So regardless of if there is a playoff, not a playoff, a BCS game, the most watched ISU game is still the bowl game.
So many reasons to boycott tonights CFP title game
- Thread starter Win5002
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I don't think there's necessarily an argument that those two teams are not the most talented
it's mostly that people just don't care about the game (due to a variety of factors)
For starters, OUT are still in the conference without the playoff. Wait another ten years and tell me who has won and lost.
Conflating CFP with expansion, while likely not entirely independent, is not what I'm after here. I want to know how the most loyal of fans to their schools, and in particular Iowa State, are losers because of the College Football Playoff.
Is our team more or less relevant or financially well off than it was before the College Football Playoff AND is this due in any way to the CFP?
Has the Big 12 signed any new media contracts since the introduction of the CFP?
I can't find a dollar amount for that on a quick browse, but I think our big media deal was in 2012 (and was a 13 year deal that ends in 2025).
The Big 12 tried to renegotiate after the massive SEC deal, but ESPN and FOX weren't interested (leading OU and Texas to leave).
And they only had one NBA game to compete with, and not much else for sports
Then we’re going to argue past each other, because this is entirely about realignment and the consolidation of power. The consolidation of so many big brands under one conference isn’t possible without the playoff. The latest moves are clearly in anticipation of the expanded playoff. ISU, and every non-SEC, non-Big 10 school are obviously worse off for not being in the new Power 2 that the playoff will facilitate.
While not nearly as significant as this massive revenue gap that is about to opened up between the Power 2 and everyone else, the media vacuum that is the playoff has made the bowls far less significant. Schools like Iowa State (and G5s) don’t have a realistic chance at making the playoff, let alone winning a game. However, schools like that could hope to make a BCS bowl, and they were important! Boise State beating OU in a modern Fiesta Bowl isn’t nearly as important today as it was in 2007. Modern Boise State has next to zero chance of even playing in a game that important. Perhaps an expanded playoff does actually fix that.
Obviously in the near term the playoff has been good for ISU financially, and in the future it may be what keeps ISU from taking a financial loss after conference realignment, but ISU would have been more secure to begin with without the playoff. Long-term, we’re heading for somewhat uncharted territory. The revenue gaps will harken back to the days before TV revenue sharing. ISU’s conference prestige will be the lowest it has ever been. If more games are moved to a streaming service, our brand visibility might be the worse it has been in the post-cable era. Long-term outlook certainly isn’t good as currently projected. And it IS the playoff allowing it to happen.
I understand. I am tepidly hopeful that what you're describing does not come to pass.
My opinion is more based on historic precedent of realignment and changes to postseason / player eligibility rules.
In the early 1990s the NFL made the draft available to underclassmen. We survived.
Realignment happened with the Texas schools joining the Big 8 and we benefited.
The BCS was created, and ESPN's presence began to grow. We survived.
Realignment again in late 00s and, again, the Big 12 survived, with Iowa State a part of it.
The CFP was established. We survived.
NIL was made available to players. We had our best recruiting class ever.
Through all of these years there have been powerhouse teams or power conferences on par or superior to Iowa State and the Big 12. Yet we continue to grow stronger as a football program, with the best stretch in school history and vast expansion to our athletic facilities.
The grass might be different on the other side of OU and UT leaving but that doesn't mean it will be brown.
There were two sides to realignment with the formation of the Big 12, and it didn't work out so well for the schools in the SWC like SMU.
Maybe we come out of this thing okay, but I don't think ESPN has demonstrated they are an ally to us at this point.
With ESPN failing to move the R8 to the AAC, another ESPN owned conference, and instead taking their top assets, we now are in a more bilateral position with ESPN.
To move OUT, they would need to keep the conference whole to the GOR. Fox is an issue in this because they are also rights holders, and have no incentive, but there is enough surplus to pay them. Some would say this is where the networks collaborate to split the R8. The R8 aren't leaving for a pay cut, so the cost savings only from moving down enough of the Big 12 after dissolution. And it does not help ESPN bolster the SEC with ACC assets.
It is equally cost effective for ESPN to keep the Big 12 whole and as a landing spot for ACC teams when ESPN and the SEC target that conference. As ESPN learned, getting leftover P5s to agree to dissolution only for the AAC is not happening.
Expansion not happening, meaning ESPN does not get exclusive bidder rights, potentially is one step closer to ESPN using a super SEC to start its own postseason.
If you were going to make an educated guess, how do you think the conferences end up shaking up and on what timetable? Obviously there's a million different ways things could end up, but was just curious on if you had a hunch.
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