MEGA Conference Realignment and lawsuits Megathread: Stories, Tales, Lies, and Exaggerations

It's not all college kids. In Auburn, Fayetteville and Columbia you knew where to go to avoid them.
I have a friend who did his PHD at USCe. its the capital city but not much else.

Gainesvilles not all college kids either, but they're still centered around the school with mostly just that. just not much to do
 
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Some interesting thoughts in an Athletic article I just read. I pulled what was relevant:

What is Notre Dame’s move?​

The sense is that the Big Ten, while being more than welcoming of the potential addition of Notre Dame, is not exactly putting the Irish’s feet to the fire with a decision timeline. The conference got what it wanted with last week’s additions of UCLA and USC, and it knows the value that it is bringing to the negotiating table with its media partners this summer.

That’s not to say the Irish aren’t operating from a position of strength. ACC folks have been waiting with bated breath to see what the Irish will do, as the Golden Dome is clearly the biggest domino to fall, and every major individual school move from here on out will likely stem from that.

In the ACC’s case, that decision is two-fold: Notre Dame could save the ACC, so to speak, by joining as a full-time football member (not happening), or it could possibly create an opening for antsy ACC schools to explore their options elsewhere should Notre Dame join the Big Ten. (The logic being that the current ACC media rights deal would be fundamentally altered without the presence of Notre Dame and its five football games per year against ACC competition. And remember, Notre Dame’s home football games are not tied to the ACC’s grant of rights.)

For now, Notre Dame is likely to follow the precedent it set nearly a decade ago when it left the dying Big East for the ACC (partially), as colleague Pete Sampson wrote. The word leverage may be overstated in this case, as it’s not as if Notre Dame could do much negotiating into a new conference, though perhaps the school could be in position to explore the fine print — league travel partners, annual conference opponents, etc. — before deciding whether to join.

The dollar difference is real between staying a football independent and joining this reconfigured Big Ten. Like, $50 million per year real, to put it at its most conservative estimate.

But this is Notre Dame, and it often marches to the beat of its own drum. Sometimes for better, sometimes for worse. A decision of this magnitude will not be made lightly, nor will it be done by any one individual.

What is the driving force behind realignment now?​

Any doubt about Big Ten schools eclipsing the $100 million per year rate with its next TV deal went out the door last week with the additions of UCLA and USC. Hardcore data will emerge in the coming years through tax filings and the like, but it is clear that the conference’s 14 teams will be made richer for having added the Bruins and Trojans.

At the end of the day, that is what it usually comes down to: Can each slice of the evenly split pie continue to grow every time someone else joins and gets its own slice?

The math worked with UCLA and USC, so the Big Ten added them.

The math will work with Notre Dame, so any conference would add the Irish at the first opportunity to do so.

Outside of the Irish, though, are there any surefire revenue generators, especially when you look at the two 16-team superconferences?

That is a question media consultants are hard at work trying to answer. What’s less clear now is if the next non-Notre Dame realignment moves are about financial growth or a simple game of chicken.

There are valuable football programs and/or television properties still out there, whether in the ACC (Clemson, Florida State, Miami, North Carolinaand Virginia, at least) or the Pac-12 (Stanford, Oregon and Washington). But would any of them, either on their own or as a package, make the current 16 members of the Big Ten or SEC whole financially?

Would it matter?

If all roads lead to a Power 2 — the Big Ten (Fox), the SEC (ESPN) and everyone else — then the ensuing steps in realignment could ultimately be proactive measures by one power league to keep desirable schools away from the other. North Carolina, in particular, comes to mind here, as it has both geographical and institutional distinctions that would make for an ideal fit in either the Big Ten or SEC.

That philosophy might be the next play to watch for, because if there were any obvious financial home runs out there — again, outside of Notre Dame — they would have already been scooped up.
 
I told y’all when this issue got brought up a while back that Carolina was already negotiating to get out behind the scenes. I’m just shocked that it’s the SEC. I was told they wanted a basketball centric place, where they could be a package deal with Duke. But obviously money trumps everything.
 
Good points. Even though the game day atmosphere would be better in the SEC, from an overall trip perspective, B10 is where it's at. Don't get me wrong, Iowa/Indiana/Purdue/PSU/MSU road trips leave a lot to be desired, especially in November, but Chicago, LA, NYC, DC, etc are all great trips.

Also, from a potential TV market perspective, B10 > SEC. they have major metro areas covered as you mentioned
Ah yes, I too cannot wait for @Rutgers on the schedule so I can hit up the Big Apple!
 
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Tweet. From 2011. Prescient. He got laughed at.


Someone in that exact same Lsu athletic department told my brother today that the sec is asking Clemson, unc, fsu, and uva to join and ESPN is helping by trying to void the acc TV deal. He was also the first to say before I ever saw it publicly that the sec was going for their own 4 team playoff back when TX and OK announced, and the first I heard of them going there in the first place. TIFWIW
 
From my understanding GOR contracts are only a few pages and are pretty blunt. So no specific school exceptions unless youre ND. The original has been posted and the amended has not. So unless I’m missing something… But for sake of precedent UT, OH, UCLA and USC are waiting it out for their GOR to expire before jumping ship. It will be drawn out forever by countless lawyers with a very unlikely favorable settlement to those jumping ship. Mostly because it would blow the other schools. Armageddon basically. A merger with all teams to a new conference is the best way to get larger brands a lot more coin.
The original GOR was 4 pages and is available on the internet ... the revised one with the extension also included the formation of the ACC Network and it is a 20 page document. Don't overlook the fact that ESPN is the $$$ economic force behind both the SEC network and the ACC network and they have a lot of clout in determining conference realignments that could be $$ favorable. Reality is ... nobody knows and there is legit smoke in some cases and total fabrication in most instances.
 
Ok boys it’s done. Let’s roll
Clemson the plus one
FSU and UNC will be a mated pair soon after fwiw (not done)
farmerfran-waterboy.gif
 
The sport will never be the same, but what can you do at this point. Everything is being boiled down until only the purest, money-making product remains. No nuance, no rough edges, just pure extract. It omega sucks in my heart, but this is now the game and we have to play by these rules. I’ve never felt so cynical about something I’ve loved so long.

My dad would be rolling over in his grave if he saw all of this happening.
Inday, my dude, I know you're acquainted with capitalism.
 
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Someone in that exact same Lsu athletic department told my brother today that the sec is asking Clemson, unc, fsu, and uva to join and ESPN is helping by trying to void the acc TV deal. He was also the first to say before I ever saw it publicly that the sec was going for their own 4 team playoff back when TX and OK announced, and the first I heard of them going there in the first place. TIFWIW

Hearing otherwise. Hope what I am hearing is correct.
 
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You left out the part about the historical stain of a tiki torch white supremacist rally/riot. 🤣

Jokes aside, those are all fair points. I just don't think UVag minus the very impressive academic reputation is nearly as attractive to either conference and it'd certainly lose that major element of cache that the SEC might be seeking. So the prestige play is the driving force and then all that other stuff follows about potentially capitalizing on Northern Virginia, etc.

I'd assert the same with Miami and the B1G. That if we had the academics of Clemson coupled with our current level of on-field mediocrity then you could almost write-off any prospects of that invite (sans super expansion) despite our market size and proximity to recruiting riches.

I really don't think we're disagreeing on much here aside from where to rank the very upper echelon on ACC teams that are extremely likely to jump ship.


Setting aside the prestige for a moment, I would also point out NEW TV MARKETS.

Doesn't mean that UVa or VaTech or UNC or NC State has to DOMINATE in the TV markets. Let's not forget, the Big 10 is pretty much subsidizing RUTGERS because they brought New Jersey. Does everyone in NJ actually WATCH Rutgers? **** no. But it gets the Big 10 in a primo position on the TV dial in a new TV market.

UVa/VaTech may not deliver dominant DC/NoVa ratings. UNC/NC State might not deliver dominant Charlotte ratings. But those schools get the Big 10 and/or SEC (depending on how it plays out) into a power position with all the cable networks in those states.
 
I told y’all when this issue got brought up a while back that Carolina was already negotiating to get out behind the scenes. I’m just shocked that it’s the SEC. I was told they wanted a basketball centric place, where they could be a package deal with Duke. But obviously money trumps everything.


Ideally, I think UNC would pair with Duke. Politically, they may be forced to pair with NC State.
 
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Inday, my dude, I know you're acquainted with capitalism.
Capitalism and federalism. I am a big fan of both, however we are here because of both.

If the NCAA was a more powerful central authority, it's unlikely this all happens, at least in this way. Instead of dictating to FOX and ESPN, they're seeing the individual entities break away and behave in their own best interests. Instead, member institutions (or constituencies) are brokering their own deals, like individual states forming trade agreements with other nations. I don't fault them for it, but I can also say it's harmful to what I value most about the sport.

I was daydreaming today about what the sport would've looked like with a stronger NCAA, but then I remembered we had that before and it was predictably oppressive. The Supreme Court rightly said in NCAA v OU that they couldn't stop TV deals from happening, which forever altered power dynamics in college athletics. Nearly 40 years later here we are.

So you are correct. This is just another round of the local burger joint becoming a chain restaurant, only this time it's worth 100 mil/year.
 
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