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

[TheOriginalCane]

Not sure. Remember fox did this and sold their rsns to Bally. I don’t think Apple would buy ESPN as they seem content for streaming only. He’ll their own produced movie won an Oscar.

That was exactly my thought. Disney might want to sell, but who wants to buy?

Unless Apple wants to create an ACTUAL broadcast network that mirrors some of their streaming programming (i.e., a show premieres on Apple and then goes to "broadcast" 6 months later), it doesn't seem like Apple would be a prospective buyer.

We'll see. I remain unconvinced that anyone wants to pay the amount of money to Disney that Disney wants to get for selling ESPN.

 

[Macca]

Florida and F$U do not "cover" the South Florida markets, certainly not at the level that Miami does.

And that is the point. If you have Miami and Florida in the SEC as a PAIR of teams, then you will definitely lock down the South Florida markets.

It's the same point I was making about UCF and USF to the ACC. Right now, Florida is very strong in the Orlando and Tampa markets. But if you had a conference that was regularly featuring Miami, F$U, UCF, and USF, it would chip away at what Florida can deliver in the Central Florida Markets.

So if you minimized the SEC presence in Orlando, Tampa, West Palm, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami...what would Florida bring to the SEC? The Jacksonville market?

Again, I'm not saying that a 4-Florida-team ACC would be on the horizon. But it would completely lock down the 3rd largest state (by population) and minimize the SEC presence.

Obviously, the SEC improves its position in Florida by adding Miami. And it strengthens it more with F$U, I've never denied that. The only question is whether the SEC feels it is better to add F$U to improve its hold in Florida, or move into new states like NC and VA. That is all.

Just think about the map. A Florida-Miami combo is a north-south combo that appeals to both the more rural/northern part of the state as well as the more urban/southern part of the state. A Florida-F$U game, while it is a fine rivalry, just duplicates the coverage of one part of the state, without addressing the more populous portion of the state.

Got it. SEC should be all over the north south pair and time will tell the tail. Thanks for spelling it out for the out of towner.

 

[Ispyin]

word is Disney is looking to sell ESPN

That’s an 8 months ago unlikely scenario

 

[Cane6]

I think you guys are looking at this from the wrong angle, using logic from the past rather than projecting to the future. You have to look at this from a TV exec’s POV and not CFB fan from the 1970’s.

Why would the SEC give a F if it has 2 or 3 teams in the state of FL. It would change virtually nothing as UF Miami FSU have always battled each other in recruiting.

SEC is the play here. Based on what I’ve gathered Miami and Clemson are banding together in talks with SEC Network / ESPN. FSU and UNC being included is likely. UVA being included makes no sense. Louisville would make more sense than UVA.

The wild card in all of this is if ACC gets ND to join. Then that might be the boost needed to get espn to redo the dogsh!t tv deal with acc.

I still can’t fathom how the powers that be at all these acc schools agreed to such a one sided tv deal.

 

[305_separatist]

to add why? bc ESPN doesn't really make Disney money with the amount of money that gets poured into it. now if you combine It with ESPN having to compete with the streaming companies for sports tv rights, its not hard to see why. disney makes most of their money elsewhere. apple has billions that they can just throw at a sport to get their exclusive rights. Disney has billions too but not to devote to ESPN

And Disney has been on a bad trajectory as of late, so makes sense they’re trying to shore up and spin off dead weight so they can turn the ship around.

 

[Cane6]

College Football Playoff Payouts 2021-22

The latest news and original analysis on the business of college sports…

businessofcollegesports.com

 

[CreativeCane]

I think you guys are looking at this from the wrong angle, using logic from the past rather than projecting to the future. You have to look at this from a TV exec’s POV and not CFB fan from the 1970’s.

Why would the SEC give a F if it has 2 or 3 teams in the state of FL. It would change virtually nothing as UF Miami FSU have always battled each other in recruiting.

SEC is the play here. Based on what I’ve gathered Miami and Clemson are banding together in talks with SEC Network / ESPN. FSU and UNC being included is likely. UVA being included makes no sense. Louisville would make more sense than UVA.

The wild card in all of this is if ACC gets ND to join. Then that might be the boost needed to get espn to redo the dogsh!t tv deal with acc.

I still can’t fathom how the powers that be at all these acc schools agreed to such a one sided tv deal.

Respectfully disagree. UVA is worth way more than UL in the SEC. It’s a couple hours from DC and captures an entire market it doesn’t have right now. Same with UNC. SEC already has Kentucky.

 

[TheOriginalCane]

Got it. SEC should be all over the north south pair and time will tell the tail. Thanks for spelling it out for the out of towner.

No problem, sir.

I actually added a couple of sentences after you responded talking about the ACTUAL playing of games. If the SEC only added F$U, then the only games that the SEC (as a rivalry or as a conference on the whole) plays in Florida would be in Hogtown and Talla-*******-hassee (plus Florida-Georgia in Jax).

However, if you add Miami to the SEC, you bring the SEC to South Florida in a PHYSICAL way. All the SEC teams would eventually get to play IN FRONT OF South Florida fans, not just on TV.

 

[Macca]

No problem, sir.

I actually added a couple of sentences after you responded talking about the ACTUAL playing of games. If the SEC only added F$U, then the only games that the SEC (as a rivalry or as a conference on the whole) plays in Florida would be in Hogtown and Talla-*******-hassee (plus Florida-Georgia in Jax).

However, if you add Miami to the SEC, you bring the SEC to South Florida in a PHYSICAL way. All the SEC teams would eventually get to play IN FRONT OF South Florida fans, not just on TV.

Hogtown still cracks me up. The SEC physically to South Florida hits home. One way or another, let’s get it done.

 

[Cane6]

Respectfully disagree. UVA is worth way more than UL in the SEC. It’s a couple hours from DC and captures an entire market it doesn’t have right now. Same with UNC. SEC already has Kentucky.

ACC network is already offered in the DC area with every major tv provider.

Put some logic behind this blanket “market share” argument

Louisville is more valuable because it has a much better football history, especially in Kentucky where wildcat football has been a joke until Mark Stoops made them average

 

[Ispyin]

No problem, sir.

I actually added a couple of sentences after you responded talking about the ACTUAL playing of games. If the SEC only added F$U, then the only games that the SEC (as a rivalry or as a conference on the whole) plays in Florida would be in Hogtown and Talla-*******-hassee (plus Florida-Georgia in Jax).

However, if you add Miami to the SEC, you bring the SEC to South Florida in a PHYSICAL way. All the SEC teams would eventually get to play IN FRONT OF South Florida fans, not just on TV.

I mean if you think about it there’s nothing more SEC than a football stadium that has a race track around it

 

[Cryptical Envelopment]

Cristobal has recruited all over the nation between Rutgers, FIU, Bama, and Oregon. While the B1G would help us out west it will hurt us down South.

This. Mario can recruit nationally NOW. Whether its pulling SEC kids to god **** Eugene, or a top 10 poly kid from Hawaii down to ACC Miami, he can do it. Why in the world would we want to do anything but play games all over the Southeast which is where the talent is most concentrated?

I started out on the B1G train because of academics and culture, but the more I've thought about it, there is no way in **** we will turn down the SEC. The recruiting and geographic advantages make it the overwhelming choice. We're going to go play a road baseball schedule in the north each spring? Fughetaboutit. Travel girls volleyball 1000 miles each week? And as I said earlier, the new SEC won't be the old SEC. We might have Vandy, Clemson, UNC, Texas, FSU and even UGA and UF all in the conference which is a pretty solid group of academic institutions when you add in UM too. It's not as bad a fit as we think.

 

[Dacrowcane]

ACC network is already offered in the DC area with every major tv provider.

Put some logic behind this blanket “market share” argument

Louisville is more valuable because it has a much better football history, especially in Kentucky where wildcat football has been a joke until Mark Stoops made them average

The ironic part is I live in Charlottesville and I don't get the ACC Network, but I do get the SEC and B1G networks. Given Xfinity is the only internet option where I live, so with that comes their cable as well. I just hope wherever Miami ends up I can actually watch their games without some backroom streaming option

 

[CreativeCane]

ACC network is already offered in the DC area with every major tv provider.

Put some logic behind this blanket “market share” argument

Louisville is more valuable because it has a much better football history, especially in Kentucky where wildcat football has been a joke until Mark Stoops made them average

For one, UVA has more than 100k more alumni. It is the state's flagship school and one of the top public schools in the country. A lot of wealthy, influential alumni and in the DC area. Same reason exact reasons UNC is so attractive. Huge alumni base in a state that the SEC doesn't currently reside.

Second, region DOES matter. Maybe not for the primetime games that are nationally televised, but for all the other games any given Saturday. You want all those VA eyeballs on your conference games rather than the competition's. It's the same reason WE are so attractive to both conferences. We bring national eyeballs but also allow all those other smaller SEC games to be shown more widely in the SFL market. Same reason SEC wanted Texas and Big10 wanted California. This is a market arms race.

 

[JD08]

My single biggest concern with joining the SEC is that we'll be treated like the red headed stepchild by the conference. We know that happened in the ACC, but the potential is there for it to be much much worse.

 

[Tony4Canes]

SEC should eye further expansion to polish football prowess – on one condition | Toppmeyer

To retain its place atop college football’s throne, the SEC should be open to additional expansion opportunities, but handle with care.

www.tennessean.com

 

[CreativeCane]

The ironic part is I live in Charlottesville and I don't get the ACC Network, but I do get the SEC and B1G networks. Given Xfinity is the only internet option where I live, so with that comes their cable as well. I just hope wherever Miami ends up I can actually watch their games without some backroom streaming option

That's just because of some garbage negotiating with ACCN. I don't think that happens with a super SEC; the demand would be too great. This is actually a perfect example of why we have to get out of the ACC. The demand just isn't there. Not enough people want to watch UVA-Duke. But UVA-Georgia? That draws more eyeballs.

 

[Cane6]

Respectfully disagree. UVA is worth way more than UL in the SEC. It’s a couple hours from DC and captures an entire market it doesn’t have right now. Same with UNC. SEC already has Kentucky.

Don’t mean to get side tracked. Not looking to debate which other schools might join Miami in moving conferences.

As a frequent gambler, Miami to SEC is most definitely the favorite outcome.

Also, as someone that deals in legal documents every day and has several friends that are lawyers, there are giant holes in the Grant of Rights from a monetary and consideration standpoint. This situation has more layers than an onion when you consider espn owns acc and sec networks, with Miami simultaneously investigating multiple scenarios, one of which is negotiating out of the GOR agreement.

 

[Badbart43]

All I know is I'm glad we have Radakovich as our AD and not Blake James during this realignment chaos.

Amen!

 

[Cane44]

My single biggest concern with joining the SEC is that we'll be treated like the red headed stepchild by the conference. We know that happened in the ACC, but the potential is there for it to be much much worse.

I agree with the worry.. but what would of happened if Miami came in and dominated the ACC like they were hoping we would do??? I do think we got treated that way, because we didn't live up to the hype they thought they were getting with miami...

Think money talks, and if Miami can make big waves in the big 3 sports, they'll have to treat us decently.