Conference realignment "Rumors" "tweets" "etc"

[Cat941]

 

[BDYZR]

9 minutes ago, BullShirt said:

"College football is meant to be played on campus".  Not originally.  In fact, in the early days of college football a lot of teams were fielded with non-students.  The Economics of Sports by Leeds & Allman (college textbook, not intended for casual reading) goes into this.  Some fascinating info.  Football was considered an extra curricular activity and frowned upon by many colleges because it took away from other "more worthy" (mainly Olympic sports) activities.  Hence a lot of teams played off campus.  Believe it or not players moved from school to school (sound familiar?) just to play sports (mainly football) and many never even bothered to enroll in classes.  This is one of the things that led to the creation of the NCAA (in a roundabout way).

If you can find a used version it's a great read if you're into economics, finances & sports.  As just a "sports" book it's pretty dry though.  Lot's of math and numbers but some cool "back stories" none the less.  Someone with an Economics and/or Finance background would find it pretty "spicy".  Someone just interested in some sports history and/or stories will find it painfully boring.  Even though in most people's opinions football players are just "dumb jocks" I'm in the former category.  I always liked long travel away games as it gave me time to study.

And yet here we are 100 years later and football is the driving force of realignment. BTW, The Economics of Sports by Leeds & Allman has been updated seven times to illustrate the ever changing economy of sports.

No, I don't know who's money is being spent, although I do know that some of it is mine. And I'm all for it!

[Cat941]

Lots of smoke about FSU and the BIG.  GOR though!

Edited September 5, 2023 by Cat941
spelling dang it

[BullShirt]

3 minutes ago, Triple B said:

****, thanks for that lesson on early college football. Really had no clue about that ......... but still think it's meant to be played on campus now. 

Oh yeah.  No doubt things have changed since the days of the "leather heads".  But it's a pretty interesting backstory to college football.  The NFL has a really interesting backstory too.  Pete Rozelle made the league what it is today.  He ran the league from 1960 to 1990 if I recall correctly.  But I digress.

A good or great on campus experience is hard to beat but I do wonder how many schools would choose to play in an NFL caliber stadium if they could (forget the revenue sharing and financial aspects).  Obviously most can't because they are not close to one.

[BullShirt]

4 minutes ago, Rocky Style said:

Talking about college football in the early days.  Sadly we weren't around in the early days and then even in our early days we didn't have football!

I do think it makes a difference.  Back when I played there were "old timers" stopping by now and then and it was really cool and inspirational to hear some of their stories.  A long, deep rooted history is probably more important than most people realize.

[Cat941]

Also, FSU is projected to make >$60 million by 2028.   Might be enough to keep them in the ACC.  Sigh.

Edited September 5, 2023 by Cat941
ETA

[Cat941]

[BullShirt]

4 minutes ago, BDYZR said:

And yet here we are 100 years later and football is the driving force of realignment. BTW, The Economics of Sports by Leeds & Allman has been updated seven times to illustrate the ever changing economy of sports.

No, I don't know who's money is being spent, although I do know that some of it is mine. And I'm all for it!

Yes, I'm sure it has been updated several times as any textbook should be that is related to an industry or business that continues to grow and evolve.  But I slightly disagree with "football is the driving force of realignment".  TV $$$ is the driving force.  When that comes crashing down (and by many accounts it will) things will change dramatically all over again.  The whole big money, long term TV contract, over the air, cable, streaming, etc. business is being turned on it's ear and right now BIG $ is being thrown at a few conferences and everyone wants a piece of the action for fear of being left behind and left with nothing. 

IN MY OPINION in a few years football will still be around but there are going to be some big winners and some big losers financially and the current model will prove to be unsustainable.  At that point I think you'll see some "de-consolidation" in the big 2 or 3 conferences as people start saying "what were we thinking".  And since football will still be king you can't say football will be driving them apart, it will be less revenue and the higher expenses incurred by many of these programs.  I'm not blazing any new trails here I'm just parroting what some of my contacts in sports and media are saying.  The "slash and burn" destruction of conferences along with the big money is not sustainable.  We'll see.

[BullShirt]

Remember, nothing this big, this complicated and with this much money at stake ever goes as planned.  Too many schools, too many egos, too much money, too many corporate entities (Network, Cable, Streaming, etc.) too many fiefdoms, too many unforeseen / unplanned for results and on and on and on.  In other words TOO MANY MOVING PARTS.

For example, there are only 64 teams in March Madness (forget the play ins).  Most people's brackets are busted after the first weekend.  And that's with a lot of high seed versus low seed games that should be "gimmes".  And yet, after just 1 or 2 games some big teams inevitably fall (I'm looking at you Purdue).  Conference realignment is so much bigger than that.  I just don't see how it turns out the way most people expect.  I guess we'll see in a few years.  Remember, the pendulum swings both ways.

[Gat-Rat Bull]

42 minutes ago, BullShirt said:

I do think it makes a difference.  Back when I played there were "old timers" stopping by now and then and it was really cool and inspirational to hear some of their stories.  A long, deep rooted history is probably more important than most people realize.

During the WKU game last weekend the school was honoring the 50th anniversary of WKU's 1973 undefeated (regular season) football team. Many of the players (and at least one coach) from that 1973 team were staying at our hotel near campus. We chatted with a couple of them (awesome old guys by the way), and while having breakfast in the lobby, we overhead some of their tales from back in the day.

They were D2 back then, but I could tell that it was probably one of the best times of their lives. I may or may not have seen a few tears in those tough guys' eyes as they were saying farewell to their old buddies and teammates Sunday morning.

So, yes, history is very important, especially to those that made that history.

On a side note, I bet 2057 (and 2047) will be a pretty cool 50th reunion for USF football.

Edited September 5, 2023 by Gat-Rat Bull
Added 2047