Big East Retains Bevilacqua Helvant Ventures For Upcoming Media Negotiation

Aug. 13, 2012 - PRLog -- The BIG EAST Conference has hired Bevilacqua Helvant Ventures, a national leader in sports media business, to be the lead negotiator in the league’s upcoming television negotiations, Interim Commissioner Joe Bailey announced.

Bevilacqua Helvant Ventures, led by co-founder Chris Bevilacqua, has negotiated successful contracts for college conferences, Major League Baseball teams and the other professional leagues and has created 24-hour college sports networks.  

“If one believes that past performance is the best predictor of future performance, we have tremendous confidence in our selection of Chris Bevilacqua to be our lead negotiator,” said Bailey.

Bevilacqua led the media negotiations for the Rose Bowl Game earlier this year and the Pac-12 Conference in 2011, which will be launching its own 24-hour network later this week.  Both agreements have been hailed as precedent setting transactions in media and digital media.  

Prior to forming Bevilacqua Helvant Ventures with his partner, industry veteran Adam Helfant, Bevilacqua served as the Chairman and CEO of CAA (Creative Artists Agency) Sports Media Ventures. In the early 2000s, Bevilacqua was the founder of CSTV, the first 24-hour cable television network dedicated to college and amateur sports.  CSTV was purchased by CBS and now is the CBS Sports Network.

“We are thrilled to be working with the BIG EAST Conference during one of the most dynamic times in the history of the media industry,” said Bevilacqua.  “The BIG EAST has some of the most recognizable brand names and highly rated programming within intercollegiate athletics, both of which are at a premium these days.”

Evolution Media Capital (EMC) will be assisting Bevilacqua Helfant Ventures with the negotiations.

-BIG EAST-




John Paquette
Associate Commissioner
The BIG EAST Conference
15 Park Row West
Providence, RI 02903
401-453-0660
jpaquette@bigeast.org