NYT Article...college football becoming like NFL

[billybud]

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/31/s...ike-the-pros-73-billion-for-a-start.html?_r=1

Interesting quotes....

"The gulf between the haves and the have-nots is expected to widen as revenue rises. Meanwhile, those in positions of power continue to promote the traditional model, declining, for instance, to frame the new legislation as an acknowledgment that players are no longer amateurs."

“In the old days, there was a much more even distribution of revenue between football and basketball,” said Lou Anna K. Simon, the president of Michigan State who serves on the N.C.A.A.’s board of directors for Division I universities. “That has become skewed because of the value the public has placed on football.”

“I love the sport of football,” Tranghese said. “But the collegiate athletic world as we know it is absolutely controlled by the sport of football.”

“Anytime anyone has tried to make the argument that college football is oversaturated, or there is too much, it seems to me, it ends up being a dynamic that it’s the more the merrier,” said Ilan Ben-Hanan, ESPN’s vice president for college football programming. “Fans pretty much have an insatiable appetite for college football.” (and ESPN chortles all of the way to the bank)

 

[FartMan69]

I love UConn football. I hate college football, this new emphasis on "haves and have nots" resembles the class system that this country worked so hard to integrate. I hope one day this whole system crumbles and those "people in power" can suck our collective balls.

 

[The Funster]

Eh, maybe. College FB won't be like the NFL until they stop negotiating as individual conferences and start negotiating as one unit. Then, they keep conference names for "tradition's sake" but move teams amongst the conferences to maximize coverage and $. The NFL is a force because all 32 teams are in it together. In fact, the top 50 sports franchises in all of the world includes all 32 NFL clubs. Has anyone noticed how much the 4 networks are cross promoting NFL games on the other networks this season? That is the power that the NFL wields.

Until the p5 conferences set aside their own agendas, membership criteria and egos, the p5 will never approach the NFL and it's future will be tenuous at best. The p5 can't half-a ss it. They need to go all in to be like the NFL otherwise they are just posturing...and pretending.

 

[billybud]

Well...the P5 will never get down to 32 teams...they are doing their best to have something more manageable than 123 teams.

 

[UConnJim]

People may laugh at the notion, but college sports are at a cross road and not every school will take the road to professionalism. Believe it or not, there are some schools and academics that don't want their athletics to become more professional. The university of Chicago and the Ivies decided against competing at the highest levels and it hasn't impacted them. Give it time.

 

[Kevin Caliendo]

There are only about 30 relevant CFB teams, so yes its a lot like the NFL
Heavyweights (national programs)
ACC - FSU, ND
B1G - UM, MSU, tOSU, Wisc
SEC - FL, GA, AL, Auburn, LSU, TA&M
Pac10 - USC, Ore, Stanford
Big12- UT, OU

Secondary schools
ACC - Clemson, Miami
B1G- PSU, Nebraska
SEC-Ark, SC, Tenn
Pac10-UCLA
Big12-TCU (maybe), Baylor (maybe), WVU, OKSU

everyone else is largely just filler for conference games and TV time. none really matter and are fungible. The upside for UConn is to be fungible. They are not going to ever be relevant in CFB.

 

[Nostical]

No way you can leave out Georgia Tech.

 

[storrsroars]

There are only about 30 relevant CFB teams, so yes its a lot like the NFL
Heavyweights (national programs)
ACC - FSU, ND
B1G - UM, MSU, tOSU, Wisc
SEC - FL, GA, AL, Auburn, LSU, TA&M
Pac10 - USC, Ore, Stanford
Big12- UT, OU

Secondary schools
ACC - Clemson, Miami
B1G- PSU, Nebraska
SEC-Ark, SC, Tenn
Pac10-UCLA
Big12-TCU (maybe), Baylor (maybe), WVU, OKSU

everyone else is largely just filler for conference games and TV time. none really matter and are fungible. The upside for UConn is to be fungible. They are not going to ever be relevant in CFB.

Just looking at actual attendance for D1 schools since 2005, using fan/alumni support as a proxy for athletic program endowments, you've got the top 20 schools, 23 of the top 30 and 25 of the top 42 (arbitrary cutoff of 50K+ per game average from 2005-13. Stanford, Miami, TCU and Baylor would miss that group).

Missing and stable/on upswing are: Iowa, Arkansas, VaTech, Washington, BYU, Missouri, Ariz St., Texas Tech, NC State, Ole Miss, UNC, Mississippi St; while still pulling in over 50K but on the downswing are: Kentucky, Cal, Purdue, UVA, Arizona, Illinois.

I think a handful from that list are/can be as or more relevant than Miami, Clemson or S. Carolina. But the point you're making is valid - there are a limited number of programs of true interest which can be competitive on an annual basis. And IMO, the "cream of the crop" is a even shorter list than you've offered. Maybe only 10-12 programs, not 15.

 

[UConnTrumbull]

No way you can leave out Georgia Tech.

This year, sure. They haven't been too relevant the past decade I believe. Same with Miss St and Ole Miss.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

There is no other industry in the world where the #65 competitor makes close to the same third party revenue that the #1 competitor makes, yet #66 makes less than 20% of #65. Given that fan demand for the product is strong well below that arbitrary cutoff, the only reason for the revenue disparity is collusion.