Realignment Megathread (All The Moves)

[NetflixAndClone]

This makes my blood boil because unequal revenue sharing is what killed the old Big 12 and now we got schools saying that we need unequal revenue sharing. The hunger for greed is never satiated. I'm not shocked but it is crazy that these top schools are always scared of parity.

 

[FriendlySpartan]

Support will be almost zero even for women’s athletics, outside of womens basketball. Those Olympic athletes will get scholarships to appease Title IX but not much else, coaches, support staff, travel will all be gutted. That’s the part of this nobody sees with the greed of the SEC.

Women’s sports already received minor funding outside of basketball. Support staff is often shared or through the larger university system, travel will be fine as it’s a very minor expense. If coaches salaries are brought down in women’s sports it won’t be the end of the world (same for if they are brought down in all sports honestly).

University’s will have to get smarter in some ways and not just build stupid things just to spend money.

 

[1SEIACLONE]

Bud is right and there are otherwise level-headed people who just can't get that through their head. Whether it's breaking away, kicking them out of the B1G/SEC, or imposing by sheer force of will some unequal revenue distribution, there is no chance that Ohio State etc. continue to live in the status quo where they get the same slice of pie as Purdue and Rutgers.

I actually have some pity for fans of middling to low-tier B1G/SEC programs who think their league is different and special, when the constant churn of realignment for years - decades - has been that the Big Boys use their advantage to entrench and enrich themselves, no matter who is in their way. The Mississippi States of the world just haven't been the low-hanging fruit yet. Now they are.

The smaller schools in the B10 and SEC that they are immune to all of this, and think that they will get a pass because they are in the conference now and nothing is going to change. But like you said, the Ohio States of the world are not going to stop now, too much money to be made, so either the weaker schools give up some cash, or the larger schools will look to break away and leave those behind.

 

[CascadeClone]

It is also suggested by an athletic administrator(s) that it may not be necessary. I agree with that if the new TV deals are negotiated properly and revenues are shared in a fairly equitable manner.

"But plenty of high-ranking officials agree with their commissioners: Let’s do this ourselves. “We don’t need a middle man,” said one SEC school athletic director. “I’d like to go at it to see if we can figure out something ourselves,” said a Big Ten athletic director.

The issue is that PE would immediately infuse cash to meet House Settlement obligations before the new TV deals would kick in so PE may be necessary in the short term before the 2030 timeframe when existing TV deals expire.

They probably DO need a middle man to make this work.

• too many cooks in the kitchen
• too many "mine's bigger" egos
• conflicting objectives between haves, have-nots, and have-somes
• lack of a unifying leader in the sport to keep all the problem children in line
• ESPN/Fox fighting proxy war against it via Sankey and Pettiti

Personally, I would love to see this grand unification happen. It WOULD give the schools enough power to fight back - get more money, rationalize geography (lower costs and good for the players), protect the have-nots and have-somes. The alternative direction they are currently on will lead to even worse fragmenting and eventual bifurcation of the sport.

It really reminds me of the US Constitutional convention. But they had some pretty sharp leaders there, and worked out compromises that made everyone happy (happy enough anyway).

Who is out there that could be that guy with the presence and gravitas to lead this? Be fair to all, have the respect of all, and make this work? You kind of need a Jamie Dimon, but with a college sports background.

 

[CascadeClone]

This makes my blood boil because unequal revenue sharing is what killed the old Big 12 and now we got schools saying that we need unequal revenue sharing. The hunger for greed is never satiated. I'm not shocked but it is crazy that these top schools are always scared of parity.

There are 2 paths forward for college football-
1. those top 20 teams breaking off to be a premier league (unequal revenue sharing is just one step on this path) and the rest becoming AAA baseball
2. all the conferences unite and collectively bargain a better overall deal - which will require some kind of Great Compromise to keep the top 20 happy enough that they don't choose option 1

Honestly, without some divine intervention, I think #1 is what will happen.

 

[Saul_T]

This is a mess and I'm glad I'm not an athletic director.

 

[cykadelic2]

They probably DO need a middle man to make this work.

• too many cooks in the kitchen
• too many "mine's bigger" egos
• conflicting objectives between haves, have-nots, and have-somes
• lack of a unifying leader in the sport to keep all the problem children in line
• ESPN/Fox fighting proxy war against it via Sankey and Pettiti

Personally, I would love to see this grand unification happen. It WOULD give the schools enough power to fight back - get more money, rationalize geography (lower costs and good for the players), protect the have-nots and have-somes. The alternative direction they are currently on will lead to even worse fragmenting and eventual bifurcation of the sport.

It really reminds me of the US Constitutional convention. But they had some pretty sharp leaders there, and worked out compromises that made everyone happy (happy enough anyway).

Who is out there that could be that guy with the presence and gravitas to lead this? Be fair to all, have the respect of all, and make this work? You kind of need a Jamie Dimon, but with a college sports background.

I understood the "middle man" to be a PE firm and their near-term cash infusion to meet near term 2025 House obligations.

That PE firm would not necessarily be the governance arm of a 70 team Super League IMO but I do agree with you that, at a minimum, a new Super League Czar would have to be appointed who would not be directly part of the NCAA but would negotiate/administer new TV deals, including CFP, for the 70 team Super League, administer/allocate the TV revenue pool and perhaps administer NIL governance as well. The NCAA is already in the process of soliciting bids for NIL governance under the terms of House with PWC being rumored as one of the bidders for that.

 

[1UNI2ISU]

A huge chunk of that initial $9B is going to have to go to buying out contracts for games with G5/FCS. There's got to be hundreds of millions on the books out there that is going to have to be settled/paid.

 

[theshadow]

This makes my blood boil because unequal revenue sharing is what killed the old Big 12 and now we got schools saying that we need unequal revenue sharing. The hunger for greed is never satiated. I'm not shocked but it is crazy that these top schools are always scared of parity.

It's laughable, coming from Gene Smith. Maybe don't offer 35 varsity sports, Ohio State, and then you won't need MOAR.

 

[cykadelic2]

Who is out there? Nobody, that's who. Nobody is coming to save college athletics.

Have you read these quotes from Greg Sankey? Who in the world is going to persuade him to give up millions, perhaps tens of millions, in annual revenue for each of his schools in order to preserve the health of the sport and college athletics as a whole? Especially in an environment where there will be more demands placed on that revenue than ever before?

It's going to take something major, like Congressional or court intervention, to preserve anything we recognize as the college athletics we've known.

Sure it will likley take Fed intervention and that breaking point will happen if ESPN doesn't pick up the 2027 ACC TV option and more schools face relegation as a result.

And based on the Dellenger article, there is potentially enough support building within the SEC and B10 to make a 70 team Super League happen without Fed intervention keeping in mind that ESPN and Fox are fighting this perhaps moreso than Sankey and Petitti.

 

[Gonzo]

They probably DO need a middle man to make this work.

• too many cooks in the kitchen
• too many "mine's bigger" egos
• conflicting objectives between haves, have-nots, and have-somes
• lack of a unifying leader in the sport to keep all the problem children in line
• ESPN/Fox fighting proxy war against it via Sankey and Pettiti

Personally, I would love to see this grand unification happen. It WOULD give the schools enough power to fight back - get more money, rationalize geography (lower costs and good for the players), protect the have-nots and have-somes. The alternative direction they are currently on will lead to even worse fragmenting and eventual bifurcation of the sport.

It really reminds me of the US Constitutional convention. But they had some pretty sharp leaders there, and worked out compromises that made everyone happy (happy enough anyway).

Who is out there that could be that guy with the presence and gravitas to lead this? Be fair to all, have the respect of all, and make this work? You kind of need a Jamie Dimon, but with a college sports background.

A guy who's wrong as often, if not more, than he's right? Lol, honestly that sounds about right for this cluster.

 

[Cyhig]

There are 2 paths forward for college football-
1. those top 20 teams breaking off to be a premier league (unequal revenue sharing is just one step on this path) and the rest becoming AAA baseball
2. all the conferences unite and collectively bargain a better overall deal - which will require some kind of Great Compromise to keep the top 20 happy enough that they don't choose option 1

Honestly, without some divine intervention, I think #1 is what will happen.

Agree 100%. I think the bigger question isn't if #1 will happen. but when will it happen. I say that while hoping option #2 comes to fruition.

 

[cykadelic2]

A huge chunk of that initial $9B is going to have to go to buying out contracts for games with G5/FCS. There's got to be hundreds of millions on the books out there that is going to have to be settled/paid.

There wouldn't be that much buyout beyond 2030 and those buyouts can be appeased if G5/FCS TV rights are also aggregated with the 70 Super League teams with a separate G5 playoff.

For example, a bid package can be constructed where if you want SEC or B10 rights, you must also include and bid on multiple G5 conferences and a piece of the G5 and FCS playoffs as well in that single bid. That will significantly drive up the price for the G5.

 

[cykadelic2]

Our expansion really was not crazy at all in comparison. The 4 pac adds did not have their travel increased. We basically added one team outside the footprint (ucf) and it’s not as far outside the footprint as the 6 big ten/acc adds.

When/if acc crumbles there are options like Pitt and Louisville who fit right in too. We don’t need cal/stan, especially in a subscription model future.

Claiming the 4 PAC adds to the B12 are not having their travel increased is completely off base. Better check a map.

 

[FriendlySpartan]

Claiming the 4 PAC adds to the B12 are not having their travel increased is completely off base. Better check a map.

Outside of UCF they really didn’t. It’s a long way from Arizona to Oregon and Washington.

 

[HFCS]

Claiming the 4 PAC adds to the B12 are not having their travel increased is completely off base. Better check a map.

Arizona schools travel is no different than it was before. Check a map.

 

[trevn]

Who is out there that could be that guy with the presence and gravitas to lead this? Be fair to all, have the respect of all, and make this work? You kind of need a Jamie Dimon, but with a college sports background.

Option 1. Gary Barta
Option 1a. Dan Beebe

 

[BooneCy]

If you invite private equity in, expect everything to be ruined sooner rather then later. PE is a parasite that ruins everything it touches. I’m confident the presidents are aware of that

Your statement presupposes that the situation we have currently is sustainable. The discussions surrounding what is happening would suggest it is not.

 

[FriendlySpartan]

This proposed project Rudy, which I doubt will happen but is interesting to discuss is only for football. With the removal of conferences how do you bid out other rights such as men’s and women’s basketball? Nothing about other sports is discussed from what I’ve read unless I skipped over a part.

 

[CyTuT]

If they press the unequal pay scenario, wouldn’t it just take schools to forfeit until they acquiesce? The game must be played by two teams. If there isn’t anyone to play, the media would have to get involved. Although I suppose some school would take the money. And what about the nonprofit status?