an essay I wrote for class
Was told to write off of the knowledge I knew so I wasn't able to completely research the topic... enjoy a;sldfjad;lfjasdlfkj'ers
College sports have become a billion dollar industry that has television deals in place with CBS, NBC, FOX, TBS, and ESPN. The average school in college sports averages around 20 million, or more, in TV revenue a year. Due to the extreme amount of money being distributed, there has been plenty of conference realignment since 2010. Schools like Texas A&M, Pittsburgh, Colorado, Syracuse, West Virginia, Nebraska, have moved from another conference to a new conference simply because they will make more money in their new conference. Rivalries that build college football popularity like Texas and Texas A&M, Nebraska and Oklahoma, Brigham Young and Utah, and Pitt and WVU will more than likely never play again, or at least in the short term. Television revenue distribution for individual B.C.S. (Bowl Championship Series) conferences can either be unequally or equally distributed amongst their member schools.
The most infamous unequally distributed conference is/was the Big XII. Due to Texas and Oklahoma making more money than fellow conference mates it led to schools such as Texas A&M, Missouri, Colorado, and Nebraska to be extremely unhappy with the conference. In result, each of those aforementioned schools eventually left the conference. Those defections forced the Big XII to either expand or they could’ve lost the TV deal and potentially lost millions. The Big XII then added West Virginia and Texas Christian to become a 10 team conference. The instability of the conference over the past 4 years has caused the Big XII has set up a Grant of Rights (GOR) for the duration of the current TV deal. If a school attempts to leave the Big XII they would have to give the conference a set amount of money, which is in the hundreds of millions. Currently the Big XII is an equally distributed conference for its 1st and 2nd tier rights. But 3rd tier rights were sold to member schools. Texas used its 3rd tier rights to start the LHN (Long Horn Network) which is owned by ESPN. Because of the LHN Texas receives more TV money than any other school in the nation, which is roughly 35 million a year.
On the other hand, the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Big 10(B1G), Pacific 12 (PAC 12), and the South East Conference (SEC) distribute their revenue more equally. Over the past 5 years each of these conferences has expanded to make more even money. The ACC has added Pitt, Syracuse, and Notre Dame (all sports but football), the B1G has added Nebraska, Maryland, and Rutgers, the PAC 12 has added Utah, and Colorado, and the SEC has added Missouri and Texas A&M. The one major difference between these 4 conferences and the Big XII is that they either have a TV network in place (B1G and PAC 12) or has plans to launch a TV network (ACC around 2016/17 and SEC 2015). In theory the member schools of these 4 conferences are mostly happy, but some may be unhappy for various reasons like scheduling and divisional alignments within their conference. The ACC and B1G, like the Big XII, has set up a GOR mostly so they can assure FOX and ESPN that it’s safe to set up their respective networks.
I have no idea which form of distribution of TV money is the best. But it appears, to me at least, that equal distribution is the best form of distribution. Unequal distribution nearly ripped the Big XII apart. These GOR’s have slowed down conference realignment for the most part but they are expected to expire between 2022 and 2025. So the college sports world should expect to see more realignment in the next decade as the chase for more TV money continues in the future. The LHN is already causing instability within the Big XII because member schools that play away games at Texas do not want to appear on the Network. In result, every school is looking over its shoulders wondering if they will be “left behind” as schools move on to greener pastures. Since 2003, nearly half of the college schools in the Division 1A level have moved on to another conference. Sadly this is all about greed, and TV money only goes so far. You can build so many practice facilities, and pay the coaches so much money. This is really the people’s fault, we’re the ones sitting on the couch every Saturday to watch the games.
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an essay I wrote for class
