Conference Realignment

ChicagobasedJacket

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The ACC signing such a long TV contract is going to screw over alot of teams. I would imagine that Washington and Oregon are going to be Big 10 bound at some point as well. The rest of the Pac 12 and the Big 12 will merge into some kind of conference. Not sure what happens to the ACC. Full on basketball?
Some “reports” are saying that B1G passed on them.
 

orientalnc

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It will be interesting to hear the backstory of how USC and UCLA came to have mutual interests with the B1G. If it's branding, neither has had a significant football brand in a long while. The same with basketball. So, it must be about TV markets.
 

RamblinRed

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USC and UCLA are 2 large brands that are also AAU universities. That is an easy decision for both parties if the interest is there and all the TV contracts line up relatively nicely for the B10 and P12 teams.

B10 took Rutgers and MD for the TV markets - the ability to charge a higher rate for carriage of the B10 network due to having teams within the markets. Don't know if that is still an item for them, if it is then that is really all that GT brings to the table.

I think B10 would take UNC in a heartbeat if they could (9th largest state in the US in population, just behind GA). Both of those states will overtake Ohio and close in on ILL over the next decade.
The issue for any conference wanting any ACC team is the combination of the buyout and the GoR. B10 funded both MD and Rutgers departures. They (and the SEC) would have to pay alot more to take anyone else from the ACC and also the GoR means no rights to any games that televise those previous members until 2036.

Duke is just like Kansas. Great basketball programs that have no football following and so have no value right now to other conferences. When the B12 was breaking apart no other P5 conferences were interested in Kansas even with their outstanding basketball brand.

If this happens it likely would have been better for the remaining B12 teams to merge with the remaining P12 teams, but the B12 picking up 4 new members makes that harder to see.
 

RamblinRed

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Serious coin​

How much money could USC and UCLA make through media rights payouts in the Big Ten? Both schools could reach -- or even top -- $100 million annually, according to the San Jose Mercury-News' Jon Wilner. The Big Ten has been in negotiations for its next media rights deal, which was reportedly getting into the billion-dollar range. The amount of money on the table is mind-boggling.

More on timing​

Today, June 30, would be the last day USC and UCLA could inform the Pac-12 they intend on leaving the conference if they want to avoid potential additional financial penalties, three sources tell CBS Sports' Matt Norlander. The active Pac-12 grant of rights expires on June 30, 2024.....so if you wanted to know why this is coming out today, there is your answer.

Media rights timing is key​

The timing of this is fairly natural, both for the Pac-12 schools and the Big Ten. The Pac-12's current media rights deal expires in 2024, which is when USC/UCLA would reportedly leave. They can avoid a hefty exit/buyout fee by transitioning leagues at the same time the rights deal is up. The Big Ten, meanwhile, is in the midst of negotiating a new TV deal that would likely begin in 2023 which could reportedly be worth more than $1 billion per year. Adding USC and UCLA to that package certainly won't hurt.
 

Techwood Relict

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The league would basically have to dissolve or ESPN and the ACC (and all of its members) would have to agree to terms on terminating the contract. Im not sure how either of those happen.
This has renegotiation written all over it. I don't know what the number is for schools, but once enough decide to change, the conference will fracture. The money will work out later. It's a brave new world.
 

orientalnc

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USC and UCLA are 2 large brands that are also AAU universities. That is an easy decision for both parties if the interest is there and all the TV contracts line up relatively nicely for the B10 and P12 teams.

B10 took Rutgers and MD for the TV markets - the ability to charge a higher rate for carriage of the B10 network due to having teams within the markets. Don't know if that is still an item for them, if it is then that is really all that GT brings to the table.

I think B10 would take UNC in a heartbeat if they could (9th largest state in the US in population, just behind GA). Both of those states will overtake Ohio and close in on ILL over the next decade.
The issue for any conference wanting any ACC team is the combination of the buyout and the GoR. B10 funded both MD and Rutgers departures. They (and the SEC) would have to pay alot more to take anyone else from the ACC and also the GoR means no rights to any games that televise those previous members until 2036.

Duke is just like Kansas. Great basketball programs that have no football following and so have no value right now to other conferences. When the B12 was breaking apart no other P5 conferences were interested in Kansas even with their outstanding basketball brand.

If this happens it likely would have been better for the remaining B12 teams to merge with the remaining P12 teams, but the B12 picking up 4 new members makes that harder to see.
Thanks for this post. USC and UCLA are big brands, but their success is well in the past. I think this is more about Notre Dame (who is not and AAU school) than these two schools specially. And, I would not be surprised to hear Stanford is in the mix as well. If expanding to 20 teams is a goal for the B1G, knowing having ND as a member has been there decades, getting USC and Stanford makes sense.

If this move starts the dominoes to fall, I think the SEC is going make some moves. Living in NC has altered my perspective on fans here. It's all about the ACC and the legislature offering $15 mil to keep the HQ is indicative of that. The rivalries between and among UNC, Duke, and NC State are very important to NC residents. Something is almost certainly going to happen with the ACC. The GOR agreements could all go away if enough schools see the future ACC is not where they want to be. If 3 or 4 schools came to the ACC at once and said they are leaving and will challenge the GOR, the league might fold. I do not think ESPN wants the ACC if Clemson, UNC, FSU and Miami all leave. And Clemson will surely be in one of the mega conferences.
 

SOWEGA Jacket

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It's hard for me to get to the point of thinking about which ACC teams might leave without figuring out how they could leave. No one is going to pay a 52 million dollar buyout and give up their TV rights until 2036. The league would basically have to dissolve or ESPN and the ACC (and all of its members) would have to agree to terms on terminating the contract. Im not sure how either of those happen.
You really believe this current contract will stop anything? I’ve said it many times - real businessmen handle their business in the quiet like the SEC with Texas/OU and now the BIG and these two. ESPN runs everything right now so whenever they want to move pieces around they will. You guys who believe some outdated contract will stop anything are living in a fantasyland. The ACC is not run by business men but by Carolina bots. Been that way forever. Yeah, keep believing Jim Phillips will save us. He’s probably on the phone now getting UNC an invite to the BIG.
 

Techwood Relict

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TV money is yesterday's game. This is why anyone who says "Atlanta market" is taking an old revenue model view on where all sports is headed. I linked to this tweet in another thread:




This is strictly about eyeballs now, and which teams will command a bigger set of eyeballs for the streaming wars. This is why the B1G and SEC are fighting for "brands" as opposed to teams in certain markets. Texas/Oklahoma (SEC) and UCLA/USC (futur B1G) are four of the biggest brands in not just college sports, but all of US sports. Conferences are looking 10-50+ years down the road.

Unfortunately, GT does not command many eyeballs any longer. Even more unfortunate, is that GT administrators and fans continually look backwards instead of forwards. The B1G gave us a lifeline years ago by extending an invitation, but we were extremely short sighted. Now GT is heading into murky waters clinging on to a sinking ship.

This was a recent Clay Travis take on the future of the ESPN subscriber population.


It'll be interesting to watch how the money flows in the future in all directions. I think the paying of stupid money for 18 year olds is a bad prop bet that will even out. Likewise, sports costs have a general ceiling. When people are worried about $5 gas and crazy food pricing, entertainment will inevitably take on lesser importance.

Many industries consolidate in tough times for cost control. The big TV contract changes on the horizon may self-fulfill to some of that consolidation.
 

BraveandBold

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It may be the end of college football as we know it. Between this and NIL/transfers, lots of schools will be left out, including, possibly, Tech. I think we may become another “Tulane” and won’t be able to compete with the big boys, but could return Tech to a time when college sports were not just a big business, driven by dollars only.
 

WreckinGT

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You really believe this current contract will stop anything? I’ve said it many times - real businessmen handle their business in the quiet like the SEC with Texas/OU and now the BIG and these two. ESPN runs everything right now so whenever they want to move pieces around they will. You guys who believe some outdated contract will stop anything are living in a fantasyland. The ACC is not run by business men but by Carolina bots. Been that way forever. Yeah, keep believing Jim Phillips will save us. He’s probably on the phone now getting UNC an invite to the BIG.
In your expert legal opinion, why aren’t USC or UCLA joining the Big 10 this year or next year? Why aren’t Texas or Oklahoma joining the SEC this year or next year?
 

bigrabbit

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It may be the end of college football as we know it. Between this and NIL/transfers, lots of schools will be left out, including, possibly, Tech. I think we may become another “Tulane” and won’t be able to compete with the big boys, but could return Tech to a time when college sports were not just a big business, driven by dollars only.
GT is a better school than Tulane, but I’ve been saying for years we might turn into a public version of Rice.

Maybe it’s been brewing and I didn’t notice - but so ends the the “Alliance”.
 

SOWEGA Jacket

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But we were all told repeatedly here that Jim Phillips and the Alliance was going to save us from the big bad SEC. I guess the BIG is now the enemy? Isn’t that how it worked several months back?
 

forensicbuzz

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You really believe this current contract will stop anything? I’ve said it many times - real businessmen handle their business in the quiet like the SEC with Texas/OU and now the BIG and these two. ESPN runs everything right now so whenever they want to move pieces around they will. You guys who believe some outdated contract will stop anything are living in a fantasyland. The ACC is not run by business men but by Carolina bots. Been that way forever. Yeah, keep believing Jim Phillips will save us. He’s probably on the phone now getting UNC an invite to the BIG.
Why would Jim Phillips be doing anything for UNC? More of your nonsense. Jim Phillips has no ties to North Carolina and never has. He was an AD at NIU, Asst. AD at Tennessee, and ND before being the AD at Northwestern. He's from Chicago originally and went to Illinois. Your lack of knowledge astounds me. But you go on spouting your nonsense.

No one knows where this will end, but greed tends to ruin most things, so I agree with you that honesty and ethics won't play a role in the future of college football, and, by extension, college athletics, in general.
 
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