Conference Realignment

[stinger78]

Sorry i gave you a tangent to dispute

Premise :
With declining overall revenue, increased competition, and a blah product for most of ACC, ESPN is not giving ACC lots of encouragemt about thier recent actions.

CRICKETS ( silience means the opposite) - just a hint of something positive.
1. "FSU should stay put and continue w the ACC plan for success "
2. "The ACC is a good confsrence and its not right that one injury could keep them out of Playoffs. They could have done at leastas well as our great SEC team."
3." When TEXAS And O U joined SEC we were very proud. Now that Cal and Stanford have joined the ACC , we are sure they will fit in with most of those programs."
4. "The week long roll out of the 24 SEC schedule was good, but we were excited for the way rmthe ACC schedule was rolled out with dignity."
5. "Espn and ACC are umin regular contacr about specific ways we can improve our relatioship."

At the acc network meeting a few years ago espn read us the riot act (with nice words) - schools need to be involved, better coaches, etc) .

Our new Prez has been great and could save the day. Good AD, Coach appears to be good at hiring coaches and players.

Soon ESPN will cut the ACC scrubs off at the knees. They will complement our commiment scholarship and athletics, give us a settlement, and encourage us to reorganize and pat us on back and say look forward to say they want to coopera te with us 100%.

Do you have ndications that ESPN is positive in any way about the future of acc.?

I am hoping to hear something. Once we get labled as walking dead, the ability keep talent will be .....

Do you see the commonalities for every point in your response here? ESPN.

sEcSPN is now dictating CFB. THE HECK WITH EM!!!

Who are they? A TV production trailer, with some overpaid execs in CN, that’s all. They’ve got CFB by the nads and everyone, it seems, just laps it up.

CFB needs a restructuring, yes. It needs to distance itself from the money bags who have control of the game. Schools need to pay down debt and go on a diet from sEcSPN $$$. Take the game back. Kick those fleabags to the curb. They have prostituted our beloved game long enough.

 

[iceeater1969]

Do you see the commonalities for every point in your response here? ESPN.

sEcSPN is now dictating CFB. THE HECK WITH EM!!!

Who are they? A TV production trailer, with some overpaid execs in CN, that’s all. They’ve got CFB by the nads and everyone, it seems, just laps it up.

CFB needs a restructuring, yes. It needs to distance itself from the money bags who have control of the game. Schools need to pay down debt and go on a diet from sEcSPN $$$. Take the game back. Kick those fleabags to the curb. They have prostituted our beloved game long enough.

FSU alumns are ramping up their giving and NIL, do you expect Gt grads to admit FSU grads are more able to donate than we can? I think Batt will come up with a fair plan.

 

[Vespidae]

FSU alumns are ramping up their giving and NIL, do you expect Gt grads to admit FSU grads are more able to donate than we can? I think Batt will come up with a fair plan.

FSU has 400,000 alumni. They generate more in Seminole donations than ticket revenue. I recall that GT has 100,000 or so. Tall order.

 

[orientalnc]

I am not sure if there is any interest among Swarmers for this, but neighbor shared this link. Just looking at football, UNC spent about $1.5 million
on recruiting. I read somewhere else that GT spent just over a million.

Financial Report Shows UNC Athletics Made Slim Profit in 2022-23 Year - Chapelboro.com

UNC reported $139,079,504 in total expenses during the year against $139,353,091 in revenues, for a profit of $273,587.

chapelboro.com

 

[yeti92]

FSU alumns are ramping up their giving and NIL, do you expect Gt grads to admit FSU grads are more able to donate than we can? I think Batt will come up with a fair plan.

I would bet the average GT grad is more able to donate/able to donate more than the average FSU grad, but the average GT grad doesn't care much about GT football success and thus is not going to donate. Having wealthy alumni only matters if they are interested in what you are selling. The total number of donors to GT football is I'm sure far exceeded by the total number of donors to FSU.

 

[Vespidae]

I would bet the average GT grad is more able to donate/able to donate more than the average FSU grad, but the average GT grad doesn't care much about GT football success and thus is not going to donate. Having wealthy alumni only matters if they are interested in what you are selling. The total number of donors to GT football is I'm sure far exceeded by the total number of donors to FSU.

The Seminole Booster Club is, like Alabama’s, a massive, well-oiled machine.

I asked Stansbury this. He said the vast majority of GT financial support comes from about ten people. He had no interest in developing a regional fundraising program. He thought, “Let’s get the donors that count to increase 10%” as a far more effective goal.

 

[orientalnc]

He said the vast majority of GT financial support comes from about ten people.

This is scary for the future of GT football. These donors will eventually die. What happens then?

 

[Vespidae]

This is scary for the future of GT football. These donors will eventually die. What happens then?

The same thing when 80% of your business is with one customer and you lose that customer.

 

[orientalnc]

The same thing when 80% of your business is with one customer and you lose that customer.

There was a long essay a few years ago about how little control over their business many Walmart suppliers have.

 

[MountainBuzzMan]

I would bet the average GT grad is more able to donate/able to donate more than the average FSU grad, but the average GT grad doesn't care much about GT football success and thus is not going to donate. Having wealthy alumni only matters if they are interested in what you are selling. The total number of donors to GT football is I'm sure far exceeded by the total number of donors to FSU.

The problem is that GTAA truly sucks at marketing. There is so much untapped potential here. even for those that are not in love with GT Football. It drives me nuts.

This needs to be run like an aggressive startup struggling to survive. Fully integrate Sales and marketing organization

 

[Vespidae]

The problem is that GTAA truly sucks at marketing. There is so much untapped potential here. even for those that are not in love with GT Football. It drives me nuts.

This needs to be run like an aggressive startup struggling to survive. Fully integrate Sales and marketing organization

Tech outsourced sales to an agency. Many of your “account managers” don’t work for GTAA.

To be fair, GTAA has never, in its history, had a strategic plan until about five years ago.

 

[RamblinRed]

Wolken opinion piece on the new SEC-B1G committee.

SEC, Big Ten group looks to fix college sports. More likely? Screwing up even more.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and his colleagues know how to make gobs of money for themselves. But reforming college sports? They're clueless.

www.usatoday.com

When it comes to expanding their conferences and negotiating huge television deals, Sankey and his colleagues have been undeniably successful. When it comes to building a sports enterprise that treats college athletes fairly, complies with federal antitrust law and acknowledges the reality that amateurism is dead, they haven’t shown that they have the foggiest idea what they’re doing.

Now the Big Ten and SEC are moving closer and closer to putting their hand on the red button. Are they going to save college sports or screw it up even more?

 

[slugboy]

I would bet the average GT grad is more able to donate/able to donate more than the average FSU grad, but the average GT grad doesn't care much about GT football success and thus is not going to donate. Having wealthy alumni only matters if they are interested in what you are selling. The total number of donors to GT football is I'm sure far exceeded by the total number of donors to FSU.

Average wealth may not show you what you need for donations. When it comes to wealth, you have a long tail at the upper end, where those people are capable of donating a lot more—they have more disposable wealth.

Tech has a lot of millionaires, but a million bucks doesn’t go as far as it used to.

A lot of big wealth is in real estate, the financial industry, auto dealerships, medium sized businesses, law, medicine, and other areas. Individually, sales is an area where people have a lot of individual income. Those are places where we have fewer alumni than other schools.

Having even a poorly run business like the LifeWallet guy can be a source of a lot of donations or spend.

How many billionaire or near-billionaire alumni do we have, and how many are giving to the AA?

That’s the kind of donor that FSU, Bama, Texas, Ohio State, Penn State, and the factories have. Even schools like Arkansas and Wichita State.

I don’t think we have a big demographic like THAT

The Seminole Booster Club is, like Alabama’s, a massive, well-oiled machine.

I asked Stansbury this. He said the vast majority of GT financial support comes from about ten people. He had no interest in developing a regional fundraising program. He thought, “Let’s get the donors that count to increase 10%” as a far more effective goal.

I said that was a bad move at the time. A good sales plan will have a mix of consistent sales, plus the occasional “whales” or big deals. You should have both.

With the alumni and fan base we have, a strong booster club of people who give $100 or $500 a year will provide a good foundation.

Plus, that’s a good way to knock out your debt ratio. The big boosters want their name on a building. The general fund is the one that wipes out debt.

 

[stinger78]

Average wealth may not show you what you need for donations. When it comes to wealth, you have a long tail at the upper end, where those people are capable of donating a lot more—they have more disposable wealth.

Tech has a lot of millionaires, but a million bucks doesn’t go as far as it used to.

A lot of big wealth is in real estate, the financial industry, auto dealerships, medium sized businesses, law, medicine, and other areas. Individually, sales is an area where people have a lot of individual income. Those are places where we have fewer alumni than other schools.

Having even a poorly run business like the LifeWallet guy can be a source of a lot of donations or spend.

How many billionaire or near-billionaire alumni do we have, and how many are giving to the AA?

That’s the kind of donor that FSU, Bama, Texas, Ohio State, Penn State, and the factories have. Even schools like Arkansas and Wichita State.

I don’t think we have a big demographic like THAT



I said that was a bad move at the time. A good sales plan will have a mix of consistent sales, plus the occasional “whales” or big deals. You should have both.

With the alumni and fan base we have, a strong booster club of people who give $100 or $500 a year will provide a good foundation.

Plus, that’s a good way to knock out your debt ratio. The big boosters want their name on a building. The general fund is the one that wipes out debt.

Clemson built their program on IPTAY - I Pay Ten A Year. This was back in the late 70’s, so it might need to be $100 a year. If the GTAA got broad buy-in on such a program it could be transformative. It caters to the everyday fan, but I have never seen them do this.

Instead, we cater to the “Tech Millionaire.” We build chair back sections, booting faithful fans who have been there for decades, and film them with corporate customers who give them to our opponents- notably UGAg fans. We assess a Tech fund that’s more than the tickets themselves in some cases, further squeezing the average fan. We raise multiple tens of millions to renovate existing facilities while our debt squeezes us out of desperately needed funding for operations. Don’t even get me started on how we structure coaching contracts.

It’s crazy how the GTAA operates. Maybe in sports management world all that makes sense, but it makes no sense to me.

 

[Vespidae]

ow the Big Ten and SEC are moving closer and closer to putting their hand on the red button. Are they going to save college sports or screw it up even more?

Sankey at least, has said that the world is moving too fast and the governance of the sport by the NCAA takes way too long to respond. I think he is trying to get ahead of it, not sit by passively and react. It is long past time for CFB to have a commissioner, media rights managers (at the CFB level, not the conference level) and a set of rules to run it.

 

[stinger78]

The SECheat and B1G each care about one thing only - themselves - and that in terms of money and trophies. They have partnered with the big money interests to control and rewrite the script of CFB. In the process they are ruining (have ruined) it.

 

[slugboy]

Clemson built their program on IPTAY - I Pay Ten A Year. This was back in the late 70’s, so it might need to be $100 a year. If the GTAA got broad buy-in on such a program it could be transformative. It caters to the everyday fan, but I have never seen them do this.

Instead, we cater to the “Tech Millionaire.” We build chair back sections, booting faithful fans who have been there for decades, and film them with corporate customers who give them to our opponents- notably UGAg fans. We assess a Tech fund that’s more than the tickets themselves in some cases, further squeezing the average fan. We raise multiple tens of millions to renovate existing facilities while our debt squeezes us out of desperately needed funding for operations. Don’t even get me started on how we structure coaching contracts.

It’s crazy how the GTAA operates. Maybe in sports management world all that makes sense, but it makes no sense to me.

Some things make sense for Oklahoma, but don’t make sense here. We need to fill most of the stadium; other schools have a waiting list. We need to get our ratings up, and we need to borrow a page from Boston College and get people in the door.

Sankey at least, has said that the world is moving too fast and the governance of the sport by the NCAA takes way too long to respond. I think he is trying to get ahead of it, not sit by passively and react. It is long past time for CFB to have a commissioner, media rights managers (at the CFB level, not the conference level) and a set of rules to run it.

Phillips might also understand—I’m not sure a majority of the ACC ADs do. He’s herding squirrels.

 

[stinger78]

Some things make sense for Oklahoma, but don’t make sense here. We need to fill most of the stadium; other schools have a waiting list. We need to get our ratings up, and we need to borrow a page from Boston College and get people in the door.

I agree, we need a broader appeal. This was the only thing that I liked from Scooter’s take as HBC. I just didn’t like the approach he took - and then he sucked as a coach.

If it were up to me, I’d recommend dialing back the capital campaigns and really focus on engaging marginally engaged alumni in the SE who might become more active fans and supporters. Make the GTAA theirs. Give them a stake in the program at a very modest cost. They won’t pay more than a modest cost for that.

A major issue is CU did it while operating costs were much lower and it didn’t take multi-million $$$ glitz and glamor to entice young prima donnas to play for you. IOW, it’s much harder now, but we must believe it can be done or we’re toast.

 

[deeznats]

The Seminole Booster Club is, like Alabama’s, a massive, well-oiled machine.

I asked Stansbury this. He said the vast majority of GT financial support comes from about ten people. He had no interest in developing a regional fundraising program. He thought, “Let’s get the donors that count to increase 10%” as a far more effective goal.

You have to start somewhere. IMO, this is the proper first step when building/rebuilding a fundraising organization. It isn't easy to get a $1 million dollar donor, but it can be done with a smaller organization than getting 1000 $1000 donors. Stansbury should have put together a strategic plan that addressed both approaches while starting with the whales, but it's hard for me to disagree with that quote in isolation. It really is more effective.

 

[Techwood Relict]

Phillips is probably cleaning Sankey’s pool today getting it ready for the spring