Bob Thompson, Retired Fox Sports President Joins 365 Sports to discuss his thoughts on the new TV deal between ESPN and the college football playoff, will ESPN own the rights for all the playoff games, his thoughts on why Fox didn’t try for the rights, his thoughts on the basketball revenue in college athletics, and more.


Link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wMbG2fCc3Y

One of the interesting points that he made is if you don't look at the annualized values of the new deal vs. old the values are actually quite small.

He said the CFP valuation was planned to go from 880 million in 2025 to 1.15 billion in 2026, which is only a 31% increase with the CFP moving from 7 to 11 games. CFP has been the NY6 plus 1 championship game.

This is why I don't understand why the CFP didn't try to include more bowl games to juice up the inventory for the CFP contract.

Good interview. Small thing I picked up, the industry calls them the "A4," so that will be the term I use going forward.

I just listened to the podcast, Bob Thompson thought that the ACC only had 3 recent participants in the CFP instead of 6 teams in the top 2 going in to the playoff in the past 11 years. That's a pretty glaring error for someone who is allegedly an expert on the money of College Athletics.

(03-22-2024 01:03 PM)bryanw1995 Wrote:  I just listened to the podcast, Bob Thompson thought that the ACC only had 3 recent participants in the CFP instead of 6 teams in the top 2 going in to the playoff in the past 11 years. That's a pretty glaring error for someone who is allegedly an expert on the money of College Athletics.

Maybe he was referring to FSU and Clemson and Miami.

(03-22-2024 02:08 PM)bullet Wrote:  

(03-22-2024 01:03 PM)bryanw1995 Wrote:  I just listened to the podcast, Bob Thompson thought that the ACC only had 3 recent participants in the CFP instead of 6 teams in the top 2 going in to the playoff in the past 11 years. That's a pretty glaring error for someone who is allegedly an expert on the money of College Athletics.

Maybe he was referring to FSU and Clemson and Miami.

When was Miami in the CFP4? Do you have to go back to the BCS to include Miami in the group?

(03-22-2024 02:20 PM)BruceMcF Wrote:  

(03-22-2024 02:08 PM)bullet Wrote:  

(03-22-2024 01:03 PM)bryanw1995 Wrote:  I just listened to the podcast, Bob Thompson thought that the ACC only had 3 recent participants in the CFP instead of 6 teams in the top 2 going in to the playoff in the past 11 years. That's a pretty glaring error for someone who is allegedly an expert on the money of College Athletics.

Maybe he was referring to FSU and Clemson and Miami.

When was Miami in the CFP4? Do you have to go back to the BCS to include Miami in the group?

I think he (Bob Thompson) was referring to FSU (2014), Clemson (6 times), and ND (2020). Worth noting Miami, Virginia, UNC, Pitt, and Georgia Tech each have 1 NY6 bid.

(03-22-2024 01:03 PM)bryanw1995 Wrote:  I just listened to the podcast, Bob Thompson thought that the ACC only had 3 recent participants in the CFP instead of 6 teams in the top 2 going in to the playoff in the past 11 years. That's a pretty glaring error for someone who is allegedly an expert on the money of College Athletics.

These guys are all fools. There's a reason they are involved in College Sports instead of real businesses.

(03-22-2024 02:49 PM)GoBuckeyes1047 Wrote:  

(03-22-2024 02:20 PM)BruceMcF Wrote:  

(03-22-2024 02:08 PM)bullet Wrote:  

(03-22-2024 01:03 PM)bryanw1995 Wrote:  I just listened to the podcast, Bob Thompson thought that the ACC only had 3 recent participants in the CFP instead of 6 teams in the top 2 going in to the playoff in the past 11 years. That's a pretty glaring error for someone who is allegedly an expert on the money of College Athletics.

Maybe he was referring to FSU and Clemson and Miami.

When was Miami in the CFP4? Do you have to go back to the BCS to include Miami in the group?

I think he (Bob Thompson) was referring to FSU (2014), Clemson (6 times), and ND (2020). Worth noting Miami, Virginia, UNC, Pitt, and Georgia Tech each have 1 NY6 bid.

I just went back and listened to it again, it's at the 8:26 mark in the video:

"Well, if you look at how the split was made, and the ACC had, what, Clemson in twice and Florida St in once in the past 12 years I wanna say, and the Big 12 had ...."

He missed 3 top 2s from Clemson and that ND qualification in 2020 that was an ACC bid, more than half of their total. All he remembered were the actual National Titles. And this guy is the expert, or one of the experts, who was also advising the Pac 12. I realize he has a long history with Fox, but, um...yeah, he doesn't know what he's talking about. Perhaps it's fitting if he starts "helping out" the ACC, but I'd advise Phillips to run not walk away from him.

Most media rights deals recently have "only" increased by 30 to 40% recently

1. Thats still giant increase

2. People speculating on these mega deals were misinformed or doing so just to create interest in their own evaluations

3. Fox and NBC didn't want to bid after maxing out cfb and planning their war chests for other sports.

(03-22-2024 01:03 PM)bryanw1995 Wrote:  I just listened to the podcast, Bob Thompson thought that the ACC only had 3 recent participants in the CFP instead of 6 teams in the top 2 going in to the playoff in the past 11 years. That's a pretty glaring error for someone who is allegedly an expert on the money of College Athletics.

I may be wrong, but I assumed he was only talking about championship games.

(03-22-2024 05:33 PM)CFBLurker Wrote:  Most media rights deals recently have "only" increased by 30 to 40% recently

1. Thats still giant increase

2. People speculating on these mega deals were misinformed or doing so just to create interest in their own evaluations

3. Fox and NBC didn't want to bid after maxing out cfb and planning their war chests for other sports.

The MAC is getting a 30% increase while the AAC is actually taking a cut.

One other point of Bob Thompson's that I like is that if the ACC wants to be a big player in media rights they would have to do it on the FB field.

That says to me if the SEC didn't have a nice run in the 00's and 10's and instead it was FSU, Miami, VT and Clemson in the Top 10 every year it would be the ACC with the TV money.

The SEC was comparatively lacking in markets but got it done on the FB field where it counted IMO. They also got it done in an era before realignment broke loose and there was no questions around their limited mid-south footprint.

(03-22-2024 02:49 PM)GoBuckeyes1047 Wrote:  

(03-22-2024 02:20 PM)BruceMcF Wrote:  

(03-22-2024 02:08 PM)bullet Wrote:  

(03-22-2024 01:03 PM)bryanw1995 Wrote:  I just listened to the podcast, Bob Thompson thought that the ACC only had 3 recent participants in the CFP instead of 6 teams in the top 2 going in to the playoff in the past 11 years. That's a pretty glaring error for someone who is allegedly an expert on the money of College Athletics.

Maybe he was referring to FSU and Clemson and Miami.

When was Miami in the CFP4? Do you have to go back to the BCS to include Miami in the group?

I think he (Bob Thompson) was referring to FSU (2014), Clemson (6 times), and ND (2020). Worth noting Miami, Virginia, UNC, Pitt, and Georgia Tech each have 1 NY6 bid.

And Miami was in the BCS title game a couple times.

(03-23-2024 11:22 AM)bullet Wrote:  

(03-22-2024 02:49 PM)GoBuckeyes1047 Wrote:  

(03-22-2024 02:20 PM)BruceMcF Wrote:  

(03-22-2024 02:08 PM)bullet Wrote:  

(03-22-2024 01:03 PM)bryanw1995 Wrote:  I just listened to the podcast, Bob Thompson thought that the ACC only had 3 recent participants in the CFP instead of 6 teams in the top 2 going in to the playoff in the past 11 years. That's a pretty glaring error for someone who is allegedly an expert on the money of College Athletics.

Maybe he was referring to FSU and Clemson and Miami.

When was Miami in the CFP4? Do you have to go back to the BCS to include Miami in the group?

I think he (Bob Thompson) was referring to FSU (2014), Clemson (6 times), and ND (2020). Worth noting Miami, Virginia, UNC, Pitt, and Georgia Tech each have 1 NY6 bid.

And Miami was in the BCS title game a couple times.

ACC needed to have won 8 of 10 NC's in a streak back in the 00's and 10's and they failed to do that.

They vastly underperformed most of the time sans that Clemson run.

(03-23-2024 11:01 AM)Garden_KC Wrote:  One other point of Bob Thompson's that I like is that if the ACC wants to be a big player in media rights they would have to do it on the FB field.

That says to me if the SEC didn't have a nice run in the 00's and 10's and instead it was FSU, Miami, VT and Clemson in the Top 10 every year it would be the ACC with the TV money.

The SEC was comparatively lacking in markets but got it done on the FB field where it counted IMO. They also got it done in an era before realignment broke loose and there was no questions around their limited mid-south footprint.

Markets are people who watch. The SEC has that.

But you do have a point. With just a few things bouncing the other way, we would not have had such SEC dominance.

2006 Florida beat Ohio St. What if the pundits had their way, left Florida out and had an Ohio St.-Michigan rematch?

2007 LSU beat Ohio St. WVU and Missouri lost on the last weekend. Otherwise, one of those two instead of 2 loss LSU would have been in the title game.

2008 Florida over Oklahoma. If the Big 12 had the tiebreak system they adopted after the season, Texas would have been the Big 12 champ and would have done better than Big game Bob and might have won the title (or if they had held on for 1 second longer vs. Texas Tech as that is when Tech scored to hand UT its only loss). Texas and Florida both beat OU by 10.

2009 Alabama over Texas. Texas was up 3-0 and knocking at the door when Colt McCoy got injured on a QB sneak. Texas was in shock when their #2 Heisman QB and team leader was out. What if the Alabama player hit him an inch to either side? Or the KSU player hadn't hit him in the same place with the same injury 3 years earlier when he was a freshman?

2010 Auburn over Oregon. Alabama lead Auburn 24-7 at halftime. They were running in for a TD just before half when the player got lackadaisical and the Auburn player knocked it out of his hands for a touchback. Auburn only won 28-27. If Alabama hadn't gotten sloppy, it would have been TCU vs. Oregon for the title.

2011 Alabama over LSU. Alabama got a mulligan. ESPN didn't want Oklahoma St. and ignored them and got their much deserved ratings clunker. If the arguments in 2006 had applied, it would have been the high scoring Oklahoma St. offense vs. the crushing LSU defense and probably a very interesting game. Oklahoma St.'s only loss was at Iowa St. the day after a plane crash killed several members of their athletic department.

2012 Alabama over Notre Dame. Well if Notre Dame had lost a game, maybe Alabama would have had a challenge against someone else!

Winning a title in the BCS or pre-BCS era took a lot of luck. Definitely takes some in the CFP 4 era. With small things changing, the first 6 of those SEC titles may never have happened.

The ACC was the highest paid conference in the 90s. But then football's value on TV soared and the endless expansion of the Big Dance reduced the value of the regular season in basketball. The increase in the number of games played probably also had an impact. Yet they keep expanding the number of games and size of the playoff in football.

(03-23-2024 11:22 AM)bullet Wrote:  

(03-22-2024 02:49 PM)GoBuckeyes1047 Wrote:  

(03-22-2024 02:20 PM)BruceMcF Wrote:  

(03-22-2024 02:08 PM)bullet Wrote:  

(03-22-2024 01:03 PM)bryanw1995 Wrote:  I just listened to the podcast, Bob Thompson thought that the ACC only had 3 recent participants in the CFP instead of 6 teams in the top 2 going in to the playoff in the past 11 years. That's a pretty glaring error for someone who is allegedly an expert on the money of College Athletics.

Maybe he was referring to FSU and Clemson and Miami.

When was Miami in the CFP4? Do you have to go back to the BCS to include Miami in the group?

I think he (Bob Thompson) was referring to FSU (2014), Clemson (6 times), and ND (2020). Worth noting Miami, Virginia, UNC, Pitt, and Georgia Tech each have 1 NY6 bid.

And Miami was in the BCS title game a couple times.

I linked the exact time where he was talking about it. He specifically referenced the last 12 years and said Clemson was in twice and FSU was in once. He only remembered the years they won, not the several others that they qualified but didn't win it all. If he's going to pass himself off as an expert in all things CFB, he should at least be familiar with its very recent history.

(03-23-2024 11:40 AM)bullet Wrote:  

(03-23-2024 11:01 AM)Garden_KC Wrote:  One other point of Bob Thompson's that I like is that if the ACC wants to be a big player in media rights they would have to do it on the FB field.

That says to me if the SEC didn't have a nice run in the 00's and 10's and instead it was FSU, Miami, VT and Clemson in the Top 10 every year it would be the ACC with the TV money.

The SEC was comparatively lacking in markets but got it done on the FB field where it counted IMO. They also got it done in an era before realignment broke loose and there was no questions around their limited mid-south footprint.

Markets are people who watch. The SEC has that.

But you do have a point. With just a few things bouncing the other way, we would not have had such SEC dominance.

2006 Florida beat Ohio St. What if the pundits had their way, left Florida out and had an Ohio St.-Michigan rematch?

2007 LSU beat Ohio St. WVU and Missouri lost on the last weekend. Otherwise, one of those two instead of 2 loss LSU would have been in the title game.

2008 Florida over Oklahoma. If the Big 12 had the tiebreak system they adopted after the season, Texas would have been the Big 12 champ and would have done better than Big game Bob and might have won the title (or if they had held on for 1 second longer vs. Texas Tech as that is when Tech scored to hand UT its only loss). Texas and Florida both beat OU by 10.

2009 Alabama over Texas. Texas was up 3-0 and knocking at the door when Colt McCoy got injured on a QB sneak. Texas was in shock when their #2 Heisman QB and team leader was out. What if the Alabama player hit him an inch to either side? Or the KSU player hadn't hit him in the same place with the same injury 3 years earlier when he was a freshman?

2010 Auburn over Oregon. Alabama lead Auburn 24-7 at halftime. They were running in for a TD just before half when the player got lackadaisical and the Auburn player knocked it out of his hands for a touchback. Auburn only won 28-27. If Alabama hadn't gotten sloppy, it would have been TCU vs. Oregon for the title.

2011 Alabama over LSU. Alabama got a mulligan. ESPN didn't want Oklahoma St. and ignored them and got their much deserved ratings clunker. If the arguments in 2006 had applied, it would have been the high scoring Oklahoma St. offense vs. the crushing LSU defense and probably a very interesting game. Oklahoma St.'s only loss was at Iowa St. the day after a plane crash killed several members of their athletic department.

2012 Alabama over Notre Dame. Well if Notre Dame had lost a game, maybe Alabama would have had a challenge against someone else!

Winning a title in the BCS or pre-BCS era took a lot of luck. Definitely takes some in the CFP 4 era. With small things changing, the first 6 of those SEC titles may never have happened.

It was perfect timing for the SEC and right before the big run ups in TV contracts.

They compromised the long term future of the XII by taking TAMU and Mizzou which eventually led to UT/OU having to leave it. It was the right strategic thing to do.

B1G however has cut the SEC now off at the pass by taking in the West Coast schools. SEC's only market expansion option is into the North Carolina and Virginia where as the B1G has the whole country outside of the Midwest for potential growth.

(03-23-2024 11:01 AM)Garden_KC Wrote:  One other point of Bob Thompson's that I like is that if the ACC wants to be a big player in media rights they would have to do it on the FB field.

That says to me if the SEC didn't have a nice run in the 00's and 10's and instead it was FSU, Miami, VT and Clemson in the Top 10 every year it would be the ACC with the TV money.

The SEC was comparatively lacking in markets but got it done on the FB field where it counted IMO. They also got it done in an era before realignment broke loose and there was no questions around their limited mid-south footprint.

If the ACC had more on-field success, would things be closer? Sure. But what is valued in rights negotiations were always going to lead to the SEC and B1G being on top. Not sure how the SEC is "lacking in markets." They own the statewide market everywhere they are.

The SEC and B1G just have more large-enrollment state universities that are flagships or flagship-equivalent than any other conference. They have huge alumni bases and attract loads of t-shirt fans, aka eyeballs.

Fewer national championships would only mitigate that so much. Take South Carolina. They're overall a below average team in the SEC. They have a .380 win percentage all-time against SEC teams. There's not really any reason they should be packing in 85,000+ week in and week out--and yet they do. Show me a South Carolina-level school that could do that in the ACC and XII.