Realignment talk not going away

[Hurtlocker 2212]

Just now, 'stache said:

OK, that makes some sense.

On another note, do Grants of Rights even matter anymore outside of locking the ACC in and causing shit for FSU and Clemson? BIG and SEC never needed them because nobody is leaving. Big 12's didn't exactly do much except when OU and Texas agreed to stay for an extra decade. Nor did it matter to the PAC which is now dead. Nobody in the Big 12 is a threat to leave anymore because BIG and SEC aren't interested and there is no alternative league (PAC is dead, ACC is on life support and making less). 

They matter, a lot, and everyone uses them and always have.   They've existed in this industry since radio broadcasts.    Usually they were rolling one year deals so that broadcasters knew they had exclusivity or that a team couldn't pull out at the last minute and go with someone else.   You have to give the rights to the game if you sell it, you can't sell it twice, that's basically what a GoR states.   So no matter what anyone on boards tell you, every conference had a GoR if they broadcast their games, even the old CFA had one.   What they didn't have was locked in multi-year ones.   Much like how banks give better rates to lower risk clients, having a locked in GoR gave you less risk, which meant you could get a better deal.   Stability sells.    As poaching started GoRs were required to keep things the same so broadcasters knew what they were buying.

Now, to clarify something else, the B1G and SEC DO have these multi-year GoRs now because of conference networks.    Matter a fact, BTN owns the rights to all the B1G's games and it is 60% owned by Fox.   Even though the Big Ten's contract is up for bid in 2030, their GoR with BTN extends out further.   What the SEC doesn't have is a penalty to leave the conference, that's a different thing.    Long term media rights agreements for the SEC Network with the Mouse includes an extended grant of rights.   You just can't make this massive investment without some protection.

['stache 21799]

Makes sense, hadn’t realized they were broader than when they became popular during realignment.

[CustersDoctor 584]

20 minutes ago, 'stache said:

OK, that makes some sense.

On another note, do Grants of Rights even matter anymore outside of locking the ACC in and causing shit for FSU and Clemson? BIG and SEC never needed them because nobody is leaving. Big 12's didn't exactly do much except when OU and Texas agreed to stay for an extra decade. Nor did it matter to the PAC which is now dead. Nobody in the Big 12 is a threat to leave anymore because BIG and SEC aren't interested and there is no alternative league (PAC is dead, ACC is on life support and making less). 

The GOR's don't last forever, they run in concordance with the current TV deal. So none of the PAC12 schools violated the GOR because it was due to expire. USC & UCLA's official exit coincides with the end of the PAC12 contract. OUT didn't violate the GOR either, the GOR was due to sunset on June 30th 2025. OUT agreed to pay an exit fee to leave early. GOR's do indeed have a lot of clout and so far nobody has gotten out of one, they all waited for them to sunset or they negotiated an exit fee.

[Hurtlocker 2212]

2 minutes ago, 'stache said:

Makes sense, hadn’t realized they were broader than when they became popular during realignment.

Yeah they are used all over the media rights world, at their essence they say I'll give you money for your piece of creative work and I get to do something with it for you for that money.    The artist doesn't lose the ownership whatever work it is, they'll get it back at the end of the contract (be it publishing, recording, broadcasting, gallery, etc.) and they're paid for that aspect, so they're pretty standard for that use.

[TKthunder2 4985]

52 minutes ago, 'stache said:

How long do Oregon and Washington get half shares? Surely they'll get full shares after a few years. I never understood how a short term discount makes sense. If they don't add long term I don't see how a short term deduction makes much sense. It feels more like taking a few extra bucks off the top short term due to their desperation.

 

49 minutes ago, Hurtlocker said:

Until the next media deal

Yep. Remember that the Big Ten’s new deal included USC/UCLA but not UO/UW. Their next deal in 2030 they’ll be able to roll in that new inventory and add in the new markets to their valuation. So yes it made sense to add them at a discount now when it will boost their future valuation and make up for the short term hit.

For FSU/Clemson, they likely bring value but the SEC/B1G aren’t really digging into their new valuations just yet (they need to see how they perform with their current makeup in the new CFP and baseline that to their past projections before diving into more future hypotheticals). Their TV partners are capped out so even adding them at a discount is going to be dilutive to the current members though it may be additive to the TV partners. I could see both the Big Ten and SEC running models with possible new members in the next go around 5 years down the road, but before then I’m not seeing the value for the conferences or their network partners as neither wants to be out more money.

[TKthunder2 4985]

19 minutes ago, CustersDoctor said:

The GOR's don't last forever, they run in concordance with the current TV deal. So none of the PAC12 schools violated the GOR because it was due to expire. USC & UCLA's official exit coincides with the end of the PAC12 contract. OUT didn't violate the GOR either, the GOR was due to sunset on June 30th 2025. OUT agreed to pay an exit fee to leave early. GOR's do indeed have a lot of clout and so far nobody has gotten out of one, they all waited for them to sunset or they negotiated an exit fee.

I’m going to pistol whip the next person that uses “OUT”….

 

Also, we’ve gone over this before, Texas and Oklahoma didn’t pay an exit fee. They took the same payout as the remaining 8 Big12 schools their final year, and moving around a few OOC games for FOX, those were the only concessions.

[oSuJeff97 3435]

On 7/14/2024 at 8:38 PM, thunderlounge said:

Not like they can really stay where they’re at, knowing the bones of the acc are rotting. They have to save face and leave at some point.  Where the fuck else they gonna go?
 

If the SEC/b1g don’t want them, yormark has little to do with it other than to nod and say yes. 
 

Not like it’s some kinda big miracle pull. He’s just the lucky fucker sitting in the catbird seat.

That's not exactly fair.

He's at least responsible for getting the Big 12 into position to potentially benefit from this. I mean, just think about the perception of the Big 12 two years ago. Everyone just assumed that it was dead in the water when OU/Texas announced they were leaving. The consensus at the time was that the PAC and/or ACC would expand and take the best of the remaining programs* and the rest would be left for G5 death. (Just go back and look at this thread at the time for lots of examples, lol)

Instead, he kept the conference alive long enough to out-maneuver the PAC and essentially hasten its demise and allow him to add four new solid programs; now he's in a position to step on the ACC's throat as well. 

This turn of events would have been seen as WILDLY unlikely two years ago.

 

* I believe if Yormark was heading up either of those leagues, that's EXACTLY what they would have done instead of sitting on their hands only to get out-flanked and implode.

[Al_4_ISU 12452]

9 minutes ago, oSuJeff97 said:

That's not exactly fair.

He's at least responsible for getting the Big 12 into position to potentially benefit from this. I mean, just think about the perception of the Big 12 two years ago. Everyone just assumed that it was dead in the water when OU/Texas announced they were leaving. The consensus at the time was that the PAC and/or ACC would expand and take the best of the remaining programs* and the rest would be left for G5 death. (Just go back and look at this thread at the time for lots of examples, lol)

Instead, he kept the conference alive long enough to out-maneuver the PAC and essentially hasten its demise and allow him to add four new solid programs; now he's in a position to step on the ACC's throat as well. 

This turn of events would have been seen as WILDLY unlikely two years ago.

 

* I believe if Yormark was heading up either of those leagues, that's EXACTLY what they would have done instead of sitting on their hands only to get out-flanked and implode.

Yeah, this is spot on.  I get why a lot of people find Yormark annoying, but without him it's hard to see the Big 12 not only surviving, but helping to destroy a conference that nearly destroyed it more than once.

[Zonahorn 8079]

 

 

[nineliveslost 2753]

2 hours ago, Hurtlocker said:

What the SEC doesn't have is a penalty to leave the conference, that's a different thing. 

I thought they quietly did the after they added Texas OU?

[oSuJeff97 3435]

1 hour ago, Zonahorn said:

 

 

Did I miss something?

IS today the big day?

[Shaddie 1651]

4 minutes ago, oSuJeff97 said:

Did I miss something?

IS today the big day?

Duh!!!  
 

It’s Tuesday. 

['stache 21799]

2 hours ago, TKthunder2 said:

I’m going to pistol whip the next person that uses “OUT”….

 

Also, we’ve gone over this before, Texas and Oklahoma didn’t pay an exit fee. They took the same payout as the remaining 8 Big12 schools their final year, and moving around a few OOC games for FOX, those were the only concessions.

There was an exit fee, each agreed to pay $50 million, and the deal was struck before the withholdings would have gone into effect. Annual distributions were around $40 million, so two years withholding would have been about $80 million per school, the agreement was for a reduced fee and for it to not be paid through withholding (hence they got their distribution the final year, I'm not sure when and how the exit fee is meant to be paid, I assume over time).

The deal was struck in February of 2023. The Big XII contract went through 2024-2025, so the two years of withholdings would have been for 2023-24 and 2024-25. The reduced fee was negotiated before it went into effect for all of the reasons deals get made, to avoid fights over the terms. The OOC game swap was to keep FOX happy, they were the biggest holdup on the early exit once the conference and OU/TX had worked out a deal in principal. ESPN was always on board.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/texas-oklahoma-leaving-big-12-early-joining-sec-in-2024-season-after-reaching-exit-agreement/

[gatormarc 911]

 

[utee94 15808]

4 minutes ago, gatormarc said:

 

gatormarc when reading such things about FSU:

 

[TKthunder2 4985]

20 minutes ago, 'stache said:

There was an exit fee, each agreed to pay $50 million, and the deal was struck before the withholdings would have gone into effect. Annual distributions were around $40 million, so two years withholding would have been about $80 million per school, the agreement was for a reduced fee and for it to not be paid through withholding (hence they got their distribution the final year, I'm not sure when and how the exit fee is meant to be paid, I assume over time).

The deal was struck in February of 2023. The Big XII contract went through 2024-2025, so the two years of withholdings would have been for 2023-24 and 2024-25. The reduced fee was negotiated before it went into effect for all of the reasons deals get made, to avoid fights over the terms. The OOC game swap was to keep FOX happy, they were the biggest holdup on the early exit once the conference and OU/TX had worked out a deal in principal. ESPN was always on board.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/texas-oklahoma-leaving-big-12-early-joining-sec-in-2024-season-after-reaching-exit-agreement/

https://sports.yahoo.com/texas-oklahoma-were-pay-big-135448646.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9kdWNrZHVja2dvLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAANbCGkzudUo-zqjyaKfduI7h2I6M34YfzgTYOlXCaffmEFRN8zD7SAihyvum9_xWVhTqcIvtFmGsy9WJSuIPHFf4LR4vJO2bXS3hxHDRBvpb62Y4WVvOpt80JYge76z8P7RyzAUj3DorPj84eoKdMzIAFiUwGilney11Cd93-HQ5

 

Quote

The universities of Texas and Oklahoma, two of the most powerful brands in college sports, will leave the Big 12 Conference for the SEC in nine months but will suffer a much lesser financial impact from the move than the $160 million that was originally expected, the USA TODAY Network has learned.

The Big 12 announced in February that Texas and Oklahoma will forgo $100 million from the conference under an agreement that is allowing the schools to leave a year earlier than initially required. In response to recent questions from the USA TODAY Network, the conference said more than $80 million of that is based on money the schools will not get in 2024-25, the year after the move. The rest is attributed to cuts in full revenue shares for 2023-24 that Texas, Oklahoma and the rest of the Big 12’s continuing members will be taking to finance payments promised to four schools that joined the conference this summer.

Texas and OU paid $0.

They got released a year early and thus did not get paid by the Big 12 around $80 million. If I quit my job under contract for making $50k/year a year earlier than expected, my employer doesn’t get a $50k dollar exit fee, they just don’t pay me for services not rendered. This whole $100 million dollar thing was PR bullshit that list of the media ate hook, line, and sinker.

 

The only concession UT/OU made to the Big 12 was to pay the new G5 schools a partial share a year early and by switching around a few OOC games for FOX.

The obvious reason for this was…

Quote

The settlement left the athletics directors at some of the continuing Big 12 schools “kind of dumbfounded,” Kansas State athletics director Gene Taylor said. “We fought back as hard as we could,” but he said the conference’s lawyers advised them, Yormark and the schools’ presidents and chancellors that the bylaws were “not as rock-solid as everybody thought and we could be tied up on lawsuits forever.”

[bullet 1596]

On 7/11/2024 at 1:40 PM, tx 3 putt said:

same guy said Houston would 100% have power by noon today 🥺🥺🥺🥺

Monday and we had at least one friend without power.

[bullet 1596]

On 7/12/2024 at 12:37 PM, gatormarc said:

Its clear he failed to explain it to himself.  He put out the most ridiculous things.  It was clear he was regurgitating whatever stories people told him and didn't understand it at all.  He may have had reasonable sources, but that doesn't mean their information was reasonable.

[bullet 1596]

On 7/12/2024 at 3:45 PM, 'stache said:

So no link? Here's what I remember. The offer included aggy, I don't recall anything about a conference network. I also recall that KU had a pretty sweet tier 3 deal of their own.

https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/6918208/texas-aggies-had-chance-partner-longhorn-network-deloss-dodds-says

Edit: To add that if the offer was spending a bunch of money to set up and own a conference network, like the PAC did, then it was a damned good decision not to do it. The LHN was a partnership with ESPN using primarily their resources, made far more sense with far less risk. 

Texas and Nebraska wanted a conference network back around 2007 when the Big 10 did it.  Everybody else voted no to the network and no to even funding a study.  Nebraska and Texas jointly funded a study themselves and both decided to start their own network.  Nebraska says they were even farther along than Texas when the Big 10 deal came along.

[bullet 1596]

6 hours ago, 'stache said:

Sounds like bs coach speak. FSU is definitely additive. If Clemson's run is over and isolated I can see them being borderline. But LOL at either conference (BIG especially) calling them "disruptive partners." The BIG literally just killed another conference and has poached from the other two over in recent years. That's disruptive as fuck. They did it for money which is understandable. FSU and Clemson want out because of money which should be understandable. It feels to me that they pissed ESPN off by questioning the bs contract they are locked into which pays them far less than everyone else for a much longer time. It's shady as shit that they had to sue to see the media contract to which they are bound. All they had to say was "we are not looking to add teams that are bound by other obligations." At this point I just don't see anything happening for a while. If ESPN is mad at them, they aren't paying them to move to any other conference including the Big 12.

Agree with you.  I mean Big 10 and SEC are fat and happy, but SEC certainly would take FSU.  If they were free, pretty likely Big 10 does too.  Note McMurphy's last line.  SEC guys says, yes, there is room for more in the logo.

[gatormarc 911]

3 hours ago, nineliveslost said:

5 hours ago, Hurtlocker said:

What the SEC doesn't have is a penalty to leave the conference, that's a different thing. 

I thought they quietly did the after they added Texas OU?

SEC added an exit fee in early 2021 as a result of supplemental distributions related to COVID.

It's $30-45M depending on different factors.

[bullet 1596]

2 hours ago, 'stache said:

There was an exit fee, each agreed to pay $50 million, and the deal was struck before the withholdings would have gone into effect. Annual distributions were around $40 million, so two years withholding would have been about $80 million per school, the agreement was for a reduced fee and for it to not be paid through withholding (hence they got their distribution the final year, I'm not sure when and how the exit fee is meant to be paid, I assume over time).

The deal was struck in February of 2023. The Big XII contract went through 2024-2025, so the two years of withholdings would have been for 2023-24 and 2024-25. The reduced fee was negotiated before it went into effect for all of the reasons deals get made, to avoid fights over the terms. The OOC game swap was to keep FOX happy, they were the biggest holdup on the early exit once the conference and OU/TX had worked out a deal in principal. ESPN was always on board.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/texas-oklahoma-leaving-big-12-early-joining-sec-in-2024-season-after-reaching-exit-agreement/

Texas and Oklahoma paid nothing.  All those numbers were:  No TV distributions in 2024-5 when they were no longer members.  Reduction in 2023-4 just like the 8 remaining members to pay for the 4 new schools.

[bullet 1596]

Somebody was interested in 20 year attendance averages:

 

1	Michigan	Big10	110,341
2	Ohio State	Big10	104,742
3	Penn State	Big10	104,323
4	Tennessee	SEC	98,819
5	Alabama	SEC	96,361
6	LSU	SEC	95,290
7	Texas	Big12	94,278
8	Georgia	SEC	92,704
9	Texas A&M	SEC	89,820
10	Florida	SEC	88,250
11	Nebraska	Big10	86,003
12	Auburn	SEC	85,591
13	Oklahoma	Big12	84,589
14	Clemson	ACC	79,602
15	Notre Dame	Ind	79,466
16	Wisconsin	Big10	78,933
17	South Carolina	SEC	77,996
18	Southern Cal	Pac12	75,576
19	Florida State	ACC	74,621
20	Michigan State	Big10	72,710
21	Iowa	Big10	68,631
22	Arkansas	SEC	65,987
23	Washington	Pac12	65,065
24	Virginia Tech	ACC	63,661
25	UCLA	Pac12	60,661
26	Kentucky	SEC	60,244
27	BYU	Big12	60,068
28	Missouri	SEC	58,434
29	Mississippi	SEC	57,124
30	Oregon	Pac12	56,722
31	N Carolina State	ACC	55,773
32	West Virginia	Big12	55,540
33	Texas Tech	Big12	54,473
34	Arizona State	Pac12	53,941
35	Mississippi State	SEC	53,041
36	Iowa State	Big12	52,235
37	Oklahoma State	Big12	51,794
38	North Carolina	ACC	51,713
39	Purdue	Big10	51,244
40	Miami, FL	ACC	51,236
41	California	Pac12	49,530
42	Kansas State	Big12	49,348
43	Virginia	ACC	48,224
44	Arizona	Pac12	48,189
45	Minnesota	Big10	47,414
46	Colorado	Pac12	47,024
47	Georgia Tech	ACC	46,435
48	Illinois	Big10	46,355
49	Louisville	ACC	45,825
50	Pittsburgh	ACC	45,750
51	Utah	Pac12	45,653
52	Maryland	Big10	42,963
53	Rutgers	Big10	42,445
54	Stanford	Pac12	41,414
55	Baylor	Big12	40,637
56	Indiana	Big10	40,632
57	East Carolina	American	40,093
58	TCU	Big12	39,769
59	Oregon State	Pac12	38,785
60	Kansas	Big12	38,192
61	Syracuse	ACC	37,308
62	South Florida	American	37,196
63	Boston College	ACC	36,907
64	UCF	Big12	36,545
65	Fresno State	MWC	34,537
66	Navy	American	33,948
67	Boise State	MWC	32,697
68	Air Force	MWC	32,514
69	Northwestern	Big10	32,219
70	Army	Ind	32,037
71	Memphis	American	31,861
72	Vanderbilt	SEC	31,845
73	Cincinnati	Big12	30,928
74	Connecticut	Ind	30,749
75	San Diego State	MWC	30,073
76	Washington State	Pac12	29,930
77	Wake Forest	ACC	29,415
78	Hawaii	MWC	28,403
79	UTEP	CUSA	27,709
80	Houston	Big12	26,914
81	Appalachian St.	SB	26,596
82	UTSA	American	26,448
83	Southern Miss	SB	26,385
84	Colorado State	MWC	25,572
85	Marshall	SB	25,019
86	Duke	ACC	24,499
87	New Mexico	MWC	23,857
88	Temple	American	23,039
89	James Madison	SB	22,054
90	Troy State	SB	21,275
91	Tulane	American	21,114
92	Toledo	MAC	20,684
93	UAB	American	20,503
94	SMU	American	20,486
95	UNLV	MWC	20,411
96	Tulsa	American	20,264
97	Wyoming	MWC	19,985
98	Louisiana-Lafayette	SB	19,860
99	Arkansas State	SB	19,713
100	Old Dominion	SB	19,363
101	Nevada	MWC	18,841
102	Rice	American	18,829
103	Louisiana Tech	CUSA	18,564
104	North Texas	American	18,437
105	Ohio	MAC	18,437
106	Liberty	CUSA	18,100
107	Jacksonville St.	CUSA	17,958
108	Georgia Southern	SB	17,917
109	Utah State	MWC	17,810
110	Texas State	SB	17,768
111	Western Michigan	MAC	17,707
112	South Alabama	SB	16,712
113	MTSU	CUSA	16,569
114	Central Michigan	MAC	16,479
115	Western Kentucky	CUSA	16,166
116	Miami, OH	MAC	16,095
117	Northern Illinois	MAC	15,959
118	Bowling Green	MAC	15,725
119	Buffalo	MAC	15,476
120	Louisiana-Monroe	SB	15,413
121	New Mexico State	CUSA	15,271
122	San Jose State	MWC	15,142
123	Florida Atlantic	American	15,051
124	Coastal Carolina	SB	15,015
125	Georgia State	SB	14,913
126	Akron	MAC	14,009
127	Florida International	CUSA	13,761
128	Idaho		13,071
129	UNC Charlotte	American	13,023
130	Kent State	MAC	12,731
131	Ball State	MAC	11,955
132	Eastern Michigan	MAC	11,932
133	Massachusetts	IND	11,854
134	Sam Houston St.	CUSA	7,018
135	Kennesaw St.	Ind	6,304

 

 

 

[LTbear 4168]

18 minutes ago, bullet said:

Somebody was interested in 20 year attendance averages:

25	UCLA	Pac12	60,661

 

 

 

[John80 157]

Florida State signed of their own free will and you don't get out of contracts because you don't think it's fair. It's understandable that the Big Ten and SEC aren't interested because if FSU will sue the ACC, they will sue the Big Ten and SEC and the last thing presidents want is to have ugly lawsuits that air out all the dirty laundry. As a secondary fan of an ACC school, FSU has acted terribly for a long time and that's why they were singled out. Any conference that has them as a member will regret it.

[TKthunder2 4985]

17 minutes ago, bullet said:

Agree with you.  I mean Big 10 and SEC are fat and happy, but SEC certainly would take FSU.  If they were free, pretty likely Big 10 does too.  Note McMurphy's last line.  SEC guys says, yes, there is room for more in the logo.

It’s just not a good time. Contracts were just renewed and we’re in a bear market with streaming so people aren’t over spending at the moment.

The SEC would want this to drag out until 2028 or so and they can get data on how their 16 team setup is working, how the CFP is working, and how streaming is going to look as well.

At that time, if the ACC/FSU/Clemson settle I could see them making the move. I think FSU just sat on their hands too long. They are a big brand, but they aren’t one of the biggest brands like ND which everyone would bend over backwards for.

[TKthunder2 4985]

1 hour ago, bullet said:

69 Northwestern

[bullet 1596]

3 hours ago, LTbear said:

They said 20 year averages.  Just because they have been in the 40s the last few years doesn't totally negate upper 60s and even 70s they did from 2005-2016.

[LTbear 4168]

10 minutes ago, bullet said:

Just because they have been in the 40s the last few years 

[gatormarc 911]

I think this is a legit source. I'm familiar with who he is and his website. He played under Bowden and has a Heisman vote. Assuming this is really his account...

 

Edited July 17 by gatormarc

[gatormarc 911]

NM... he's legit but he posted it as a joke. I guess he's a bit buttsore due to the other stuff going around today and wanted to stir things up.

Since you can't see full threads on Twitter anymore, it kinda falls flat.

Edited July 17 by gatormarc

[Hurtlocker 2212]

16 hours ago, gatormarc said:

SEC added an exit fee in early 2021 as a result of supplemental distributions related to COVID.

It's $30-45M depending on different factors.

Thanks for the update, I missed that one.   The pandemic is where the B1G made their changes to BTN too

[Hurtlocker 2212]

8 hours ago, gatormarc said:

NM... he's legit but he posted it as a joke. I guess he's a bit buttsore due to the other stuff going around today and wanted to stir things up.

Since you can't see full threads on Twitter anymore, it kinda falls flat.

I mean, it's not out of the realm of possibilities

['stache 21799]

16 hours ago, John80 said:

Florida State signed of their own free will and you don't get out of contracts because you don't think it's fair. It's understandable that the Big Ten and SEC aren't interested because if FSU will sue the ACC, they will sue the Big Ten and SEC and the last thing presidents want is to have ugly lawsuits that air out all the dirty laundry. As a secondary fan of an ACC school, FSU has acted terribly for a long time and that's why they were singled out. Any conference that has them as a member will regret it.

Pretty sure that's not the prevailing opinion around these parts.

[Macklemore 2876]

 

[Texas Wahoo 3390]

46 minutes ago, Macklemore said:

 

[TKthunder2 4985]

Basically, if the ACC stays together and it’s just Florida State and Clemson that get out they, alone, don’t bring enough money to pay for themselves, much less bring in any extra revenue for the existing membership. Nor do they justify pissing off their TV partners. The Big Ten just pushed FOX (CBS/NBC said no) for more money for Oregon and Washington and the SEC is trying to get ESPN to pony up for the 9th conference game. Timing is everything.

Now if FSU/Clemson leaving starts a mass exodus and UNC, UVA, Miami all decide the grass is greener as well, then that is a different story and it becomes a land grab akin to what just happened to the PAC12 with the 3 remaining power conferences picking up the best pieces and leaving the rest as a shell of its former self.

[thunderlounge 7815]

I’d laugh my ass off if Cal and Tree were the last ones left, again. 

[PittsburghTiger 6175]

On 7/11/2024 at 10:59 PM, msucolt45 said:

I really think that in about 6 years (2030) that there’s going to be a different league/conference of about 48-64 teams (football) that will be totally on their own, separate from the NCAA. They will dictate their own terms and $$$.

Hook’em!!!

I've said it will/should be the Super Best Friends Conference with 72 teams in 12 separate pods and the winners of the pods go to the playoffs. Pods will be geographic in nature and the out of pod games can rotate each year. And most of all just one TV contract for the 72 teams.

Edited July 18 by PittsburghTiger

[Hurtlocker 2212]

Athletic's Mandel's Mailbag - 

Quote

Hey Stewart: With the Big Ten and SEC both stating they have no interest in adding any more teams, where does that leave Florida State and Clemson, considering the current “scorched earth” approach they have taken towards the ACC? Would they even be interested in joining the Big 12? — Conor O., Houston

That’s the million dollar — er, $130 million dollar — question these days.

Before anything else can happen, FSU and Clemson have to resolve their lawsuits with the ACC. That could take years, if they go to trial, or months, if the sides reach a settlement.

Meanwhile, an important date is looming for the entire ACC: February 2025. That’s when ESPN has a “look-in” to decide whether it wants to continue with its ACC contract for another 10 years (2027-2036). Were things completely stable, it would be a no-brainer for the network to keep things as is, given the locked-in price, especially with the revenue it makes from the ACC Network. But if the network opts out … chaos in the streets.

In terms of the Big Ten and SEC — of course, they’re going to say, as commissioner Greg Sankey did at SEC media days this week, “Our focus is on our 16 members.” Expect something similar from the Big Ten’s Tony Petitti next week. Their focus is not on realignment, because there’s no one of value that’s realistically available. That could change in an instant if the ACC implodes.

The Big Ten in particular will likely do whatever Fox tells it to do, and it may well covet a powerhouse program that gets it into a hugely populous state. That seems a more viable option than the SEC, which already has schools in Florida and South Carolina and whose partner, ESPN, has no incentive to pay more money to show Florida State and Clemson than it does now.

The Big 12 presents an interesting, if less plausible, alternative. On the one hand, that conference makes no more than the ACC does now, so, what’s the point, right? But if Brett Yormark gets his wish and gets his presidents to sign off on a private equity deal, it may be able to pay Florida State and Clemson a lot more than they make now, even before negotiating a new TV deal. In that scenario, those schools might be able to make Big Ten/SEC money without having to play a Big Ten/SEC schedule.

I just find it hard to imagine those schools want to join a less-glamorous conference. Perhaps they could use an invite as leverage to gain more favorable terms from the ACC.

It seems we're following a little bit of last year's math though after USC left the Pac 12.   If the B12 makes the same as the ACC now, and FSU/Clemson are 40% of the ACC, how is the ACC as strong?

[gatormarc 911]

 

[CustersDoctor 584]

There was a click bait realignment article out today that heavily referenced Swaim. The article said this about him.

 

[Longboard Horn 40296]

 

[Chopper 17230]

ffs

Edited July 20 by Chopper

[Chopper 17230]

21 minutes ago, Longboard Horn said:

 

Why are you posting fake fucking news?

['stache 21799]

Because its funny?

[DFW Horn 6123]

46 minutes ago, Longboard Horn said:

 

They'd better make room for Sewanee, too. The SEC needs more Tigers.

[gatormarc 911]

18 hours ago, CustersDoctor said:

There was a click bait realignment article out today that heavily referenced Swaim. The article said this about him.

 

Related to this?

 

Edited July 21 by gatormarc

[gatormarc 911]

Delete

Edited July 21 by gatormarc

[CustersDoctor 584]

15 hours ago, gatormarc said:

Related to this?

 

Yes. Highly reliable, never just whistling in the wind Swaim.