Realignment Megathread (All The Moves)

[AuH2O]

This. For $1.

Why do people think theres some separation of church and state metaphysical law between NIL funds and colleges? Its real easy to collude and collaborate without being "directly" involved.

Well, first you can’t assume the university wants to help the collective. The coaches probably do, ADs may not. That might impact their operating budgets when donations shift to NIL.

And I think a legal system and lawyers representing groups of female athletes are going to be a little more sophisticated than that.

There are things now that universities can’t do in passing along revenues to companies owned by university personnel and students. They can’t get around it by using a superficial transaction.

 

[Gunnerclone]

All this talk about how to spend money and no talk about the media companies having over extended themselves; meaning next contract negotiation may tighten the belt relative to inflation and perceived value. Let's face it; if ESPN (ie Disney) were to renegotiate the SEC and B12 contracts today, it'd be a whole different story. IMO same with B10. So, if it were me with all this extra money, I'd invest it very wisely with a more guaranteed long term return. And sports facilities is not it. Medical much more likely.

You’re right in the Big 12 part, wrong on the SEC and Big 10.

 

[JimmyChitwood]

Brock Huard Calls Pac-12 TV Situation 'Very Dire'

The college football world is awaiting the next move for the Pac-12 Conference, as the entire sport is waiting to see what kind of TV contract offer the league may ultimately land. That will determine the future of the conference, and ultimately the sport. On Friday during his radio show in...

www.heartlandcollegesports.com

SIAP

He ain't lying.

 

[PickSix]

I love the fact that Pac-12 media day in on a Friday just like a bad news dump.

 

[AuH2O]

Well anything they built or rebuilt 10-15 years ago could easily stand to be rebuilt/renovated/upgraded again. They could tear out the bleachers and put in individual seating. They could add permanent LED field lighting with the special effects systems. They could upgrade the luxury suites. They could put in a new scoreboard/videoboard. They could put in a pedestrian bridge from Finkbine commuter lots to the stadium. They could expand the indoor practice facility. I'm no expert on what/when the current facilities were built. But I think you're kidding yourself if you think there aren't a million ways a football program could enhance its facilities, no matter how new/current its existing facilities are, in order to keep up with the arms race that is college football recruiting.

I don't think the question is whether or not athletic departments can find things to spend money on. We know the answer to that. The question is more how much marginal value the expenditures have on on-the-field results. We are absolutely in an era where facility improvements have really low marginal return. Obviously the better your facilities are, the better they are for recruiting, but this isn't like 30 years ago when schools like ISU had absolutely pathetic facilities that were a major detraction to recruiting. There probably isn't a P5 school that doesn't have at least adequate facilities where their impact on recruiting are marginal at most. The Big 10 had a massive dollar advantage for decades that on a percentage basis has often been greater than it is now. Even having that huge advantage in the early stages of the facilities arms race, where the marginal value of facility improvements was at its greatest, it did not result in on the field advantages.

Where it's really going to show up in my opinion is coaching salaries. There are probably going to be a lot of Big 10 and SEC assistants that stay as assistants until they can get a head job in those leagues rather than taking a HC job in the Big 12, certainly the ACC and PAC. I think we'll also see the financial burden question being taken out of the question (if it wasn't already) in the Big 10 and SEC when it comes to taking a chance on a coach and cutting ties as soon as it looks like it isn't going to work out.

Nothing's guaranteed, and sometimes coaches are going to value the fit and opportunity over money, but over time it seems pretty likely that you'll see a concentration of the best coaches in the two leagues that can pay significantly better than the others.

That's just for the media dollars. We'll see how NIL ends up shaking out.

 

[Gonzo]

I don't think the question is whether or not athletic departments can find things to spend money on. We know the answer to that. The question is more how much marginal value the expenditures have on on-the-field results. We are absolutely in an era where facility improvements have really low marginal return. Obviously the better your facilities are, the better they are for recruiting, but this isn't like 30 years ago when schools like ISU had absolutely pathetic facilities that were a major detraction to recruiting. There probably isn't a P5 school that doesn't have at least adequate facilities where their impact on recruiting are marginal at most. The Big 10 had a massive dollar advantage for decades that on a percentage basis has often been greater than it is now. Even having that huge advantage in the early stages of the facilities arms race, where the marginal value of facility improvements was at its greatest, it did not result in on the field advantages.

Where it's really going to show up in my opinion is coaching salaries. There are probably going to be a lot of Big 10 and SEC assistants that stay as assistants until they can get a head job in those leagues rather than taking a HC job in the Big 12, certainly the ACC and PAC. I think we'll also see the financial burden question being taken out of the question (if it wasn't already) in the Big 10 and SEC when it comes to taking a chance on a coach and cutting ties as soon as it looks like it isn't going to work out.

Nothing's guaranteed, and sometimes coaches are going to value the fit and opportunity over money, but over time it seems pretty likely that you'll see a concentration of the best coaches in the two leagues that can pay significantly better than the others.

That's just for the media dollars. We'll see how NIL ends up shaking out.

Agree with much of this, especially the premium that will be put onto coaching salaries. I just think it's delusional to claim that most/all of the big new media $$$ coming in will go towards gymnastics, track, swimming, etc., and not towards football. Even if the ultimate ROI in terms of on-field results aren't that significant by investing in football facilities, it'll still be more than if the bulk of those $$$ go towards field hockey or other sports that don't bring in money. Not saying the non-revenue sports won't benefit, I've no doubt some of the new revenues will get to those programs. I just think it'll be a smaller portion compared to what gets kicked back into the football program and facilities.

 

[FriendlySpartan]

Agree with much of this, especially the premium that will be put onto coaching salaries. I just think it's delusional to claim that most/all of the big new media $$$ coming in will go towards gymnastics, track, swimming, etc., and not towards football. Even if the ultimate ROI in terms of on-field results aren't that significant by investing in football facilities, it'll still be more than if the bulk of those $$$ go towards field hockey or other sports that don't bring in money. Not saying the non-revenue sports won't benefit, I've no doubt some of the new revenues will get to those programs. I just think it'll be a smaller portion compared to what gets kicked back into the football program and facilities.

So based on that US news link about revenue that was posted, sparty was 12th overall but has actually cut non revenue sports like swimming and diving due to costs to remain competitive. While the new contract hasn’t gone into place yet I have to agree that the non revenue sports are going to see much of this. It’s all going towards recruitment/coaching/facilities and player development.

One thing I will say on here is that people are pretty quick to dismiss the difference in facilities at a lot of the big schools. Sure most P5 schools don’t have trash facilities they are “adequate” but to 17/18 year old kids that’s not impressive. It’s like staying one night at a Marriott and the next night as a four seasons. Sure the Marriott was a nice clean room that was fine to stay the night in but you weren’t blown away (and raved about it to other recruits) like when you stayed at the four seasons.

 

[SEIOWA CLONE]

Agree with much of this, especially the premium that will be put onto coaching salaries. I just think it's delusional to claim that most/all of the big new media $$$ coming in will go towards gymnastics, track, swimming, etc., and not towards football. Even if the ultimate ROI in terms of on-field results aren't that significant by investing in football facilities, it'll still be more than if the bulk of those $$$ go towards field hockey or other sports that don't bring in money. Not saying the non-revenue sports won't benefit, I've no doubt some of the new revenues will get to those programs. I just think it'll be a smaller portion compared to what gets kicked back into the football program and facilities.

How many sports was EIU going to cut a few years ago during Covid to meet the budget? They are already rebuilding the baseball field, those sports that were scraping by will get an added boast of money.
No one is saying that football is going to get left out of this new found money, but it's crazy to think that the AD will be saying "we got an extra $30 million this year, $20 will be spent on football and the rest on the other sports."

Assistant coaches' salaries can only rise so much, even with nearly unlimited money. Your D coordinator is now at $1.4 million, no way do I see EIU pushing him up to $2.5 or $3 million a year. Maybe at a school like Texas or Alabama that has unlimited funding, but not at schools like Iowa and Wisconsin.

 

[werdnamanhill]

...but it's crazy to think that the AD will be saying "we got an extra $30 million this year, $20 will be spent on football and the rest on the other sports."

To me, that's not far-fetched at all. It's an arms race. If you compare Iowa's facilities to Michigan's or Ohio State's, I think they could find something to spend the money on. And they will.

 

[Pope]

And PAC fans wonder why they can't get a good media deal...

 

[Jeremy]

And PAC fans wonder why they can't get a good media deal...

What's the issue, it's a sea of USC red.... oh wait, those are the seats.

 

[Pope]

It's pretty obvious why Fox said "I'm outta here" when the PAC opened up negotiations for the next media package. They want no part of this dismal league.

 

[FriendlySpartan]

To me, that's not far-fetched at all. It's an arms race. If you compare Iowa's facilities to Michigan's or Ohio State's, I think they could find something to spend the money on. And they will.

Yeah if you asked me how much would be going to the revenue sports I would say it’s higher then 66%

 

[FriendlySpartan]

And PAC fans wonder why they can't get a good media deal...

USC was 4-8 that year. No one in so cal is showing up for that. What’s comical is their attendance numbers still show 54,000 for that game.

 

[AuH2O]

So based on that US news link about revenue that was posted, sparty was 12th overall but has actually cut non revenue sports like swimming and diving due to costs to remain competitive. While the new contract hasn’t gone into place yet I have to agree that the non revenue sports are going to see much of this. It’s all going towards recruitment/coaching/facilities and player development.

One thing I will say on here is that people are pretty quick to dismiss the difference in facilities at a lot of the big schools. Sure most P5 schools don’t have trash facilities they are “adequate” but to 17/18 year old kids that’s not impressive. It’s like staying one night at a Marriott and the next night as a four seasons. Sure the Marriott was a nice clean room that was fine to stay the night in but you weren’t blown away (and raved about it to other recruits) like when you stayed at the four seasons.

I think it matters, but differences in facilities has greatly diminished. Of all the things that go into recruiting, including NIL now, it becomes even less of a factor.

And it isn't that most P5 don't have trash facilities. It's that most P5 have really nice facilities. There are a few outliers, but the coach, the fit/role, the NIL money, are going to dwarf any difference the ever shrinking facilities gap has. Hell, facilities are so nice at most places, and changing so fast it isn't even always who has the most money, it's who's renovated most recently.

I'm just not aware of any case where a school suddenly got an uptick in recruiting rankings due to a facility renovation. I've seen schools get huge bumps from a coaching change.

 

[Klubber]

Agree with much of this, especially the premium that will be put onto coaching salaries. I just think it's delusional to claim that most/all of the big new media $$$ coming in will go towards gymnastics, track, swimming, etc., and not towards football. Even if the ultimate ROI in terms of on-field results aren't that significant by investing in football facilities, it'll still be more than if the bulk of those $$$ go towards field hockey or other sports that don't bring in money. Not saying the non-revenue sports won't benefit, I've no doubt some of the new revenues will get to those programs. I just think it'll be a smaller portion compared to what gets kicked back into the football program and facilities.

There's only so many football-centric buildings you can construct, unless you want to build a new stadium every few years.

I guess a lot of schools will probably do a version of what ISU is doing with CyTown. This is a trend in the NFL that's filtering down to College Football.

But really, I think that money will go to football coaches salaries primarily, and just as important the buying out of coaches salaries when the team underperforms, and throwing mucho dinero at a new staff right away. There won't be any waiting around for another season or even the end of the current one.

We've already seen this at Wisco and Nebby

 

[AuH2O]

USC was 4-8 that year. No one in so cal is showing up for that. What’s comical is their attendance numbers still show 54,000 for that game.

And they were 0-4 at the time. BUT it was also Homecoming/Reunion weekend.

USC and UCLA fans suck. That's just the way it is.

 

[FriendlySpartan]

I think it matters, but differences in facilities has greatly diminished. Of all the things that go into recruiting, including NIL now, it becomes even less of a factor.

And it isn't that most P5 don't have trash facilities. It's that most P5 have really nice facilities. There are a few outliers, but the coach, the fit/role, the NIL money, are going to dwarf any difference the ever shrinking facilities gap has. Hell, facilities are so nice at most places, and changing so fast it isn't even always who has the most money, it's who's renovated most recently.

I'm just not aware of any case where a school suddenly got an uptick in recruiting rankings due to a facility renovation. I've seen schools get huge bumps from a coaching change.

I think you’re really underestimating the influence the facilities and whole recruiting experience has for these kids. I’m not that old but when I hear from people the random stuff that influenced a kids decision I’m always stunned. It’s also not a coincidence that the areas with the best facilities also happen to invest the most in coaches and NIL.

 

[SEIOWA CLONE]

To me, that's not far-fetched at all. It's an arms race. If you compare Iowa's facilities to Michigan's or Ohio State's, I think they could find something to spend the money on. And they will.

EIU has rebuilt about every part of their physical structure for football over the last 10/15 years. Are they now going to start tearing that down to rebuild? Facilities at everyone not named Michigan, Ohio St. or Penn. St is always going to lag behind those schools. It's like saying ISU with more money could of caught up to Texas.

Pretty much every P5 school now is reaching the point, that they have just about everything they need to get kids to sign on there. Few have poor facilities like 10 to 20 years ago, at some point the facilities race in football is going to fall back. Hell, even Kansas is now spending tens of millions on football.

 

[FriendlySpartan]

And they were 0-4 at the time. BUT it was also Homecoming/Reunion weekend.

USC and UCLA fans suck. That's just the way it is.

Maybe my experience is different at MSU and Michigan but I’ve never heard of a single alum that cared if it was homecoming/reunion weekend.

Totally agree that the Cali fans only support a winner but I don’t blame them for not showing up to an 0-4 team.