Conference Realignment

[ThatGuy]

It’s always been that way. Home game generates more for the home team than the visitor. Visiting teams negotiate different fees based on the draw. Nothing new about that.

Conferences, however, doing so simply concentrates value in a smaller group. It skews the results long-term.

My argument has always been, the NFC West does not negotiate a different media deal than the AFC East. On certain issues that lead to a competitive environment, everyone earns a standard amount.

There should be ONE media negotiating body for college athletics that ensures competitiveness. I find it interesting how conferences are eating each other.

Agreed with all of this.

I may have mentioned it before, but those of you who are business and/or football geeks would do well to download and listen to the Acquired Podcast's episode on the NFL. It's a long history that gets into the genesis of competitive football in the U.S. being college sports, and specifically talks about 3 relevant things: 1) lobbying Congress for an antitrust exemption to allow them to negotiate collectively as a league, 2) how they sold equitable media rights to all the owners in very divergent markets (e.g., the notion that Green Bay still gets the same media payout as the NY Giants in spite of the wildly divergent markets), and 3) the agreement to introduce rules to handicap their own winning records due to the value of competitive equity (e.g., the notion that "on any given Sunday, any team can beat any other team" - and how that makes the NFL better, not worse, by strengthening matchups).

It's a chewy exploration of a fascinating organization, and (sadly) is increasingly relevant, given the trajectory we've seen college sports on recently. I don't think all the things the NFL does can translate over to CFB, simply due to issues of scale; but it IS interesting to look at, say, the SEC and contrast their approach with that of the NFL (hint: they're very similar as both business operations and strategy go).

 

[roadkill]

Agreed. And I really don’t have a problem with the top 30-40 TEAMS breaking away to form a new league. But the current arrangement is for two conferences to get supersized money at the expense of the others. That’s counterproductive.

A missed opportunity to make it better for everyone.

Agreed as well. Separating P4 or FBS Football governance from the remaining NCAA sports has been proposed for a few years now, from the Knight Commission and more recently the NCAA itself. There is a growing recognition that this is needed to optimize revenue, parity, and opportunities for S-As. Some of this is happening organically via the SEC-BIG Alliance and the CFP, but unfortunately, this approach is fostering an even greater lack of parity between conferences.

I wish that the NCAA and school presidents would all get behind a comprehensive plan that is best for the future of the sport.

 

[iceeater1969]

Wednesday at 3pm ish, I noted we are at 500 pages.
Management says will lock thread at 1000.

So being a typical tech man, I went to work posting and responding.
Approx Results are as follows:
4 pages in 2 days.

Applying to 496 pages = 256 days.
That's April next year if we don't slow down for the season!
We can't count on a typical Collins season.
We are likely to be good!

That means in one year we are likely to reach 1000 but not before the first lawsuits complete discovery underway.

We must work harder with short posts,

PLEASE TOE MEETS LEATHER.

 

[gtjackets930]

Interesting AJC article on the sell out in Ireland. Let me know if this is readable for all. I tried a different approach on sharing this one. May not matter, but let me know.

Article by Chad Bishop says game sold 47K tickets, 25K from the USA. Notes that 3.5 million TV viewers are expected. ESPN game day will be present.

Georgia Tech-Florida State matchup in Ireland sold out

The 47,000 tickets sold includes more than 25,000 tickets purchased in the United States.

www.ajc.com

This type of stuff might be frustrating to some, but these numbers are why I think it's worth it given the current state of cfb.

GT would normally not draw 3.5 M viewers, but by being flexible and playing the opening week game in Ireland (or kickoff game last year against Louisville, this year game against uGA on Friday), I think we are generating more eyeballs and being a more attractive TV property.

It's a creative way to get higher viewership numbers and to get excitement back around the program at a more national scale.

 

[roadkill]

Wednesday at 3pm ish, I noted we are at 500 pages.
Management says will lock thread at 1000.

So being a typical tech man, I went to work posting and responding.
Approx Results are as follows:
4 pages in 2 days.

Applying to 496 pages = 256 days.
That's April next year if we don't slow down for the season!
We can't count on a typical Collins season.
We are likely to be good!

That means in one year we are likely to reach 1000 but not before the first lawsuits complete discovery underway.

We must work harder with short posts,

PLEASE TOE MEETS LEATHER.

I'll continue doing my part to hit our goals in this thread. How about someone taking your approach to the next level? We need a plot of pages/day with a trendline that projects to the 1000-page goal. Would be very Tech-like.

 

[Thwg777]

If the NFL and other leagues can test for banned substances to ensure the game is fair, why can’t the NCAA test for basic knowledge to ensure the players are students?

Pop quizzes between quarters, after each scoring play, and turnovers. Commercial break revenue will increase as an added bonus.

 

[stinger78]

The money is a 2-edged sword, IMPO. It is necessary but it is killing the golden goose.

 

[iceeater1969]

Agree.
Dam, we are still on 504.

Brad Stewart was great!

 

[UgaBlows]

This type of stuff might be frustrating to some, but these numbers are why I think it's worth it given the current state of cfb.

GT would normally not draw 3.5 M viewers, but by being flexible and playing the opening week game in Ireland (or kickoff game last year against Louisville, this year game against uGA on Friday), I think we are generating more eyeballs and being a more attractive TV property.

It's a creative way to get higher viewership numbers and to get excitement back around the program at a more national scale.

We have several games that should score high ratings this season- FSU, ND, Uga, plus Louisville, Miami, Unc, NcSt have potential depending on the rankings of the teams involved

 

[Flajacket]

Agreed. Would be negligent for a school to not make moves to increase brand awareness in the marketing / recruiting territory of their new conference. That’s the whole point and it should theoretically make more money for all of us. We should be more annoyed if they weren’t showing signs of life as a contributor to the conference.

It seems just like base pay + performance bonuses to me, and I have no issue with it. Same way CBK gets paid.

Same way I was paid at one of my jobs. They were called 'kicker dollars'.

 

[MountainBuzzMan]

LOL. Could someone please summarize the 500+ pages for me? And in a brief manner, as difficult that is for many of you. LOL. I hate to start at page 1.

Best part is probably the discussions about Corn Bread

 

[CEB]

Best part is probably the discussions about Corn Bread

You’re right! I had forgotten that was in this thread!

My 16” cast iron skillet fried a pound of bacon this morning. Whenever it does that, it has to make cornbread before it gets cleaned. Bacon grease is the perfect cornbread base.
Yes, add chopped peppers
Yes, add creamed corn
No, don’t add sugar.
Honey and butter is certainly acceptable afterward if sweetness is desired

Discuss.

 

[iceeater1969]

You’re right! I had forgotten that was in this thread!

My 16” cast iron skillet fried a pound of bacon this morning. Whenever it does that, it has to make cornbread before it gets cleaned. Bacon grease is the perfect cornbread base.
Yes, add chopped peppers
Yes, add creamed corn
No, don’t add sugar.
Honey and butter is certainly acceptable afterward if sweetness is desired

Discuss.

For 3 months we had marine flight officer trainee live with us due to goof up in his transfer orders. To keep busy he bought He bougrh a Cowboy Chuck Wagon cook book full of recipes for cast iron skillet. Once a week he cook a recipe for using the skillet. We gave him our skillet. He is C130 pilot now and he and skillet are in Japan.

Come one come all. On to 1000

 

[GTJake]

Would guarantee no upward mobility by other teams. You want to dissolve a conference, that is the formula. Texas did that and TAM and Ark bolted to the SEC. It's the micro model of what the SEC is doing to the ACC.

I think it would provide performance incentives for the "other" teams ... I also believe college football is cyclical so the top teams won't stay there forever. FSU was bad recently I believe they lost to FL.A&M not too long ago and we had Clemsons number winning 5 of 7 (by memory) back when Dabo came onboard.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

And this is why people have been so amazed at the sheer stupidity of the FSU lawsuit.

Agree completely.

But, as a mild defense of their stupidity, consider the rantings of Stankey. Those rants don’t come across as stupid because the entire conference backs him up and his badgering approach works.

FSU is seriously butt hurt that their own conference didn’t show out the way Stankey and the SEC shows out whenever it looks like someone might even just be thinking about slighting them. They wanted to take matters into their own hands after the ACC failed to defend them.

FSU is stupid because they thought they could throw their weight around like the SEC does. They may have thought they don’t have anything to lose but it’s pretty much a suicide mission at this point.

 

[CEB]

For 3 months we had marine flight officer trainee live with us due to goof up in his transfer orders. To keep busy he bought He bougrh a Cowboy Chuck Wagon cook book full of recipes for cast iron skillet. Once a week he cook a recipe for using the skillet. We gave him our skillet. He is C130 pilot now and he and skillet are in Japan.

Come one come all. On to 1000

I equipped my college aged son with his very own cast iron skillet a couple years ago. He uses it all the time. We laughed when we helped him move out of the college apartment… sink full of dirty dishes and kitchen a total mess (he blames roommates), but that skillet sat perfectly oiled and ready on the stove. If you know, you know!

 

[stinger78]

Agree completely.

But, as a mild defense of their stupidity, consider the rantings of Stankey. Those rants don’t come across as stupid because the entire conference backs him up and his badgering approach works.

FSU is seriously butt hurt that their own conference didn’t show out the way Stankey and the SEC shows out whenever it looks like someone might even just be thinking about slighting them. They wanted to take matters into their own hands after the ACC failed to defend them.

FSU is stupid because they thought they could throw their weight around like the SEC does. They may have thought they don’t have anything to lose but it’s pretty much a suicide mission at this point.

Didn’t F$U announce they were leaving before the 2023 season? Am I mistaken about that? Certainly Phillips’ shyness confirmed their course of action, but I thought they were already saddled up.

 

[g0lftime]

I read that FSU and ACC have gone into arbitration. I can't imagine that the ACC will negotiate anything short of them meeting the terms of the contract that they willingly signed.

 

[stinger78]

I read that FSU and ACC have gone into arbitration. I can't imagine that the ACC will negotiate anything short of them meeting the terms of the contract that they willingly signed.

Arbitration means the outcome will be determined by a 3rd party. Am I mistaken?

 

[iceeater1969]

Arbitration means the outcome will be determined by a 3rd party. Am I mistaken?

Yes , both parties over a period of time agree on the selected arbitrator and as to what matters will be decided.

My experience with this is that "" Key"" part of decesions can be very arbitray/ random.


Better to get a trusted guy like Vespidae to go back and forth between decesion makes ( plus 1) for the parties. Gradually both sides start see a path for agreement.