(01-28-2014 11:52 AM)Attackcoog Wrote: (01-28-2014 09:33 AM)Panthersville Wrote: (01-28-2014 09:24 AM)Usajags Wrote: All the conference heads are chasing the all mighty dollar right now, and those alignments would never work because the footprint is to small and doesn't open enough TV markets for each conference. This is the downfall of college sports. Fans want to be able to travel to games, as the conferences have overgrown beyond reason, travel to away games have become a dream instead of the norm.
West Virginia fans are complaining about the Big 12, It won't be another year or so before Mizzou starts complaining about the SEC travel. And these are the big guys in big conferences.
The G5 will learn that the P5 revenue model doesn't work for them. Markets are still important, but the size of the footprint doesn't matter as much as market penetration. I think the G5-level conferences are going to figure out that fan accessibility is more important (and more lucrative) than the TV contracts they can get are going to be. With more regional footprints, you can get better ratings on regional networks than you can on national networks, probably to the point that the revenue would even-out.
I don't think that's true. The regionals simply pay less. However, if the G5 organized and negotiated their TV contract as a group (like the old CFA did), then the exact conference footprint would be less important. In fact, a conclave of all the conferences could be held at which the schools were reorganized into 4 conferences on the basis of geography without any loss of value based on footprints (since it was negotiated as a 64 team conglomerate--the contract footprint is the entire nation). Plus negotiation as a group means that half of all college football inventory falls under the control of one entity. That makes such an organization a pretty powerful player in the supply and demand equation.
You could use some discretion to make sure each of the 4 regional conferences have a competitive balance, enough solid markets, and enough bigger G5 names to keep TV happy.
If the G5 had the sense to jointly negotiate following the old NCAA/CFA model you would see a deal something like this.
National TV partner(s) would follow a different structure of payment. There would be a base fee and everyone would get a piece of the base fee just for playing (let's say $2 million each).
Then there would be a per game fee and that fee would be based upon the network carrying the game, the day of the week and the time slot. So Fresno vs. Boise State on ESPN on Thursday night would pay more than Arkansas State vs. Troy on ESPNU the same night. The fee would be split between the conference two schools playing. So if Louisiana vs. Arkansas State is on ESPN2 again this year, all the fee goes to the Sun Belt. If ESPNU picks up AState vs. Utah State the fee splits between the Sun Belt and MWC.
I think it could revolutionize the way weeknight games are done. ESPN experimented with scheduling MAC weeknight twin-bills. They'd pick two games for say Tuesday night and then when it got close, whichever game was the most attractive would go to ESPN and the other would go to ESPNU. Imagine being able to do that with multiple conferences. Say the deal is with Fox and they partner with CBS Sports (much like Fox and ESPN partnered on the Pac-12). They put tab Georgia State vs. USA, NIU vs. Ball State and ODU vs. FIU for Thursday night. About two weeks out they make the call, one game goes to FS1, one goes to FS2, and the other goes to CBSS. It allows them to flex as the year goes on.
But a G5 partnership has even greater potential. Right now ESPN Regional owns or is in the process of negotiating for ownership of 11 bowl games. Most are G5 affiliated. What if you pulled the G5 affiliation from those games? Most are DOA with no one to play them. Bundle into the G5 deal the TV partner will carry and jointly with the G5 manage 15 bowl games spread across the country. Each league is guaranteed five placements (after the access bowl pick) available to the G5 Association bowls. The five commissioners and the TV folks sit down they sketch out the picks late in the season trying to create the best TV match-ups that also respect geography as much as possible. Then they fill in from the conferences based on the number of available teams.
You eliminate the concept that this bowl is MAC vs. Sun Belt and that bowl is Sun Belt vs. MAC instead you know this bowl is two teams from some mix of AAC, CUSA, MAC, MWC, Sun Belt. Get better match-ups that sell more tickets and in the long-run everyone wins.
Take the New Orleans Bowl this year. If those circumstances had come together one year later, that match-up doesn't happen yet it was great box office.
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If the Sun Belt and CUSA were smart...
