New York's College Team Probably Needs A Better New York Cable Deal

I mean, the subway billboards and taxi cab ads are nice and all but what happens when people get home?  There are no subway billboards in their homes.  Unless they are C.H.U.D. monsters.  Which must be a scant part of the fanbase.

TV is where you win hearts and minds.  And New York City-area TV is a huge battleground.  UConn just made quite the tactical move to make sure they're front and center in the region by partnering with SportsNet New York (SNY).

UConn and SportsNet New York (SNY) are expected to announce a partnership Wednesday that would put up to, what sources say, some 300 hours of UConn related sports programming on the network.

Now, some 120 hours of live UConn programming is expected to be shown courtesy of SNY and another 180 hours are expected to include such programming as coach's shows, replays, press conferences and highlights.

There's the whole "lack of cable companies that carry SNY" issue but otherwise it's a sweet deal for the Huskies. And folks going to SNY will be greeted with two major options for their college sports needs.  Click on the "Big East" link on their site and the first two things you see...UConn and Rutgers.  Plus now this cable network with New York in its title is the "Home of UConn Sports."

"New York's College Team" is nowhere to be found. 

Well perhaps that's cause SU is working in a similar deal with the YES Network?  It pains me to say it but an affiliation with the New York Yankees would do more for solidifying one's status as "New York's Team" than with the Mets.  And let's face it, if Syracuse is at all interested in being the NYC-area school the Big Ten eventually invites to join them (and they WILL invite someone), they're going to need a major NYC presence in the meantime. If for no other reason than to match UConn and Rutgers.  The YES Network's website is already strangely Big Ten-centric, so that might be even more reason to do it.

I'm surprised UConn beat us to the punch here. Surely we have more archival footage and just as many opportunities for coaches shows, press conferences and other TV packages.  We'll see how NY'sCT answers this shot across it's bow.