Can we stay competitive in the NIL era?

Richard7125

Jolly Good Fellow
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465
You can watch or not watch. If it interests you, watch. If not, watch something else. Personally, I enjoy watching college football even if the two teams are not in hunt. The Tennessee-Purdue game was damn exciting, yet neither team had anything special to fight for ... just fun football and a something for the fans.

There is no question college football is headed for a reckoning. Unlike the NFL, college ball is heavily invested with one network and is becoming increasingly regionalized. All the signs are there that it's going to break. There has already been talk of the Top 30 leaving and forming a new CFA and that's probably the model ...
I won’t be surprised if eventually there is a super league of 20 to 30 teams, but I also don’t think it’s very likely either. Who is pushing for the super league? It’s not the Alabamas, UGAs, OSU, etc. It’s the bottom feeders in the P5 conferences who can’t (or don’t want to) compete financially with the top 15 to 20 schools. I just don’t see these bottom feeders saying, hey, let’s leave these conferences with high profile football teams and form our own conference that will be less attractive to ESPN, FOX, etc. I don’t think a super league will happen until the Alabamas et al want to leave and form their own league.
 

iceeater1969

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Guy w dough on line offered the ou qb williams 1,000,000 to play 1 year at eastern michigan.

At each championship game ALL THE BIGS have a meeting . Have been Blah blah blah about how to expand the playoffs. They better get highest bidder chaos down to a mild roar. .
 

WreckinGT

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3,193
I won’t be surprised if eventually there is a super league of 20 to 30 teams, but I also don’t think it’s very likely either. Who is pushing for the super league? It’s not the Alabamas, UGAs, OSU, etc. It’s the bottom feeders in the P5 conferences who can’t (or don’t want to) compete financially with the top 15 to 20 schools. I just don’t see these bottom feeders saying, hey, let’s leave these conferences with high profile football teams and form our own conference that will be less attractive to ESPN, FOX, etc. I don’t think a super league will happen until the Alabamas et al want to leave and form their own league.
The big boys are never going to want to stop playing the smaller programs. There is no real benefit in leaving all of the smaller but significant fan bases behind to create a new league where many teams will have less success due to increased competition. Unfortunately college football is driven by what the larger programs think will benefit them the most. It isn't driven by consumer interests, the good of the sport, or the interest of the student athletes. That will ultimately be its downfall as parity and interest continue to wane.
 

Vespidae

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The big boys are never going to want to stop playing the smaller programs. There is no real benefit in leaving all of the smaller but significant fan bases behind to create a new league where many teams will have less success due to increased competition. Unfortunately college football is driven by what the larger programs think will benefit them the most. It isn't driven by consumer interests, the good of the sport, or the interest of the student athletes. That will ultimately be its downfall as parity and interest continue to wane.

I disagree with this. The medium sized schools are the ones pushing for rules changes, transfer portals, etc ... to get an advantage. The problem is, the advantages soon skew to the larger schools with deeper pockets and resources. Quoting Nick Saban re the transfer portal (being against it) ... "Are you SURE you want to do this?" He knew that ultimately, it would tilt the game even further towards a few schools. But, he was outvoted.

Greg Sankey, commissioner of the SEC, spoke to this a few days ago. The NFL is successful because they have four networks supplying a product to the entire country and a very organized approach to scheduling games and post-season play.

The college game does not. Conferences pursue the game from their own self-interest with the NCAA larger a bystander. So what has happened is that unlike the NFL, the college game has REGIONALIZED with high viewership and fan interest in the South, some interest in the midwest and virtually none (by comparison) on the West Coast. Sankey's frustration is that the NCAA takes years to address issues that a conference can address in days.

I think what you are witnessing now is that the SEC will ultimately expand again and admit Michigan, OSU, probably Notre Dame, USC and Washington with a goal to create the college game in the image of the NFL ... with TV packages and playoffs to boot. So yes ... the best teams will create the best college football experience and probably a better product for everyone. The smaller programs will end up being more local and more regionally driven.
 

Root4GT

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3,312
I disagree with this. The medium sized schools are the ones pushing for rules changes, transfer portals, etc ... to get an advantage. The problem is, the advantages soon skew to the larger schools with deeper pockets and resources. Quoting Nick Saban re the transfer portal (being against it) ... "Are you SURE you want to do this?" He knew that ultimately, it would tilt the game even further towards a few schools. But, he was outvoted.

Greg Sankey, commissioner of the SEC, spoke to this a few days ago. The NFL is successful because they have four networks supplying a product to the entire country and a very organized approach to scheduling games and post-season play.

The college game does not. Conferences pursue the game from their own self-interest with the NCAA larger a bystander. So what has happened is that unlike the NFL, the college game has REGIONALIZED with high viewership and fan interest in the South, some interest in the midwest and virtually none (by comparison) on the West Coast. Sankey's frustration is that the NCAA takes years to address issues that a conference can address in days.

I think what you are witnessing now is that the SEC will ultimately expand again and admit Michigan, OSU, probably Notre Dame, USC and Washington with a goal to create the college game in the image of the NFL ... with TV packages and playoffs to boot. So yes ... the best teams will create the best college football experience and probably a better product for everyone. The smaller programs will end up being more local and more regionally driven.
You badly underestimate the B1G and the Midwest in general for TV viewership.
TV viewership by team
 

WreckinGT

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3,193
I disagree with this. The medium sized schools are the ones pushing for rules changes, transfer portals, etc ... to get an advantage. The problem is, the advantages soon skew to the larger schools with deeper pockets and resources. Quoting Nick Saban re the transfer portal (being against it) ... "Are you SURE you want to do this?" He knew that ultimately, it would tilt the game even further towards a few schools. But, he was outvoted.

Greg Sankey, commissioner of the SEC, spoke to this a few days ago. The NFL is successful because they have four networks supplying a product to the entire country and a very organized approach to scheduling games and post-season play.

The college game does not. Conferences pursue the game from their own self-interest with the NCAA larger a bystander. So what has happened is that unlike the NFL, the college game has REGIONALIZED with high viewership and fan interest in the South, some interest in the midwest and virtually none (by comparison) on the West Coast. Sankey's frustration is that the NCAA takes years to address issues that a conference can address in days.

I think what you are witnessing now is that the SEC will ultimately expand again and admit Michigan, OSU, probably Notre Dame, USC and Washington with a goal to create the college game in the image of the NFL ... with TV packages and playoffs to boot. So yes ... the best teams will create the best college football experience and probably a better product for everyone. The smaller programs will end up being more local and more regionally driven.
This is a dubious strategy in my opinion. You can't grow the sport by cutting millions of fans out. Putting USC and Washington in the SEC isn't going to grow west coast viewership. It is almost certainly going to dwindle interest from fans of teams left out like Oregon, UCLA. The same would happen all over the country. GT would have no chance of being in this super league. Are you really excited to watch the super league knowing we won't be a part of it? Programs like Baylor, NC State, Wisconsin, Iowa, Ok State, etc. will now have fan bases who are not represented in the new super league. Are those fan bases going to care about the super league at all? Why would all of us who won't be included be inclined to watch the poor mans NFL, without a team to root for when we could just watch the real NFL which is vastly superior?
 

Vespidae

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This is a dubious strategy in my opinion. You can't grow the sport by cutting millions of fans out. Putting USC and Washington in the SEC isn't going to grow west coast viewership. It is almost certainly going to dwindle interest from fans of teams left out like Oregon, UCLA. The same would happen all over the country. GT would have no chance of being in this super league. Are you really excited to watch the super league knowing we won't be a part of it? Programs like Baylor, NC State, Wisconsin, Iowa, Ok State, etc. will now have fan bases who are not represented in the new super league. Are those fan bases going to care about the super league at all? Why would all of us who won't be included be inclined to watch the poor mans NFL, without a team to root for when we could just watch the real NFL which is vastly superior?
Nevertheless, that is EXACTLY what is happening. That's why the bowls are dropping in interest (fast) and ESPN themselves are trying to accelerate it.

Look at it this way. By the end of September, nearly 100 teams are already mathematically eliminated from advancing. The season is over. Surveys already show that fans have their first team and their backup already in mind. So for example, it might be Georgia Tech and Alabama (or Michigan or whoever). And as soon as you realize Tech, with X losses, has no chance ... yes, you will watch Tech games and you will also watch your backup (again, this is already happening). So the value of the Top 30 is increasing, not decreasing.

This trend is only going to continue. And those left out? Will find themselves on smaller market (regional) broadcasts.

You can hate it. But you can't stop it.
 

GCdaJuiceMan

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Nevertheless, that is EXACTLY what is happening. That's why the bowls are dropping in interest (fast) and ESPN themselves are trying to accelerate it.

Look at it this way. By the end of September, nearly 100 teams are already mathematically eliminated from advancing. The season is over. Surveys already show that fans have their first team and their backup already in mind. So for example, it might be Georgia Tech and Alabama (or Michigan or whoever). And as soon as you realize Tech, with X losses, has no chance ... yes, you will watch Tech games and you will also watch your backup (again, this is already happening). So the value of the Top 30 is increasing, not decreasing.

This trend is only going to continue. And those left out? Will find themselves on smaller market (regional) broadcasts.

You can hate it. But you can't stop it.
Who the hell has time for a "back up"? You got a link to these surveys? Im not disputing what is happing just curious why it is happening. I tend to agree with pieces of what you're saying and what WreckingGT is saying.
 

Vespidae

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Auburn, AL
Who the hell has time for a "back up"? You got a link to these surveys? Im not disputing what is happing just curious why it is happening. I tend to agree with pieces of what you're saying and what WreckingGT is saying.

Most everyone I know does (have a backup). Here's the reality. Since the 2010 national championship game ....
  • The SEC has competed for the national title in 9 of 10 games.
  • Fifty percent of ALL teams competing for the national championship have been SEC schools, the only exceptions being OR, TX, ND, FSU, and Clemson.
  • Southern schools represent 80% of all teams that played in the NC game.
So, a VAST majority of the country is not involved in the college national championship. And THAT is what has to change to grow the game beyond the southern factories.
 

forensicbuzz

21st Century Throwback Dad
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9,029
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North Shore, Chicago
Nevertheless, that is EXACTLY what is happening. That's why the bowls are dropping in interest (fast) and ESPN themselves are trying to accelerate it.

Look at it this way. By the end of September, nearly 100 teams are already mathematically eliminated from advancing. The season is over. Surveys already show that fans have their first team and their backup already in mind. So for example, it might be Georgia Tech and Alabama (or Michigan or whoever). And as soon as you realize Tech, with X losses, has no chance ... yes, you will watch Tech games and you will also watch your backup (again, this is already happening). So the value of the Top 30 is increasing, not decreasing.

This trend is only going to continue. And those left out? Will find themselves on smaller market (regional) broadcasts.

You can hate it. But you can't stop it.
You are right. My first team is Georgia Tech and my back-up is whoever is playing uga that week. Other than that, I don't give a rat's *** about any other college football team. I want to see EVERYBODY lose.
 

iceeater1969

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Most everyone I know does (have a backup). Here's the reality. Since the 2010 national championship game ....
  • The SEC has competed for the national title in 9 of 10 games.
  • Fifty percent of ALL teams competing for the national championship have been SEC schools, the only exceptions being OR, TX, ND, FSU, and Clemson.
  • Southern schools represent 80% of all teams that played in the NC game.
So, a VAST majority of the country is not involved in the college national championship. And THAT is what has to change to grow the game beyond the southern factories.
So the ncaa controls the scholarships.
Why not cut next few ""years"" of scholarships for the repeat NC playoffs.? Something like --
Each of 4 in play offs get docked a few, win into NC get docked a few more , win NC get docked a few more.

Maybe they have a lottery for the extra scholarships like nba.
 

RamblinRed

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The NIL world really comes down to do you have alums and fans who want to play players to go to the school you like.
Schools are not allowed to have NIL deals with players (as that would be a direct payment), but any Tom, ****, Or Harry can offer whatever they want.
So having 'rich' alumni doesn't mean much - every school has some rich alumni. It is whether you have rich alumni or fans that want to pay for players to come to the school. IMO there are likely few rich GT alumni/fans willing to spend their money on players.
 

FredJacket

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The NIL world really comes down to do you have alums and fans who want to play players to go to the school you like.
Schools are not allowed to have NIL deals with players (as that would be a direct payment), but any Tom, ****, Or Harry can offer whatever they want.
So having 'rich' alumni doesn't mean much - every school has some rich alumni. It is whether you have rich alumni or fans that want to pay for players to come to the school. IMO there are likely few rich GT alumni/fans willing to spend their money on players.
"It Just Means More" ...afraid that's actually true.
 
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