Why am I not surprised that you disagree.
1. Football > Basketball. Sells a ton more logo gear.
2. St Johns is a minor program in the minor sport nationally AT THIS TIME. Hopefully that changes real soon but no one outside of NY is buying SJU gear.
3. NY Market means nothing in COLLEGE sports in general. But specifically even for those in NY who DO care about college athletics 95% of NY's college interested market has allegiances to teams other than STJ. That's why Nike didn't bother to get more SJU gear into the market. No one was really interested.
4. Don't disagree with your points on pro sports at all.
St Johns has potential but as of now it's unrealized.
1. But we are not talking about football...so what's your point? Football is irrelevant to St. John's basketball branding.
2. Minor program in a minor sport? Wrong on both counts. First of all SJ is #7 all time with wins, nearly 30 NCAA appearances, 5 NIT rings, a Final Four berth, Elite 8's, etc. which is enough to best 99% of the teams in the country right away. There are over 300 schools in the country. Maybe 50 meet that criteria if not much less. SJ has played in the best conference in all of CBB for a while now and we are still playing in one of the top conferences now. We play at MSG. This is D-1 high major hoops. This is not Grambling State basketball. Have you ever heard of the distinction between major and mid major? SJ is considered major due to conference.
You want to know a minor hoops school? Concordia. Nationally, CBB is easily regarded as the most exciting college sport to watch. In NCAAF the same teams are recruiting at the top and winning every year. There are no major upsets (maybe once every decade or 2) i.e. App State vs. Michigan. In CBB during March it's called madness for a reason...anything can happen, the unthinkable is routine. Everyone and their mother has an office bracket or ones with friends at home. Nationally, sure NCAAF is more popular because most of the nation is rural small towns, but in the biggest media markets, CBB tends to be the big city thing. NCAAF has a joke of a system for the championship. NCAAB perfected it.
We're talking about programs relative value to UA, not STJ's basketball branding. You should know that, you started the debate. That covers all sports, no matter how YOU choose to look at it. Including football. And your rose colored glasses view of hoops vs football is not shared in the real world of attendance, ratings, and most importantly $$$. You and I were raised on LI where college football is immaterial. We both became rabid college basketball fans. I can see beyond my own bias. You can't. 90% of the US was raised in an area where HS football is as, if not more, important than college basketball.
In a basketball only world I would agree STJ's may be just a tad behind Maryland on that list for first . . . among a long list of also rans of course. But this is not a basketball only world so that point is moot.
Besides, Blah, blah, blah ST Johns was great when the backboards were made of wood. I get it. That said TODAY they're borderline irrelevant in NY, how do you think they're positioned outside the greater metro area. I hope with my very optimistic feelings about next year all that will change, then again so do fans of about 50 other programs in the country. Luckily I think we're right and they're wrong.
But anyone buying SJU right now is buying purely on potential, potential that'll be tough but certainly not impossible to realize. On one point we agree and you are correct. If St Johns can actually just get the city behind it that would raise their value exponentially and that's obviously the bet that UA is taking.
To clarify my position on minor and major as it relates to this conversation and a school's value to UA, obviously anyone not a dope understands that Concordia isn't even part of this conversation, Grambling neither. However, in college sports brands Ohio State is major, Northwestern is minor. STJ may be a bit above Northwestern in athletic image but Ohio State can't even see them in the rear view mirror.
The other value a school can bring to UA is in $ but we won't go there at all. In terms of merch who do you think sells more nationally, St Johns or South Carolina or Utah or Texas Tech or Northwestern. Hint, all of the others probably. Rabid alumni fan bases and all but Northwestern with f-all else to do. Northwestern just sells a lot of merch because folks want to show off that they went to one of the best schools in the country. Yes I still have my Cornell jacket I bought as a freshman. I can relate.