CSNbbs

With CUSA money moving into line with MAC money, that leaves the Sun Belt deal as the oldest of the G5 deals and I'm told they won't reopen with ESPN until they have consensus on whether they are going to keep Idaho/NMSU and be 12/12 in football basketball, 10/12 football basketball or add two more and be 12/14.

If Sun Belt moves into that same financial range (which is not improbable, Sun Belt ratings have been better than when the deal was inked and seriously we are talking about roughly a 2% difference in impact on a school's athletic budget now) we will have achieved a flattening of the finances in G5 so that there is much less difference between schools. Unless I missed someone, only ULM, Idaho, and La.Tech were sub $20 million in the last USA Today report and CUSA, MAC, Sun Belt are now more tightly clustered in budget.

The bottom of the G5 group financially has improved a great deal in budget so that instead of roughly 21 schools at the financial pit roughly five years ago it will be around 38 schools, yet all should have seen revenue grow faster than inflation. (Arkansas State for example has seen revenue grow roughly 225% over a six year period).

Interesting trend.

What is really the Sunbelt TV deal? Didn't even know they had one or if they are getting paid.

(01-26-2016 10:26 AM)MWC Tex Wrote: [ -> ]What is really the Sunbelt TV deal? Didn't even know they had one or if they are getting paid.

That's because they are hardly on the air.

They get next to nothing because they show next to nothing.

They will probably continue to get next to nothing because there isn't a lot of airtime available. I have available about 40-45 games a week in Atlanta between standard cable and the conference networks (if I got them all).

The MAC's deal is basically because they agreed to T/W. P5 will continue to get the best slots with AAC and MWC filling almost all the rest. CUSA already has their deal for a few slots. Not much room on Saturdays left for MAC and SB.

Once income is equalized between those 3 conferences, the stage could be set for the reorganization of the 3 into more regional conferences with lower travel budgets. I doubt there would be any MAC movement (unless they add teams that are near the current footprint), but I could see a lot of swapping back and forth for CUSA and the Sunbelt to create tight Eastern and Western conferences with low travel expenses with the potential for good regional tv deals (not much money, but decent local exposure for most of thier fans).

Sun Belt deal is $100k per team minimum 2 Tue/Wed games and at least 6 or so ESPNU Thursday and rest on ESPN3

Anyone/SB fans, when is the current TV deal up?

(01-26-2016 11:04 AM)MWC Tex Wrote: [ -> ]Anyone/SB fans, when is the current TV deal up?

2020 or 2021 without digging for it.

The ESPNU Thursday has done quite well other than a couple games with cellar dwellers. AState-App was 200k up against NFL, Big XII and SEC. One of the best ESPNU Thursday nights.

(01-26-2016 11:11 AM)arkstfan Wrote: [ -> ]

(01-26-2016 11:04 AM)MWC Tex Wrote: [ -> ]Anyone/SB fans, when is the current TV deal up?

2020 or 2021 without digging for it.

The ESPNU Thursday has done quite well other than a couple games with cellar dwellers. AState-App was 200k up against NFL, Big XII and SEC. One of the best ESPNU Thursday nights.

Thanks for the info on the timeline, $/team and days of broadcast. I'm think the sunbelt will be in the range of CUSA. Seems like ESPN will offer a MAC type package with ESPN 3 making the majority of the content and a bump in payment for the next contract if that is the way the Sunbelt wants.

(01-26-2016 10:05 AM)arkstfan Wrote: [ -> ]With CUSA money moving into line with MAC money, that leaves the Sun Belt deal as the oldest of the G5 deals and I'm told they won't reopen with ESPN until they have consensus on whether they are going to keep Idaho/NMSU and be 12/12 in football basketball, 10/12 football basketball or add two more and be 12/14.

Could the SBC make a play for Wichita State and Missouri State here playing on the fear they'll stay as FCS prisoners if they remain in the MVC?

Give them a deal where they can come over in basketball today with a future option of moving to FBS should they choose to do so.

At the end of the day it may make sense to close ranks at 10/12 and sell quality over quantity.

(01-26-2016 10:41 AM)Attackcoog Wrote: [ -> ]Once income is equalized between those 3 conferences, the stage could be set for the reorganization of the 3 into more regional conferences with lower travel budgets. I doubt there would be any MAC movement (unless they add teams that are near the current footprint), but I could see a lot of swapping back and forth for CUSA and the Sunbelt to create tight Eastern and Western conferences with low travel expenses with the potential for good regional tv deals (not much money, but decent local exposure for most of thier fans).

I agree for reasons you stated. The MAC is already regionalized. The SBC and CUSA need to split along geographical lines with Eastern and Western based conferences. Here is an example of what it could look like:

CUSA - Marshall, ODU, Charlotte, GA Southern, GA State, App State, FIU, FAU, Troy, WKU, MTSU, Coastal Carolina (set to join the SBC next year)

SBC - Louisiana, Ark State, N. Texas, LA Tech, UAB, S. Miss, S. Alabama, Rice, Texas State, UTSA, UTEP, NMSU

(01-26-2016 12:50 PM)HoustonCajun Wrote: [ -> ]

(01-26-2016 10:41 AM)Attackcoog Wrote: [ -> ]Once income is equalized between those 3 conferences, the stage could be set for the reorganization of the 3 into more regional conferences with lower travel budgets. I doubt there would be any MAC movement (unless they add teams that are near the current footprint), but I could see a lot of swapping back and forth for CUSA and the Sunbelt to create tight Eastern and Western conferences with low travel expenses with the potential for good regional tv deals (not much money, but decent local exposure for most of thier fans).

I agree for reasons you stated. The MAC is already regionalized. The SBC and CUSA need to split along geographical lines with Eastern and Western based conferences. Here is an example of what it could look like:

CUSA - Marshall, ODU, Charlotte, GA Southern, GA State, App State, FIU, FAU, Troy, WKU, MTSU, Coastal Carolina (set to join the SBC next year)

SBC - Louisiana, Ark State, N. Texas, LA Tech, UAB, S. Miss, S. Alabama, Rice, Texas State, UTSA, UTEP, NMSU

Seems fairly reasonable and along the lines of my thoughts of a split.

(01-26-2016 10:26 AM)MWC Tex Wrote: [ -> ]What is really the Sunbelt TV deal? Didn't even know they had one or if they are getting paid.

(01-26-2016 12:49 PM)Kittonhead Wrote: [ -> ]

(01-26-2016 10:05 AM)arkstfan Wrote: [ -> ]With CUSA money moving into line with MAC money, that leaves the Sun Belt deal as the oldest of the G5 deals and I'm told they won't reopen with ESPN until they have consensus on whether they are going to keep Idaho/NMSU and be 12/12 in football basketball, 10/12 football basketball or add two more and be 12/14.

Could the SBC make a play for Wichita State and Missouri State here playing on the fear they'll stay as FCS prisoners if they remain in the MVC?

Give them a deal where they can come over in basketball today with a future option of moving to FBS should they choose to do so.

At the end of the day it may make sense to close ranks at 10/12 and sell quality over quantity.

Wichita State doesn't play football.

Neither are going to downgrade their most important sport for the sake of FBS football.

(01-26-2016 12:50 PM)HoustonCajun Wrote: [ -> ]

(01-26-2016 10:41 AM)Attackcoog Wrote: [ -> ]Once income is equalized between those 3 conferences, the stage could be set for the reorganization of the 3 into more regional conferences with lower travel budgets. I doubt there would be any MAC movement (unless they add teams that are near the current footprint), but I could see a lot of swapping back and forth for CUSA and the Sunbelt to create tight Eastern and Western conferences with low travel expenses with the potential for good regional tv deals (not much money, but decent local exposure for most of thier fans).

I agree for reasons you stated. The MAC is already regionalized. The SBC and CUSA need to split along geographical lines with Eastern and Western based conferences. Here is an example of what it could look like:

CUSA - Marshall, ODU, Charlotte, GA Southern, GA State, App State, FIU, FAU, Troy, WKU, MTSU, Coastal Carolina (set to join the SBC next year)

SBC - Louisiana, Ark State, N. Texas, LA Tech, UAB, S. Miss, S. Alabama, Rice, Texas State, UTSA, UTEP, NMSU

No. It doesn't make sense for 14 team CUSA and 12 team SBC both of which are full of new FBS programs committing to new conferences to reshuffle.

What makes more sense is to pare down to 9 or 10 team conferences that are more geographically compact with a higher per school income.

The SBC can do this right away by not extending NMSU and Idaho's contracts.

CUSA when another realignment hits is due for a firesale.....

B12 (UConn, Cincinnati)
MWC (BYU, Rice)
AAC (UAB, USM)
MAC (Marshall, Charlotte)
CUSA (Idaho, NMSU, UMass)-3 FB only additions

I think you are going to see the MWC/AAC/MAC with long term ESPN contracts strip the value out of CUSA with CUSA being forced to accept FB only memberships like the SBC is doing at the moment.

It will turn out that App State and GaSouthern made the smart move joining the SBC over JMU holding out for a CUSA invite.

(01-26-2016 01:42 PM)dbackjon Wrote: [ -> ]

(01-26-2016 12:49 PM)Kittonhead Wrote: [ -> ]

(01-26-2016 10:05 AM)arkstfan Wrote: [ -> ]With CUSA money moving into line with MAC money, that leaves the Sun Belt deal as the oldest of the G5 deals and I'm told they won't reopen with ESPN until they have consensus on whether they are going to keep Idaho/NMSU and be 12/12 in football basketball, 10/12 football basketball or add two more and be 12/14.

Could the SBC make a play for Wichita State and Missouri State here playing on the fear they'll stay as FCS prisoners if they remain in the MVC?

Give them a deal where they can come over in basketball today with a future option of moving to FBS should they choose to do so.

At the end of the day it may make sense to close ranks at 10/12 and sell quality over quantity.

Wichita State doesn't play football.

Neither are going to downgrade their most important sport for the sake of FBS football.

What is more of a barrier here is what you are saying above; Wichita State doesn't have a football program at all and Missouri State is only FCS. If Wichita State was already FCS it would greatly help its cause for moving up.

Another idea for Wichita State is if they could somehow carve out a BE level basketball conference from existing mid major schools that might be worth something on the national level to the point where they don't have to consider starting a FB program to get into a better basketball conference.

Wichita State
UMKC
Missouri State
Illinois State
UIC
UWM
UNO
Denver

8 schools in bigger media markets (Denver, Wichita, Omaha, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Chicago) + #2 state schools of Missouri & Illinois for broad based viewership. Its value play from the best available of the MVC/Horizon and Summit.

Could this lineup be worth 1-2 million per school on Fox with the idea of attracting some eyeballs in men's basketball. If it can be worth that much then it makes no sense for these schools to try to go the G5 route.

(01-26-2016 12:50 PM)HoustonCajun Wrote: [ -> ]

(01-26-2016 10:41 AM)Attackcoog Wrote: [ -> ]Once income is equalized between those 3 conferences, the stage could be set for the reorganization of the 3 into more regional conferences with lower travel budgets. I doubt there would be any MAC movement (unless they add teams that are near the current footprint), but I could see a lot of swapping back and forth for CUSA and the Sunbelt to create tight Eastern and Western conferences with low travel expenses with the potential for good regional tv deals (not much money, but decent local exposure for most of thier fans).

I agree for reasons you stated. The MAC is already regionalized. The SBC and CUSA need to split along geographical lines with Eastern and Western based conferences. Here is an example of what it could look like:

CUSA - Marshall, ODU, Charlotte, GA Southern, GA State, App State, FIU, FAU, Troy, WKU, MTSU, Coastal Carolina (set to join the SBC next year)

SBC - Louisiana, Ark State, N. Texas, LA Tech, UAB, S. Miss, S. Alabama, Rice, Texas State, UTSA, UTEP, NMSU

Shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic.

(01-26-2016 03:26 PM)quo vadis Wrote: [ -> ]

(01-26-2016 12:50 PM)HoustonCajun Wrote: [ -> ]

(01-26-2016 10:41 AM)Attackcoog Wrote: [ -> ]Once income is equalized between those 3 conferences, the stage could be set for the reorganization of the 3 into more regional conferences with lower travel budgets. I doubt there would be any MAC movement (unless they add teams that are near the current footprint), but I could see a lot of swapping back and forth for CUSA and the Sunbelt to create tight Eastern and Western conferences with low travel expenses with the potential for good regional tv deals (not much money, but decent local exposure for most of thier fans).

I agree for reasons you stated. The MAC is already regionalized. The SBC and CUSA need to split along geographical lines with Eastern and Western based conferences. Here is an example of what it could look like:

CUSA - Marshall, ODU, Charlotte, GA Southern, GA State, App State, FIU, FAU, Troy, WKU, MTSU, Coastal Carolina (set to join the SBC next year)

SBC - Louisiana, Ark State, N. Texas, LA Tech, UAB, S. Miss, S. Alabama, Rice, Texas State, UTSA, UTEP, NMSU

Shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic.

I agree. Checked the mileage and for Georgia Southern the difference is 125 miles one way if the Sun Belt drops Idaho and NMSU against the new conference set up that is listed above for Georgia Southern. T

(01-26-2016 12:50 PM)HoustonCajun Wrote: [ -> ]The SBC and CUSA need to split along geographical lines with Eastern and Western based conferences. Here is an example of what it could look like:

CUSA - Marshall, ODU, Charlotte, GA Southern, GA State, App State, FIU, FAU, Troy, WKU, MTSU, Coastal Carolina (set to join the SBC next year)

SBC - Louisiana, Ark State, N. Texas, LA Tech, UAB, S. Miss, S. Alabama, Rice, Texas State, UTSA, UTEP, NMSU

If anything like this ever happens (color me skeptical but I admit it's possible), I think you'll definitely see UAB, USA and Troy all on the same side of the river. Yeah you have to draw the boundary somewhere but I doubt it would be within a state.

(01-26-2016 12:49 PM)Kittonhead Wrote: [ -> ]

(01-26-2016 10:05 AM)arkstfan Wrote: [ -> ]With CUSA money moving into line with MAC money, that leaves the Sun Belt deal as the oldest of the G5 deals and I'm told they won't reopen with ESPN until they have consensus on whether they are going to keep Idaho/NMSU and be 12/12 in football basketball, 10/12 football basketball or add two more and be 12/14.

Could the SBC make a play for Wichita State and Missouri State here playing on the fear they'll stay as FCS prisoners if they remain in the MVC?

Give them a deal where they can come over in basketball today with a future option of moving to FBS should they choose to do so.

At the end of the day it may make sense to close ranks at 10/12 and sell quality over quantity.

Why would Wichita St and Missouri St move to a clearly inferior basketball conference now, when the option to join the SBC would probably always be available to them in the future if they want to go FBS? Especially when they could probably also have CUSA as a football option down the road without sacrificing basketball.