First class all the way and more

SUNDAY READ

It all seemed a bit incongruous, off-brand. The UConn women’s basketball program, so singularly synonymous with Connecticut, and SportsNet New York, better known as SNY, were going into business?

“Having played in the (Greer) Field House, I remember when nobody cared about women’s basketball,” said Meghan Culmo, UConn alum who has been analyst on telecasts for a generation. “And now to be sitting in a conference room in Manhattan, and this network was putting all of this into a college women’s program, the moment wasn’t lost on me. It’s been an amazing run, it really has.”

Culmo, who moved with the games from Connecticut Public Television to SNY, is feeling a little sadness this weekend, but tries to look back and be glad about all that has happened.

“When the CPTV partnership ended, everyone was beside themselves and understandably so because change is hard,” Culmo said. “That was the end of an era and it was sad, and then everyone saw what SNY was putting into it. I’m in that conference room and it’s the Mets, it’s the Jets, pro sports teams. And they put as much into the UConn women as they did the pro teams.”

In 2012 SNY, the Mets’ cable network, entered into agreement with UConn to broadcast the games not tied to national contracts. When the program first became a phenomenon in the mid-1990s, CPTV started doing the games and there was a pull of loyalty. But UConn and SNY tied the knot, the original deal netting about $1.14 million per year for UConn, and by all measure it has been an historic and mutually beneficial partnership.

“When SNY took over there was a lot of consternation,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “‘Oh, my God, this is going to be terrible, they’re not going to do the same things CPTV did, they’re not going to care as much.’ And, actually, they took it to a whole other level, they took it to a level only major league teams have. … How many women’s programs — how many men’s programs — in the country have a pregame, postgame and halftime show?”

However, this is college athletics 2025, and even happy marriages break up. The new, $480 million Big East TV contract with Fox will no longer allow for such a side deal, so SNY’s telecasts of UConn women will end on Feb. 22. During Sunday’s game against Butler at the XL Center, UConn will acknowledge SNY’s contributions. The pregame and postgame shows will be staged on site, and about 50 behind-the-scenes staffers will come out and take a bow. If you’re a fan of this team, the SNY team has earned your applause.

“For UConn, UConn Nation, it was really a window into our women’s basketball program and over the course of time there has been more opportunity for other women’s programs to be covered in the way that we have,” UConn AD David Benedict said. “It has been a tremendous opportunity and SNY should get a tremendous amount of credit for the size and scale of interest that we have.”

Keep in mind that SNY hasn’t gotten UConn’s marquee games. That the Huskies are 208-3 in games played on the network has not prevented some 35 million viewers, according to SNY, from tuning in, and staying tuned in, over the 13 years.

“And by the way, it’s 208-3 with an average margin of victory pushing 40,” said Steve Raab, SNY’s president. “That makes UConn on SNY slightly less predictable than The Globetrotters. And yet, people stay with it. They stay and they watch and they have great appreciation for what the program and the product is.”

When UConn and SNY found each other, many cable providers in Connecticut were re-evaluating the offering of premium sports networks, and in a state dominated by the Yankees and Red Sox, SNY was in danger of being the odd one out. So getting the UConn women’s games, forcing providers to keep offering SNY, was a brilliant stroke of business strategy.

And on SNY’s end, the professionalism and pride of ownership in the telecasts never wavered. Just like their Mets telecasts, widely considered among the best in MLB, they have assembled solid teams behind and in front of the camera. During the pandemic, many places kept their announcers “remote” and got used to the cost savings. But SNY has flown its announcers and crew to every possible venue. Quality has mattered.

“The people who do a lot of the leading in the Mets games do these UConn games, and bring the same attitude,” said Allen Bestwick, who joined the SNY package six years ago, doing the play-by-play alongside Culmo and sideline reporter Chelsea Sherrod. “Quality production, energy, just great teamwork and a great way of respecting the competition, finding ways to document it that make it interesting.”

SNY has devoted more than 2,000 hours of programming, including more than 100 pieces of “shoulder programming,” such as Geno Auriemma’s show, various specials, most recently a documentary series celebrating Auriemma and Chris Dailey’s 40th season.

Recently, Raab found a bound notebook from 2011 with the words, “SNY, official response to request for proposal,” with elements of the mission undertaken when former UConn President Susan Herbst and SNY began negotiating.

“There’s a page, ‘expectations and added value,'” Raab said. “‘Our intension is to advance and enhance the mission of the university to be a leader in the state and around the country through the promotion of the UConn brand.’ That’s what they were asking us to respond to. We were going to expand the footprint of UConn women’s basketball, draw in a larger audience. When we took over, it was limited to Connecticut.”

SNY’s ratings have grown about 30 percent since 2012. “In New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and around the country,” Raab said, “where it was zero, we’re doing as much viewership outside Connecticut as we have in Connecticut. What was zero outside Connecticut is probably about 50,000 viewers a game now. … When I look back on the 13-year partnership, it has been more fun, and better, than I would have expected.”

The SNY-UConn partnership has been built on trust, the access Auriemma has always allowed — which is hardly a given in college and pro sports today — has allowed SNY’s coverage to have its richness and fullness. The presence of Culmo and former Husky Kara Wolters, who works with Gary Apple on the pre and postgame shows, retain the UConn flavor with the right degree of objectivity. And despite the blowouts, telecasts stick with the game, as required by the program’s unique fanbase.

“One of the first conversations Meg and I had, she said to me, ‘Look, people care if they’re up 20, do they make it 30,'” Bestwick said. “‘People care if the 10th kid on the bench gets in the game, if somebody gets 10 points, 20 points. They care. That message always stuck with me. People care so deeply about every element of this program, and SNY has always respected that.”

It began with Breanna Stewart’s first game, a 103-39 win over College of Charleston at Gampel Pavilion on Nov. 11, 2012, and now there are only four left. When UConn moved from the American Athletic Conference to the new Big East in 2020, SNY reached a sub-licensing agreement with Fox to keep some of the games. With the program in such demand today, there is no such path going forward (unless UConn were to join the Big 12). Bestwick, who is the track announcer at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, will be looking for a next chapter. Culmo, who does other games for Fox now, will probably be heard on some UConn games in the future.

Next year, games will be available on several networks, by various methods including streaming, which will take some getting used to for older fans. That’s all still to be determined.

“We’re going to miss them,” Auriemma said. “I wish it didn’t have to happen, I wish it could stay exactly the way it is, but we live in a world now where change is to be expected.”

SNY can leave the scene with heads high, as high as the bar it has set for televising UConn women’s basketball.

“There has never been a single time in my nine years when I’ve worried about their professionalism, their commitment,” Benedict said. “Frankly, it’s a significant concern of mine moving forward. Not to suggest I don’t think things are going to be good in the future with our new partners, but SNY has done such a good job.”