What is the end game in a P2 world?

[Drew]

 

[Hoophound]

This is very misled way of looking at it. People like to watch college football because they feel involved in it. When they aren’t involved in it by having their team be in the game, they will leave. Do you think if the Patriots left New England, their fans would watch the Cowboys play the Steelers religiously as a substitute? No.

Fans watch the game because they have a connection to it. App St fans remember when they beat Michigan. They yearn for more. Take the ability to play and beat a team like that away, and they’ll go trout fishing.

The idea that we’d all be happy with 20-30 big schools playing is almost comical. It’s a total misread of the data.

 

[Kolumbo]

Both supply and demand, but maybe it's more the networks choosing what to supply

 

[John]

This is very misled way of looking at it. People like to watch college football because they feel involved in it. When they aren’t involved in it by having their team be in the game, they will leave. Do you think if the Patriots left New England, their fans would watch the Cowboys play the Steelers religiously as a substitute? No.

Fans watch the game because they have a connection to it. App St fans remember when they beat Michigan. They yearn for more. Take the ability to play and beat a team like that away, and they’ll go trout fishing.

The idea that we’d all be happy with 20-30 big schools playing is almost comical. It’s a total misread of the data.

that's not right - I'm a Giants fan but have been watching every game I can of the playoffs and don't have a dog in the hunt. Sports fans watch sports, especially when it's being played at an extremely high level. As a UConn football fan, a fan of a program that is essentially shut out of the process right now, I still watched the CFB playoffs because I'm a sports fan.

 

[Ldandy]

This is very misled way of looking at it. People like to watch college football because they feel involved in it. When they aren’t involved in it by having their team be in the game, they will leave. Do you think if the Patriots left New England, their fans would watch the Cowboys play the Steelers religiously as a substitute? No.

Fans watch the game because they have a connection to it. App St fans remember when they beat Michigan. They yearn for more. Take the ability to play and beat a team like that away, and they’ll go trout fishing.

The idea that we’d all be happy with 20-30 big schools playing is almost comical. It’s a total misread of the data.

I think casual fans and gamblers make up a far bigger swath of CFB Fandom than you are suggesting. There are millions of people, many with degrees from non P4 FBS Schools, who want to watch games between big name programs in key time slots. The ratings prove this.

There are thousands of graduates of CUSA, MAC, or whatever G5 league you choose who have access to watch their own teams play. The ratings of these games are mostly nonexistent. If there was a greater interest in seeing these schools play then the conferences would garner better time slots and more network promotion. I’m sorry but I don’t believe that App State Fans are watching Michigan play Bama because of that one time they beat them in 2007. They’re watching because they enjoy football and it’s a big game.

CFB has been in a state of change for a century. It will continue to change. This will turn some fans off like you, but may intrigue others who don’t want to watch OSU play Easter Michigan in a 63-7 bloodbath. I certainly don’t agree with everything that is happening, but I love football so It will take something completely off putting to keep me from watching.

 

[Drew]

I think casual fans and gamblers make up a far bigger swath of CFB Fandom than you are suggesting. There are millions of people, many with degrees from non P4 FBS Schools, who want to watch games between big name programs in key time slots. The ratings prove this.

There are thousands of graduates of CUSA, MAC, or whatever G5 league you choose who have access to watch their own teams play. The ratings of these games are mostly nonexistent. If there was a greater interest in seeing these schools play then the conferences would garner better time slots and more network promotion. I’m sorry but I don’t believe that App State Fans are watching Michigan play Bama because of that one time they beat them in 2007. They’re watching because they enjoy football and it’s a big game.

CFB has been in a state of change for a century. It will continue to change. This will turn some fans off like you, but may intrigue others who don’t want to watch OSU play Easter Michigan in a 63-7 bloodbath. I certainly don’t agree with everything that is happening, but I love football so It will take something completely off putting to keep me from watching.

This is very well stated - nice job

 

[Ha Who]

This is very well stated - nice job

AT & T thought so too

 

[Rufus]

How UCLA's Big Ten Move Instantly Erases Huge Deficit

UCLA's move to the Big Ten will erase their huge athletic department deficits thanks to the TV deals.

www.si.com

 

[Kolumbo]

How UCLA's Big Ten Move Instantly Erases Huge Deficit

UCLA's move to the Big Ten will erase their huge athletic department deficits thanks to the TV deals.

www.si.com

It is still remarkable to me that programs like UCLA and Texas are submitting and leaving their positions of power to become middle of the pack programs, and I do believe they will be middle of the pack, if not worse. I get it, money talks. But it's still sad to witness. And these are institutions which already have billions in endowment.

The city of LA will have even less interest in college sports because its schools play in the midwest. And UCLA basketball sucks right now. Texas might as well change its helmets to horns down.

 

[John]

It is still remarkable to me that programs like UCLA and Texas are submitting and leaving their positions of power to become middle of the pack programs, and I do believe they will be middle of the pack, if not worse. I get it, money talks. But it's still sad to witness. And these are institutions which already have billions in endowment.

The city of LA will have even less interest in college sports because its schools play in the midwest. And UCLA basketball sucks right now. Texas might as well change its helmets to horns down.

UCLA maybe, but Texas has a lot of upside. And once again, basketball doesn't matter in any of this, so it doesn't matter that UCLA basketball sucks under the Leprechaun.

 

[Rufus]

I think USC and UCLA have the most potential upside with NIL out of any school in the country, simply based on location and brand name combined. USC at least looks like it is attempting to compete, let's see what UCLA does going forward.

 

[Greedo]

So... create a "Premier League" and cut college football viewership in half? I say that tongue in cheek, but I really do have a hard time believing viewership wouldn't drop if you take a bunch of dogs out of the race.

 

[Rufus]

The 23 universities that make at least $125 million annually from their sports teams

The SEC and Big Ten dominate the list of the NCAA schools that make the most money from college sports.

www.businessinsider.com

 

[whalerfan]

The 23 universities that make at least $125 million annually from their sports teams

The SEC and Big Ten dominate the list of the NCAA schools that make the most money from college sports.

www.businessinsider.com

So Ohio State Charges (bust out retail) $38,365 to go if you don't live in Ohio (maybe "Students who are non-residents of Ohio will be assessed a non-resident tuition surcharge") + $14,382 room and board plus fees yet this article says it's athletic programs will make $204 million. That's whacked.

 

[Patman]

Texas, and their huge pile of money, will not be middle of the pac. People haven't seen a full NIL class yet and what that really does. UCLA, not so much

 

[nelsonmuntz]

If the Big 10 troll was right, and we were all just going to stop following our own school and become Minnesota or Iowa fans, we would have already become Minnesota or Iowa fans. The Big 10 has been the most powerful conference for 20 years, and they have the fans they have, and other schools have the fans they have. What is going to change in the next 5 years to make us all switch?

I don't see any way that is possible, and the much more likely answer is that the fanbase for college athletics simply starts shrinking, rapidly, if a 35 or 40 team P2 emerges.

 

[uconndogs]

If the Big 10 troll was right, and we were all just going to stop following our own school and become Minnesota or Iowa fans, we would have already become Minnesota or Iowa fans. The Big 10 has been the most powerful conference for 20 years, and they have the fans they have, and other schools have the fans they have. What is going to change in the next 5 years to make us all switch?

I don't see any way that is possible, and the much more likely answer is that the fanbase for college athletics simply starts shrinking, rapidly, if a 35 or 40 team P2 emerges.

I know one fan who is rapidly losing interest in college athletics……me! That includes my interest in UCONN athletics. The uneven playing field brought on by conference realignment, NIL and the portal, where success will be driven primarily by access to money, is killing what I used to love about college athletics.

Am I alone with that sentiment? I highly doubt it.

 

[billybud]

If the Big 10 troll was right, and we were all just going to stop following our own school and become Minnesota or Iowa fans, we would have already become Minnesota or Iowa fans. The Big 10 has been the most powerful conference for 20 years, and they have the fans they have, and other schools have the fans they have. What is going to change in the next 5 years to make us all switch?

I don't see any way that is possible, and the much more likely answer is that the fanbase for college athletics simply starts shrinking, rapidly, if a 35 or 40 team P2 emerges.

But we, as a nation, pretty much watch a handful of teams......with 50% of viewing coming from just 18 teams...

Of course some of that is media arranged by opportunity, time slots...but the end result is that viewing has become concentrated...

Streaming and lower production costs will allow fans of teams to access games of teams that may not have as much national interest....but that is not where the money is. Even right now fans can access Wake Forest playing Georgia Tech on a side channel (ACCN) but not much money is paid to schools/conferences for those games because viewership is low (compared to SEC and Big Ten games).

 

[billybud]

I drive over and watch a Western Carolina game every fall...not a fan of WCU but it is the football experience that I remember from nearly 55 years ago in my way back (except that fall is much more beautiful than it was in North Florida).

Many folks follow their FCS teams...I followed the FAMU-Bethune Cookman rivalry for decades (my first job out of school was at FAMU). I find that fandom much more "personal" than the general sports fandom that I have (watching Alabama-Auburn, Ohio State-Penn State, Texas-Oklahoma, etc).

I do believe that there are both types of fandom...I saw once a report that 75-80 % of those declaring to be fans of certain programs actually never set a foot on the campus.

 

[RSTuthill]

But we, as a nation, pretty much watch a handful of teams......with 50% of viewing coming from just 18 teams...

Of course some of that is media arranged by opportunity, time slots...but the end result is that viewing has become concentrated...

Well, we are being force fed those 18 teams. We view them out of curiosity and to keep up with the game. We channel surf and finally end up on the most interesting game from the standpoint of the sport itself. But no rooting interest. It is a sterile experience.

 

[billybud]

Strategy consultant Tony Altimore's study of 18 months ago...

....around 92 percent of college football fans follow Power Five schools, and that around half of fans cheer for the top 16 teams in the country.

He pegged the Big Ten and SEC as having near 100 million fans combined...With streaming becoming available, I still think that the casual sports fan will still gravitate to the big brands over streaming much smaller brands.

I was conditioned, as a boy, to watching sports for which there was no local connection...

When I was 12 living in the Florda panhandle..there were no southern major league baseball, NFL, or NBA teams in the south (I am excepting Dallas)...the nearest were St. Louis and Washington DC.

I obsessed over Duke Snider, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Moose Skowron, Pee Wee Reese, Tony Kubek, Whitey Ford, Don Larsen, et al....and they played in NY.....a long, long way from my patch of the woods.

 

[Rufus]

With legalized sports gambling expanding pretty much everywhere, the P2 will always have nationwide interest because that’s who the gamblers will wager on.

 

[hank970]

I drive over and watch a Western Carolina game every fall...not a fan of WCU but it is the football experience that I remember from nearly 55 years ago in my way back (except that fall is much more beautiful than it was in North Florida).

Many folks follow their FCS teams...I followed the FAMU-Bethune Cookman rivalry for decades (my first job out of school was at FAMU). I find that fandom much more "personal" than the general sports fandom that I have (watching Alabama-Auburn, Ohio State-Penn State, Texas-Oklahoma, etc).

I do believe that there are both types of fandom...I saw once a report that 75-80 % of those declaring to be fans of certain programs actually never set a foot on the campus.

Alumnus: "I'm wearing this Yackumpuckee State University t-shirt because I attended YSU and earned a degree there. You're wearing a YSU t-shirt because you bought it at WalMart."

 

[uconndogs]

The argument that the P2 end up with a whopping share of a market that is smaller to some degree makes perfect sense to me. That’s a business strategy that holds no appeal to me as a fan of college athletics. In the long run I think a lot of fans move away from this model…….and it’s going to end poorly for a lot of P-3,4 programs after the P2 finish feasting.