Realignment Megathread (All The Moves)

I agree, to a point. But no one knows what will be pushing expansion in 5 or 10 years. Does a new system come to play, that causes something to be of value in a different way. Does the TV/Streaming system change in a way that adds value to a school that currently doesnt have that value because of how the system/contracts are done.

Does a school like Stanford get a boost as a package deal with ND?
Does a school take a discounted rate, ala SMU, Oregon, Wash etc, that is enough to get in the door?
Does some other player come in wanting a certain number of teams, or a certain team makeup for a large payout?
Does someone want a certain inventory, that includes football, basketball etc, so adding the Dukes or UNCs becomes more valuable?

I am not saying any of these things matter, or will matter, all I am saying is we dont really know what the system will be a decade from now, we dont know how values may change both up and down, we dont know what might be the major value player.

A decade ago, cable carriage fees were the value, for B1G, now not as much. A decade agon no one thought the Pac would fall and all those teams be added to 3 other conferences. A decade ago the NIL, profit share, and transfer portal were not a thing. A decade ago a team like Indiana not only winning the B1G but also having one of the top earning coaches, and one of the highest valued teams was not even a pipe dream. A decade ago, the landscape was totally different, and a decade from now I am guessing it will be a lot different from what it is today.

I agree in the current system there are few if any that add anything to the value for the B1G or SEC, but that doenst mean a team like UU or TT etc could rattle off several years of top finishes, and top valued teams etc. that drastically increases their value, as far as what is considered valuable today.

Then who knows the entire system could implode, someone like cykadelic could get their wish, the government could step in, the system could collapse on its own weight, some other major event or some major investor, could come in and force change. With private equity trying to get involved, a lot of people could get their hands involved and really all bets are off at that point.
Totally fair, 5 years is a long way out to predict anything
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2speedy1
The NFL deal is likely to impact realignment. I’ve wondered if Fox’s threats against SBA (streaming) is to get Amazon to buy them



Finally, Marchand goes to Fox. The network’s CEO Lachlan Murdoch has recently backpedaled on his prior excitementabout renewing its NFL deal early, saying publicly he believes Fox is already paying market price for the league. Moreover, Fox and the Murdoch media empire have been one of the primary voices pushing the narrative that taking NFL games off of broadcast television may jeopardize the NFL’s antitrust exemption. Not coincidentally, the Justice Department recently opened an investigation into that very matter.

Then there’s the fact that Fox is a much smaller company than the other four NFL broadcast partners, and thus less equipped to stomach a massive increase in rights fees, and the network might be more willing to hold out until 2029-30.

“Fox is sitting there and they do not want to spend that money,” Marchand said. “You look at their market cap, it doesn’t really make sense for them to spend too much more money.”

The sense that I’m getting is that Fox is willing to say, ‘We have you under contract through the out after the ’29-30 season, who knows what’s going to happen with media over the next four years, we’re willing to roll the dice. And we think when it comes time to renegotiate in ’29-30, are we going to merge with somebody? Is somebody going to buy us? Or are you really going to be willing to test the antitrust exemptions that are coming from Congress and take our package and possibly give it to a streamer or allow streamers to get more?'” Ourand added.
That doesn’t bode well for the B10 and any expansion plans they have keeping in mind that Fox owns 61% of BTN and as long they maintain that majority stake, they essentially remain the B10’s rights holder even with the current TV deals with CBS and NBC expiring in 2030.
 
The thing is this argument is base around the need for constant expansion which I don’t think exists anymore. If carriage fees are no longer a major factor then there is zero need for future expansion unless a school is willing to join the P2 for a faction of the price.

Speaking for the big ten OSU got a 91 mil payout due to winning the previous football natty, the lowest payouts for full tier members were 79mil and up. Those numbers will continue to increase till the end of the media deal. At that point any school added needs to bring in over 100 mil of added value or else it’s just another school in the pot. Outside of ND no school has that value that isn’t in the P2.

That’s why I can see expansion being put in pause for many years
I think the next step is consolidation, not expansion. I think TV media rights is a bubble personally, but at the very least they’ve hit a point of diminishing returns.
 
I agree with this to a point.

But if you look at it like picking teams on a school yard. The best kickball player is picked first, eventually you get to the kid that cant kick.

Eventually, the lower schools become the best available options, if expanding is the goal.

In reality, a school like UU, may have been passed on multiple times, but in the next round they may be the best option left. Now if taking any school does not meet the needs, add a benefit, for what they are looking for, then that will end the expansion. No one is going to take teams for the sake of adding teams, their has to be some benefit, gaining media market, gaining media pay, gaining needed travel partners, gaining a rival for a wanted team etc.

In the next round we really dont know yet what might be considered valuable. We have an idea, but as discussed media markets are becoming less valuable and other aspects are becoming more valuable, like overall fanbases etc. This means a school passed on in previous rounds may have more value now, or they may just be the most valuable of those left.
Exactly. Which is why I don't think any current Big 12 schools will have an invite, unless something dramatically changes their current valuations.

They've vetted all of these schools and concluded that they didn't add anything. If they knew these schools added something, they would have been added whenever they were available in order to maximize the revenue produced.

They aren't sitting there going "yeah, Utah will grow our bottom line but let's just wait until 2030 to add them with the ACC schools". No business, especially one as blood thirsty for every extra cent as the Big 10, operates that way.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2speedy1
I hope this is true



It’s most likely not, Yoder is known for these kinda things big would be cool if it was true. Endowment funds have very tight rules on their usage and there isn’t a rule in place if the endowment does exceptionally well that they can make rapid adjustments.

Also it’s not clear from the disclosures if Michigan still has the full position or not as it’s from court docs dated awhile ago. Still excellent investment call
 
It’s most likely not, Yoder is known for these kinda things big would be cool if it was true. Endowment funds have very tight rules on their usage and there isn’t a rule in place if the endowment does exceptionally well that they can make rapid adjustments.

Also it’s not clear from the disclosures if Michigan still has the full position or not as it’s from court docs dated awhile ago. Still excellent investment call
The only real question is if any profits are earmarked for NIL

There’s many avenues to do that
 
I think he's saying that Nebraska fans judging Rhule need to be fair because the top of the Big 10 has way more money than they do.
Would make sense if Nebby were knocking on the door of the top of the B1G but they're not even close, they've finished behind Rutgers 2 of the last 3 seasons and last season improved to 10th. It's not like Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Washington, who all finished ahead of Nebby, are working with way more money or more money at all.
 
Does this mean we don't need to worry about this stuff?


What it means is a lot of small colleges with small endowments are gonna go away. Which I think we already knew.

Funnily enough, this reminds me of whats-his-names big consultancy report showing how Stanford and Texas and Florida and Rice were all awesome and belonged in the same conferences, since they were so academically superior and well-endowed.
 
What it means is a lot of small colleges with small endowments are gonna go away. Which I think we already knew.

Funnily enough, this reminds me of whats-his-names big consultancy report showing how Stanford and Texas and Florida and Rice were all awesome and belonged in the same conferences, since they were so academically superior and well-endowed.
You probably are referring to this guy (Tony Altimore).

1778699987304.png

Who's X photo is this, 20-25 years back.

1778700039230.png

What a dweeb.
 
  • Agree
Reactions: CascadeClone