big 12, has been hired as a consultant. A search firm is actively looking for candidates to be the Big East's next commissioner. Georgetown president John DeGioia said the Big East's headquarters will be based in New York City, although he did allow that some staff could work from a different locale.