Key tweets, and it's all gone to Hell.

[businesslawyer]

Not trolling at all. Just fed up with the injustice. You really believe UCF, Cinci, BC. Pitt, Cuse, Rutgers, Minnesota, are better than UConn? The powers that be keep shifting everything on UConn. First football was no good, the fiesta bowl appearance was just luck. Then football is good, but oh, you don't play anyone good, that's why you win. Same for basketball now. Two seed? You guys don't deserve that. You didn't play a tough schedule like power schools do! Why are we forced to play UConn at Gampel in the women's tournament? Even though we stink, we shouldn't be in the same bracket as UConn. This was the women's basketball coach of Syracuse's complaint. No one responded by telling her to lobby to get UConn in the ACC and they won't be in the same bracket at tournament time.

I stand by my complaint. It is ESPN that keeps UConn out. They could have used UConn as a bargaining tool in a positive way.

Whoa. Saying that if ESPN wanted UConn in the ACC they could get UConn in the ACC is entirely different than saying that “it is ESPN that keeps UConn out.” If you have any reasonable basis for what you just wrote I’d love to hear it.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I see your logic but I think where we differ is that I think we'd get more than the 30% share because of the strength of both of the basketball programs. Now, as part of the BE we get ~ 7m per year but I would imagine the combined value of the basketball programs is around 3 times that of the other BE schools given the ratings power (maybe 4 times but I won't assume that). Let's say we get a 50% share instead of 30%. That'd be .5x 40m so 20m versus the ~ 8m we get today from the BE and CBS Sports Network combined. That's a 12m lift. I'll be conservative and round it down to 10m. I re-looked at the ACC CFP revenue share and non-CFP participants get nothing so nothing there. Added FB ticket sales could bring another ~1.5m. Sponsorships will go up but how much? Last year it was 10m across the AD , so maybe another 2m seeing FB is likely minimal currently? Athletic donations would increase as well: currently ~ 52m annually so maybe another 5m (assuming a 10% lift but who knows). Would they increase the student fee which currently brings in 5m annually? Currently the university athletic subsidy is 32m annually - would they raise it another ~ 5m to cover the increased gap? It all feels somewhat reasonable given what would likely happen outside the Athletic Department in terms of endowment increases, university profile increases, etc.

We have the last two offers from the ACC and Big 12:

ACC: Nothing. They didn't even bother to offer us the SMU deal.

Big 12: Basketball only, matching the Big East's payout, and we would have to commit tens of millions to football on the off chance that they accept us as a full member in 2031 or thereabouts. The Big 12 never formerly offered us this though, and discontinued discussions.

There is no negotiation or doing a little better if neither league wants us at any price. I don't see anything changing. What new information will the ACC or Big 12 get about UConn? Our basketball program is pretty good, football is what it is, we are in a wealthy market near New York that no school currently has. Everyone knows these facts, no one wants us.

Something has to change with our offer or these two leagues for the deck to get shuffled. We can wait for them to lose members, which feels likely to me (I think some schools are simply going to stop trying) but it could take a while, or we offer them something they haven't seen before. I think the Big East starts a discussion with both leagues about merging the Big East with them. It doesn't cost the ACC or Big 12 much, upgrades the ACC basketball, gets both leagues a whole bunch of cities, and gets UConn football a home.

Or we can continue asking nice as we have every year since 2002 and see where that gets us.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

We have the last two offers from the ACC and Big 12:

ACC: Nothing. They didn't even bother to offer us the SMU deal.

Big 12: Basketball only, matching the Big East's payout, and we would have to commit tens of millions to football on the off chance that they accept us as a full member in 2031 or thereabouts. The Big 12 never formerly offered us this though, and discontinued discussions.

There is no negotiation or doing a little better if neither league wants us at any price. I don't see anything changing. What new information will the ACC or Big 12 get about UConn? Our basketball program is pretty good, football is what it is, we are in a wealthy market near New York that no school currently has. Everyone knows these facts, no one wants us.

Something has to change with our offer or these two leagues for the deck to get shuffled. We can wait for them to lose members, which feels likely to me (I think some schools are simply going to stop trying) but it could take a while, or we offer them something they haven't seen before. I think the Big East starts a discussion with both leagues about merging the Big East with them. It doesn't cost the ACC or Big 12 much, upgrades the ACC basketball, gets both leagues a whole bunch of cities, and gets UConn football a home.

Or we can continue asking nice as we have every year since 2002 and see where that gets us.

Yeah, you think our basketball program is "pretty good". Lol.

SMU and Calford brought added carriage fee revenue and were willing to take little and no payout and that's the only reason they were brought on. At least UConn has had the intestinal fortitude to not cave into any schemes the ACC or Big12 might have offered.

Yes, we have state support and won't make a move until we have to/it makes more sense than our current situation. It is kind of like Notre Dame's situation (I'm not saying we're at their level); stick to your guiding principles, keep open dialogue with other conferences, and make a move when the pros are better than the cons.

I think our next move will be into a refilled/remade ACC, or backfill for a Kansas/Utah into the Big12, or into a P3 made up of Big12/ACC/a few other G5's. Would be announced in the 2028-2030 timeframe.

 

[JVN]

How are schools divvying up money between sports in modern era? Here's an inside look at Duke's approach

Between basketball and football, the Blue Devils are in the midst of one of the most successful athletic seasons in the modern history of college sports. So how are they doing it without breaking the bank?

sports.yahoo.com

Article is the usual Duke-glazing, but here are some interesting paragraphs.

"Football budgets are soaring well above the House settlement’s annual, per-school $20.5 million cap as schools devise circumvention tactics while enforcement remains somewhat absent.

“We’ve heard rumors of $40 million for a football roster. That’s not us,” King said, “but we have an idea of what it will take above the [new cap of] $21.3 million next year. Not everybody gets what they want. The conversation with our coaches is, ‘Tell me what you have to have to build a national championship team.’ We work back from there.”

For basketball, that number is increasing by the year. In fact, most industry insiders believe that roster values have doubled each year — from rosters worth $2-3 million three years ago, to $4-6 million last year to more than $10 million this year. Most believe Duke men’s basketball is in that neighborhood."

 

[Vowelguy]

"Football budgets are soaring well above the House settlement’s annual, per-school $20.5 million cap as schools devise circumvention tactics while enforcement remains somewhat absent.

Old system
Above-the-table payments: $0
Under-the-table: $$$

~2023-2025
Above-the-table payments: $$$
Under-the-table: $0

2025->
Above-the-table payments: $$$
Under-the-table: $$$

 

[nelsonmuntz]

How are schools divvying up money between sports in modern era? Here's an inside look at Duke's approach

Between basketball and football, the Blue Devils are in the midst of one of the most successful athletic seasons in the modern history of college sports. So how are they doing it without breaking the bank?

sports.yahoo.com

Article is the usual Duke-glazing, but here are some interesting paragraphs.

"Football budgets are soaring well above the House settlement’s annual, per-school $20.5 million cap as schools devise circumvention tactics while enforcement remains somewhat absent.

“We’ve heard rumors of $40 million for a football roster. That’s not us,” King said, “but we have an idea of what it will take above the [new cap of] $21.3 million next year. Not everybody gets what they want. The conversation with our coaches is, ‘Tell me what you have to have to build a national championship team.’ We work back from there.”

For basketball, that number is increasing by the year. In fact, most industry insiders believe that roster values have doubled each year — from rosters worth $2-3 million three years ago, to $4-6 million last year to more than $10 million this year. Most believe Duke men’s basketball is in that neighborhood."

Interesting, although my gag reflex started to kick in about halfway through.

 

[Kolumbo]

At some point rationality and market forces should kick in. College athletes are just not worth where the prices are going, even if extremely wealthy boosters are willing to foot the bill in the short term

 

[JVN]

According to some tweets from Pete Thamel, LSU is spending ~$200M on salaries and buyouts for FB and MBB coaches and their former AD. Not including staff and assistants. Additionally $40M on their FB roster, plus whatever their MBB roster costs (~$10M?), plus their WBB. So upwards of $250M total. They are spending money like they stole it.