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Official realignment thread - SEC formally invites OU and Texas to join the conference in 2025

Buffnik said:
I'd argue that MLS has done a lot more in its first 27 years than the NFL accomplished from 1920 through the 1940s.
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I don’t know enough about it to have that argument, but again, sports wasn’t a multi-billion dollar industry during those days. If Soccer was going to be popular enough in the states to even be considered a major 4 professional sport, it would have achieved that status by now, IMO
 
Jalapeno said:
With the CTE issue with football in general, it's understandable to see football's future in a negative light. With the new NIL laws that not only benefit college athletes but even high school athletes, there is a chance that football survives for a little longer. With more money, NASCAR drivers are also having shorter careers compared to the past so those future football players will have shorter careers if the price is right. And ever since that expensive Messi contract was leaked, perhaps a few more people will be more interested in soccer as a potential career.

Yes consumer behavior is changing and I have noticed that myself. It's no accident that I'm poking around on the association football thread because I know that soccer games can last about two hours and my interest in sports that is limited by a running clock is going up. I already gave baseball the heave-ho myself (Rockies aren't helping those matters either) and hockey looks like it could be the next up. I am becoming more conscious of my time after passing the All-Buffs traditional age of 35.

ESPN+ is just $7 per month as opposed to $70 for Youtube TV. Big difference there and I imagine there is a sizable number of people who think the same way. I watched the big matchups in FCS last spring and really enjoyed it so I am going to apply it to FBS football this coming fall and any other sport. I have no plans to subscribe to traditional cable plans including YouTube TV this coming year.
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CTE isn’t going to have any effect on the future of the NFL. Even if/though participation remains flat or goes down, there won’t be a noticeable affect on the talent pipeline going to CFB and therefore the NFL.
 
The Alabaster Yak said:
I don’t know enough about it to have that argument, but again, sports wasn’t a multi-billion dollar industry during those days. If Soccer was going to be popular enough in the states to even be considered a major 4 professional sport, it would have achieved that status by now, IMO
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Nah, soccer already gets solid but growing ratings in the states. Way above baseball and hockey. As more boomers die it gets more and more popular. It also brings in a larger female audience since that is probably the biggest sport for girls in the US.
 
The Alabaster Yak said:
I don’t know enough about it to have that argument, but again, sports wasn’t a multi-billion dollar industry during those days. If Soccer was going to be popular enough in the states to even be considered a major 4 professional sport, it would have achieved that status by now, IMO
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I just looked at MLS attendance figures. Most draw in the 12-20k range. But you've also got teams like Atlanta that drew over 50k on average in 2019. That's better than some NFL teams. I'm not saying MLS is on par with the big 4 pro sports yet, but attendance and salaries (up to $7M per) are trending that direction.
 
onealcd said:
Nah, soccer already gets solid but growing ratings in the states. Way above baseball and hockey. As more boomers die it gets more and more popular. It also brings in a larger female audience since that is probably the biggest sport for girls in the US.
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It will never overtake football unless football goes away, which was my point
 
My family had season tickets to the SJ Sharks for 20 years from their first season in the NHL. I probably went to a dozen games a season and it was fun. Today I haven’t watched an NHL game on TV in years but watched a ton of European soccer this year. Anecdotal but hockey seems like way too much of a niche sport to be considered Big 4 for very long.
 
The Alabaster Yak said:
It will never overtake football unless football goes away, which was my point
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And ultimately my point wasn't about sport v sport, but sport v XBox, PS5, Netflix, Call of Duty, YouTube, Twitch, Discord (insert your favourite app or digital entertainment here).
 
Not Sure said:
Actually it’s two - Summer and Winter. But our Winter Olympic sports get zero coverage, so it’s probably a moot point.
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Touché. It I was referring to this particular year’s summer olympics where it’s been 5 years since the last one and it will be 3 until the next.
 
SINKRATZ said:
My family had season tickets to the SJ Sharks for 20 years from their first season in the NHL. I probably went to a dozen games a season and it was fun. Today I haven’t watched an NHL game on TV in years but watched a ton of European soccer this year. Anecdotal but hockey seems like way too much of a niche sport to be considered Big 4 for very long.
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Valuations of the top NHL franchises like the NY Rangers are still more than double any MLS franchise. But the bottom half of MLS is valued higher than the bottom half of NHL.
 
Wilner out with an article about how all this disruption is due to ESPN manipulating things behind the scenes in order to meet their mandate from the Mouse to maximize ROI. The other conferences, well at least those not completely beholden to to them, i.e. the B1G and the PAC need to take a serious look at continuing to do business with them if this is how they treat their partners, and I'm not sure this doesn't get litigious at some point, since it is now an existential threat for a lot of school athletic departments.

 
SuperD said:
Wilner out with an article about how all this disruption is due to ESPN manipulating things behind the scenes in order to meet their mandate from the Mouse to maximize ROI. The other conferences, well at least those not completely beholden to to them, i.e. the B1G and the PAC need to take a serious look at continuing to do business with them if this is how they treat their partners, and I'm not sure this doesn't get litigious at some point, since it is now an existential threat for a lot of school athletic departments.

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Yeah, in more ways than one, Fox (and to a lesser extent NBC & CBS) is going to call the shots on the next move - not the B1G.
 
SINKRATZ said:
My family had season tickets to the SJ Sharks for 20 years from their first season in the NHL. I probably went to a dozen games a season and it was fun. Today I haven’t watched an NHL game on TV in years but watched a ton of European soccer this year. Anecdotal but hockey seems like way too much of a niche sport to be considered Big 4 for very long.
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i think hockey doesn't translate well to TV whereas gridiron football is kinda the opposite.
 
Buffnik said:
Valuations of the top NHL franchises like the NY Rangers are still more than double any MLS franchise. But the bottom half of MLS is valued higher than the bottom half of NHL.
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And I wonder what that means long term. Hockey seems like a sport that can only decline in popularity: it’s dominated by foreign born players, it’s incredibly expensive to participate in as a youth and those leagues are most popular in select regions and in expensive east coast prep schools. Unlike basketball or soccer, you can’t just grab a couple friends and a ball and go play whenever you want unless you live on a frozen lake somewhere. How do you grow a sport like that?
 
skibum said:
Yeah, in more ways than one, Fox (and to a lesser extent NBC & CBS) is going to call the shots on the next move - not the B1G.
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True, but if ESPN isn't bidding that may lower the valuation of what the other leagues can get. I think this leaking from A&M may have screwed up ESPNs timing though. The other leagues should absolutely now hold out to bring the negotiating rights for the CFB playoff to the open market rather than changing the structure early and letting ESPN extend the deal in the exclusive negotiating window.
 
SuperD said:
Wilner out with an article about how all this disruption is due to ESPN manipulating things behind the scenes in order to meet their mandate from the Mouse to maximize ROI. The other conferences, well at least those not completely beholden to to them, i.e. the B1G and the PAC need to take a serious look at continuing to do business with them if this is how they treat their partners, and I'm not sure this doesn't get litigious at some point, since it is now an existential threat for a lot of school athletic departments.

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Got to wonder if there are antitrust violations here. The very foundation of those laws is to combat monopolization of industries and/or restraint of trade. ESPN seems to be making moves that go beyond outcompeting in a free & open market.
 
SuperD said:
True, but if ESPN isn't bidding that may lower the valuation of what the other leagues can get. I think this leaking from A&M may have screwed up ESPNs timing though. The other leagues should absolutely now hold out to bring the negotiating rights for the CFB playoff to the open market rather than changing the structure early and letting ESPN extend the deal in the exclusive negotiating window.
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But that's just it, even if ESPN isn't bidding Fox has to put up a comparable number if they want to keep a comparable and competitive product on their screen.

If they put in a bargain bid, they'll get a bargain product (eventually). It might be good for their bottom line for a couple years, but long term, unless they put the same level of capital into it as espn, they will end up with a substandard product.
 
SINKRATZ said:
And I wonder what that means long term. Hockey seems like a sport that can only decline in popularity: it’s dominated by foreign born players, it’s incredibly expensive to participate in as a youth and those leagues are most popular in select regions and in expensive east coast prep schools. Unlike basketball or soccer, you can’t just grab a couple friends and a ball and go play whenever you want unless you live on a frozen lake somewhere. How do you grow a sport like that?
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How to grow hockey as a sport:

Step 1 - Reverse global warming

Does it actually matter what step 2 is?
 
Also, looking back it's clear that the more closely tied to ESPN the more the conference was pushing to play games despite Covid.

Got to satisfy those media rights obligations.

And it was 100% about that. As Jay Bilas pointed out, you can't name a case of universities putting non athletes on a plane for university functions during that time.
 
Hockey is too expensive to grow much as a sport, IMO. Limited ice rinks, expensive ice time, and tons of equipment expenses. Makes sense culturally for the northern regions which have lots of outdoor rinks in the winter, but for the rest of American it is tough to get out there and actually play unless it is street hockey.

So long as the NHL and the Avs keep plugging along, then I don't care if they are part of the 'Big 4' or not
 
Maybe it’s just me, and I like college football, but if we’re going hard towards Bama or Buckeye QBs making $800K on endorsement deals as sophomores, and SuperMega conferences slobbering all over ESPN, I can be just as happy checkin’ out of all that, buying season tickets to Wyoming for a few hundred bucks and going up to Laramie 3 times a year…..At some point in life ya gotta choose not to be a sucker.
 
PAHIBuff said:
Maybe it’s just me, and I like college football, but if we’re going hard towards Bama or Buckeye QBs making $800K on endorsement deals as sophomores, and SuperMega conferences slobbering all over ESPN, I can be just as happy checkin’ out of all that, buying season tickets to Wyoming for a few hundred bucks and going up to Laramie 3 times a year…..At some point in life ya gotta choose not to be a sucker.
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Sure. Or go watch some HS ball. Football is football no matter whether it's a HS game somewhere in the Rockies or the Super Bowl.
 
PAHIBuff said:
Maybe it’s just me, and I like college football, but if we’re going hard towards Bama or Buckeye QBs making $800K on endorsement deals as sophomores, and SuperMega conferences slobbering all over ESPN, I can be just as happy checkin’ out of all that, buying season tickets to Wyoming for a few hundred bucks and going up to Laramie 3 times a year…..At some point in life ya gotta choose not to be a sucker.
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My respect for the leadership of the Ivy League and U of Chicago back in the day continues to grow.

If college football is turning into minor league NFL, it's not something I'm all that interested in. I don't watch minor league pros in anything.
 
PAHIBuff said:
Maybe it’s just me, and I like college football, but if we’re going hard towards Bama or Buckeye QBs making $800K on endorsement deals as sophomores, and SuperMega conferences slobbering all over ESPN, I can be just as happy checkin’ out of all that, buying season tickets to Wyoming for a few hundred bucks and going up to Laramie 3 times a year…..At some point in life ya gotta choose not to be a sucker.
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Could also go up to Ft Collins couple times a year and cheer against the home team.
 
How fast will all this happen? Will this take years or something that will happen overnight? College football as we know it is fundamentally changing.

I see the south being the de-facto powerhouse for the foreseeable future. Football culture is night and day different in the south compared to out west. We just don't care nearly as much.
 
Matt said:
How fast will all this happen? Will this take years or something that will happen overnight? College football as we know it is fundamentally changing.

I see the south being the de-facto powerhouse for the foreseeable future. Football culture is night and day different in the south compared to out west. We just don't care nearly as much.
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Current Big 12 contract runs through 2024, most others expire around that time as well. The expectation seems to be that 2022 would be the final season in the Big 12 for Texas and Oklahoma.
 
Buffnik said:
My respect for the leadership of the Ivy League and U of Chicago back in the day continues to grow.

If college football is turning into minor league NFL, it's not something I'm all that interested in. I don't watch minor league pros in anything.
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You watch college hoops.
 
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