Non-Key Tweets

[noeynox]

I don't know how these athletic programs can now be considered non-profits for tax purposes, but I'm no authority on that issue.

That said, I'm challenging whether they can make any money under the current construct.

The NFL is a non profit so there is that.

 

[Hamms30]

I don't know how these athletic programs can now be considered non-profits for tax purposes, but I'm no authority on that issue.

That said, I'm challenging whether they can make any money under the current construct.

Athletic departments aren't stand alone entities. They're part of the University, which is a non-profit entity. So profitable athletic departments contribute to the overall school that uses these funds to both fund the athletic department and the larger overall budget of the school. The conferences are non-profit because after accounting for all the costs of running the conference, they distribute what's left over to the schools.

 

[billybud]

Maybe the universities getting big media bucks can have the money to have varsity sports...with scholarships, Title IX equity, NIL...

But there may be a retrenchment of athletics elsewhere...maybe back to the scholar athlete of my college days where a team like FSU had games seen in person or listened to on the radio. And club teams.

University demand is decreasing...there will be economic pressures on education...maybe government taxpayer supported athletic departments will see less funding from government.

In the US, tuition averages $19,068 per year – a cost that has more than doubled in the 21st Century – and recent PEW data found only 22% of U.S. adults report seeing the cost of college as worth it even when students need to take out loans. Only one-in-four said it’s extremely or very important to have a four-year college degree in order to get a well-paying job in today's economy. These feelings are born out in Gen Z enrollment rates. The percentage of US high school graduates enrolling in college has fallen from 70% in 2009, firmly in Millennial territory, to 62% in 2022, according to the National Center for Educational Statistics data cited by a BestColleges review of research.

 

[ZooCougar]

 

[uconndogs]

Isn’t the NFL still tax exempt?

I would be willing to bet that the NFL is a tax free association and that the individual franchises are taxed entities.

 

[uconndogs]

Athletic departments aren't stand alone entities. They're part of the University, which is a non-profit entity. So profitable athletic departments contribute to the overall school that uses these funds to both fund the athletic department and the larger overall budget of the school. The conferences are non-profit because after accounting for all the costs of running the conference, they distribute what's left over to the schools.

Nonprofit entities can and often do have operations that can be taxable.

 

[blue93]

Maybe...or maybe just wishcasting....

TV viewing right now...50% is captured by only 18 teams...when you move that up to 40 or so, it's nearly the universe.

Only 10% of viewers from bottom 71 schools...

Here’s what I don’t understand about this anticpated break off of two super conferences: these teams won’t all be appointment television if there’s a break off of the P2.

For example, I’m absolutely watching a late season game between 9-0 FSU and 8-1 Clemson. I’m probably not watching them if they’re middling teams in a beefed up P2. I don’t have a dog in that fight, I watch when the stakes are high. Swap FSU/Clemson with whoever you want.

I don’t know how they maintain those ratings when the biggest brands are cannibalizing each other all year.

 

[buddy]

That's like touting Rutgers' national championship basketball pedigree!

 

[UConnJim]

Seems to me it all hinges on what ESPN offers the ACC on their next leg of their contract.

If ESPN gives them $ on par with the B12 contract (which might not be that much of a lift thanks to inflation), then things ought to stabilize through mid the 2030s.

My guess is that we should have some word on the ESPN ACC renewal numbers this winter.

And on the other hand, if the ACC gets the P12 treatment, then yes we are set for a meltdown. But I think ESPN opts to give the ACC B12 type money to bridge this all to the mid 2030s. I've been told by people in media that ESPN still values the ACC as a property.

ESPN spent big for a piece of the NBA media rights which is the wildcard for extending the ACC. The business model of ESPN is in flux and they decided to bid big for the NBA and they already have the SEC media rights. Do they need both the ACC and Big 12 media rights or does it make sense for them to have a consolidated ACC/Big 12 to reduce their overall media rights costs while retaining a large amount of content? ESPN must be thinking why are we paying for the media rights of Wake Forest, SMU,...

 

[Kolumbo]

The NFL is a non profit so there is that.

No longer. The commissioner earns $64 mill per year so it was time to pay the piper.

I'd think at some point the athletic departments would be considered professional sports and taxable entities.

 

[Hondo 77]

Eventually when they attempt to make it a full professional league they will go out of business. Congress will make sure tax exemption goes away. On top of that the NFL brings in too much money to the Networks for them not to protect the real Professionals.
And the majority of the population will stop watching a minor league group of professionals.

Congress can’t make sure of anything these days.

 

[Exit 4]

ESPN spent big for a piece of the NBA media rights which is the wildcard for extending the ACC. The business model of ESPN is in flux and they decided to bid big for the NBA and they already have the SEC media rights. Do they need both the ACC and Big 12 media rights or does it make sense for them to have a consolidated ACC/Big 12 to reduce their overall media rights costs while retaining a large amount of content? ESPN must be thinking why are we paying for the media rights of Wake Forest, SMU,...

I was told by someone in the sports media rights pricing biz that espn still values the ACC content in a meaningful way. Proof will be in the pudding when that extension comes out.

 

[GoConn]

Is MHver still worth posting in non-key?

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

Is MHver still worth posting in non-key?

No.

 

[uconnyankee]

Here’s what I don’t understand about this anticpated break off of two super conferences: these teams won’t all be appointment television if there’s a break off of the P2.

For example, I’m absolutely watching a late season game between 9-0 FSU and 8-1 Clemson. I’m probably not watching them if they’re middling teams in a beefed up P2. I don’t have a dog in that fight, I watch when the stakes are high. Swap FSU/Clemson with whoever you want.

I don’t know how they maintain those ratings when the biggest brands are cannibalizing each other all year.

Yep! ‘The world needs ditch diggers Danny’.

 

[CL82]

Is MHver still worth posting in non-key?

He is definitionally non-key. He and the dude are the reason this thread exists.

 

[Exit 4]

He is definitionally non-key. He and the dude are the reason this thread exists.

The two throw a hundred darts a day and so with that, some land and most do not.

 

[CL82]

The two throw a hundred darts a day and so with that, some land and most do not.

Thus, his tweets are non-key.

 

[CL82]

I will say that Ledecky is an absolute machine when she swims. It is impressive to watch.

 

[UConnJim]

I was told by someone in the sports media rights pricing biz that espn still values the ACC content in a meaningful way. Proof will be in the pudding when that extension comes out.

Content costs going up at the same time revenues are flattish is not a recipe for success. Something needs to give and the ACC media rights extension is next up for negotiation. There was not one top 25 rated TV game that involved an ACC vs ACC matchup and the lowest 3 TV rated bowl games involving P5 schools had current ACC members BC, SMU, Syracuse, and Cal. Take out Clemson and FSU and the ACC media rights value drops considerably.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

Content costs going up at the same time revenues are flattish is not a recipe for success. Something needs to give and the ACC media rights extension is next up for negotiation. There was not one top 25 rated TV game that involved an ACC vs ACC matchup and the lowest 3 TV rated bowl games involving P5 schools had current ACC members BC, SMU, Syracuse, and Cal. Take out Clemson and FSU and the ACC media rights value drops considerably.

Some are estimating that FSU/Clemson equate to 25-30% of the entire ACC tv value.

 

[uconndogs]

Maybe...or maybe just wishcasting....

TV viewing right now...50% is captured by only 18 teams...when you move that up to 40 or so, it's nearly the universe.

Only 10% of viewers from bottom 71 schools...

I think college athletics needs to be very careful with the assumption that the viewer market is locked into the top programs. First of all, 10% of the market is an enormous piece of the market. The goal is to grow markets. Second, a lot of college fans watch the big programs compete becuase they identify with college athletics through their own affiliation. That model is all being upended and probably will be factured. I think that when the day comes that the average college football fan views Alabama, Michigan, USC, etc. like the view the New England Patriots, as professional sports franchises, college football is in a lot of trouble.

I'm only one fan, but I was an avid college athletics fan. My viewership is way down and continues to decline. Am I alone?

 

[ZooCougar]

I will say that Ledecky is an absolute machine when she swims. It is impressive to watch.

PAC 12 phenom

 

[UConnTrumbull]

I think college athletics needs to be very careful with the assumption that the viewer market is locked into the top programs. First of all, 10% of the market is an enormous piece of the market. The goal is to grow markets. Second, a lot of college fans watch the big programs compete becuase they identify with college athletics through their own affiliation. That model is all being upended and probably will be factured. I think that when the day comes that the average college football fan views Alabama, Michigan, USC, etc. like the view the New England Patriots, as professional sports franchises, college football is in a lot of trouble.

I'm only one fan, but I was an avid college athletics fan. My viewership is way down and continues to decline. Am I alone?

I think college football has the ability, perhaps even the likelihood, to get away with it and follow an NFL Lite model. The other sports not so much.

 

[Exit 4]

Content costs going up at the same time revenues are flattish is not a recipe for success. Something needs to give and the ACC media rights extension is next up for negotiation. There was not one top 25 rated TV game that involved an ACC vs ACC matchup and the lowest 3 TV rated bowl games involving P5 schools had current ACC members BC, SMU, Syracuse, and Cal. Take out Clemson and FSU and the ACC media rights value drops considerably.

We shall see. All will be clear when ESPN and the ACC settle on their extension. We all thought the B12 had modest value and yet they pulled off a nice contract.

Barring a twist in the ACC lawsuits that allows for a low cost exit (then yes schools will leave and the ACC contract will lose value), I think the ACC gets a decent contract which will defer the ultimate P2/P3 alignment to the mid 2030s.