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$150 million dollar question. - jimrtex - 01-23-2023 05:37 PM

What if a new organization backed by a TV network were to offer $150 million per school to join its elite football competition. If more than 16 schools seek to join, a competition would be held to determine which would participate.

Let's say 10 games would be scheduled, letting the members play two additional games. There would also be a playoff.

Which schools would join?


RE: $150 million dollar question. - Skyhawk - 01-23-2023 05:53 PM

(01-23-2023 05:37 PM)jimrtex Wrote:  What if a new organization backed by a TV network were to offer $150 million per school to join its elite football competition. If more than 16 schools seek to join, a competition would be held to determine which would participate.

Let's say 10 games would be scheduled, letting the members play two additional games. There would also be a playoff.

Which schools would join?

every single school.

hand any school 150 million, and they can build a team.

At that point, it's really just a matter of who grabs the best players first.


RE: $150 million dollar question. - JMURocks - 01-23-2023 05:54 PM

I would imagine any school permitted to join would.

Of course, practically speaking, what would be the entry qualifications? Would you invite Texas High Schools to join? What about middle schools?


RE: $150 million dollar question. - Frank the Tank - 01-23-2023 06:21 PM

The hypothetical is too clear cut in the sense that it’s “easy money” - anyone and everyone is taking $150 million from a U.S. TV network. There’s not much of a hard choice there.

I’d be much more interested in where this dilemma is *actually* happening: massive amounts of money *are* being offered in sports without regard to whether it would make a profit… but it’s coming from places like Saudi Arabia and Qatar where there is a lot of consternation about human rights issues and, in the case of American academia, taking money from places that directly contravene their environmental and sustainability mandates.

Are any US universities going to be willing to take *that* type of money (particularly with how academia is across the board no matter if it’s a blue state or red state location)? The fact that LIV Golf is paying out monster contracts to big-name golfers but can’t get a TV deal in the US without giving away for free is instructive.


RE: $150 million dollar question. - RUScarlets - 01-23-2023 07:10 PM

Very interesting concept. If schools were to never sign a GoR in the future, what's the stop OSU UM ND USC Miami from doing this Super League? I wouldn't anticipate SEC schools going that way besides OUT. If the SEC fan bases don't stir riots over a Super League I don't know who will.


RE: $150 million dollar question. - bryanw1995 - 01-23-2023 10:58 PM

(01-23-2023 07:10 PM)RUScarlets Wrote:  Very interesting concept. If schools were to never sign a GoR in the future, what's the stop OSU UM ND USC Miami from doing this Super League? I wouldn't anticipate SEC schools going that way besides OUT. If the SEC fan bases don't stir riots over a Super League I don't know who will.

One of these schools, is not like the others... Miami's heyday was when they were doing NIL before NIL was legalized. Now that everybody is doing it, they're trying NIL again to catch up and quickly realizing that Clemson, FSU, and 31 of the P2 teams can all outspend them. Except Florida.

Also, when does the $150m kick in? Today? 2036? The P2 are both projected to be over $100m by 2030, at a guess I'd say $125m+ by 2036. What's the contract term? If it's an ACC-like 100 year term then anybody in the P2 likely says put.

As far as the LIV golf analogy, I find it all very interesting. Golfers, including Tiger, have for years traveled to Saudi Arabia and been paid millions of dollars in appearance fees, and nobody cared. Auto Racing. Ronaldo just signed for a record contract. Tennis. They have the money to splash around, and most sports must go where the money is. The difference with this new LIV league is that Greg Norman is in charge of it, and he HATES the PGA tour. HATES it. If Tiger was running it, or Jack, the PGA tour would be handling things differently I think. But even with all the bad press etc, if they keep throwing money at the best players, they'll eventually get most of them and surpass the PGA. I think that the fear is that in 5 years, or 15 years, eventually,
MBS will decide that his country's image is sufficiently sports-washed and stop the spigot. The PGA model is sustainable long-term, but one person controlling everything with an agenda that currently aligns with pro golfers but probably won't in the future is a recipe for the Golf Apocalypse.


RE: $150 million dollar question. - jimrtex - 01-23-2023 11:23 PM

(01-23-2023 06:21 PM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  The hypothetical is too clear cut in the sense that it’s “easy money” - anyone and everyone is taking $150 million from a U.S. TV network. There’s not much of a hard choice there.

I’d be much more interested in where this dilemma is *actually* happening: massive amounts of money *are* being offered in sports without regard to whether it would make a profit… but it’s coming from places like Saudi Arabia and Qatar where there is a lot of consternation about human rights issues and, in the case of American academia, taking money from places that directly contravene their environmental and sustainability mandates.

Are any US universities going to be willing to take *that* type of money (particularly with how academia is across the board no matter if it’s a blue state or red state location)? The fact that LIV Golf is paying out monster contracts to big-name golfers but can’t get a TV deal in the US without giving away for free is instructive.

I apparently did not explain my premise very well. This competition would be limited to 16 schools. They would likely have to give up their conference payments in exchange for the $150 million.

Our initial invitation is limited to the nine schools that have finished in the Top 16 CFP poll a majority of the time (5/9).

Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Penn State.

We then make the offer to 13 schools that have finished in the Top 16 3 or 4 times.

Auburn, Baylor, Florida, Florida State, Iowa, Michigan State, Mississippi, Oklahoma State, USC, Utah, TCU, Washington, and Wisconsin.

If this resulted in more than 16 teams total, these teams would have a playoff to determine the 16 teams.

The offer could be extended to other schools if necessary.


RE: $150 million dollar question. - Frank the Tank - 01-24-2023 08:34 AM

(01-23-2023 11:23 PM)jimrtex Wrote:  
(01-23-2023 06:21 PM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  The hypothetical is too clear cut in the sense that it’s “easy money” - anyone and everyone is taking $150 million from a U.S. TV network. There’s not much of a hard choice there.

I’d be much more interested in where this dilemma is *actually* happening: massive amounts of money *are* being offered in sports without regard to whether it would make a profit… but it’s coming from places like Saudi Arabia and Qatar where there is a lot of consternation about human rights issues and, in the case of American academia, taking money from places that directly contravene their environmental and sustainability mandates.

Are any US universities going to be willing to take *that* type of money (particularly with how academia is across the board no matter if it’s a blue state or red state location)? The fact that LIV Golf is paying out monster contracts to big-name golfers but can’t get a TV deal in the US without giving away for free is instructive.

I apparently did not explain my premise very well. This competition would be limited to 16 schools. They would likely have to give up their conference payments in exchange for the $150 million.

Our initial invitation is limited to the nine schools that have finished in the Top 16 CFP poll a majority of the time (5/9).

Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Penn State.

We then make the offer to 13 schools that have finished in the Top 16 3 or 4 times.

Auburn, Baylor, Florida, Florida State, Iowa, Michigan State, Mississippi, Oklahoma State, USC, Utah, TCU, Washington, and Wisconsin.

If this resulted in more than 16 teams total, these teams would have a playoff to determine the 16 teams.

The offer could be extended to other schools if necessary.

To be honest and as I think about it more, I don’t think $150 million would be enough for the Big Ten schools with the TV contract that they just signed. Probably not for the SEC schools, either.

In any event, a Super League isn’t going to base its invites solely on performance during the CFP era. Any setup of the sort is about the most powerful brands. There’s a strong correlation between performance and brand value there, but it’s not a one-to-one relationship. For instance, Texas wouldn’t qualify based on your criteria even though they would be a must-have invite #1 from a business perspective if I’m paying out $150 million per school for a Super League. This entire conference realignment board exists because multiple leagues deemed Texas to be the most valuable school for expansion back in 2010. Not having Texas in a Super League is a non-starter just as not having any pro football Super League without the Dallas Cowboys would be a non-starter.

It goes back to who outside of the Big Ten or SEC would actually even have a chance for a Super League in the first place. Florida State and Miami would for sure… but I don’t think Oregon and Washington are no-brainers or else they would have been invited to the Big Ten already. If they can’t add $100 million per year each to the current Big Ten, how would they be worth $150 million per year each in a Super League? There’s no one else that can be pointed to as that extraordinarily valuable for football purposes. UNC has a lot of traditional conference realignment value as an all-sports school, market location and academics, but not as a pure football play.

The Big Ten and SEC have already aggregated the schools that would be in a Super League with only a very small handful of exceptions (e.g. maybe even only a couple). Those two leagues are with other non-elite programs that still reflect other institutional goals (whether it’s presence in important markets, cultural fits, academic fits, etc.). At the rate that their TV contracts have been rising, the Big Ten and SEC could get to at least the ballpark of $150 million per year per school on their own without having to deal with schools that they otherwise don’t really want to associate themselves with. So, it would take a LOT more than $150 million each to pry them away.

On the flip side, note that the practical economics are that even at $150 million per school each, that’s at a level where that TV network would be better off just paying up for more NFL games (which would get higher ratings) instead. The NFL had 82 of the 100 most-watched TV programs in 2022. In contrast, college football had 5, with 3 of them being CFP games and 1 being the Rose Bowl. The only regular season game on the list was Michigan - Ohio State. So, college football is popular, but they’re not NFL package numbers (which is what these Super League proposals would require to realistically work out financially). There were a lot of hypothetical Super League-level matchups this year, such as Alabama-Texas, Ohio State-Penn State, and ND-Clemson, and yet *every* Sunday afternoon, Sunday Night and Monday Night NFL game got higher ratings than all of them (even the worst matchups). If I’m throwing billions of dollars around as a TV network, I’m sending that directly to the NFL for efficiency purposes.


RE: $150 million dollar question. - bryanw1995 - 01-24-2023 03:13 PM

(01-24-2023 08:34 AM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  
(01-23-2023 11:23 PM)jimrtex Wrote:  
(01-23-2023 06:21 PM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  The hypothetical is too clear cut in the sense that it’s “easy money” - anyone and everyone is taking $150 million from a U.S. TV network. There’s not much of a hard choice there.

I’d be much more interested in where this dilemma is *actually* happening: massive amounts of money *are* being offered in sports without regard to whether it would make a profit… but it’s coming from places like Saudi Arabia and Qatar where there is a lot of consternation about human rights issues and, in the case of American academia, taking money from places that directly contravene their environmental and sustainability mandates.

Are any US universities going to be willing to take *that* type of money (particularly with how academia is across the board no matter if it’s a blue state or red state location)? The fact that LIV Golf is paying out monster contracts to big-name golfers but can’t get a TV deal in the US without giving away for free is instructive.

I apparently did not explain my premise very well. This competition would be limited to 16 schools. They would likely have to give up their conference payments in exchange for the $150 million.

Our initial invitation is limited to the nine schools that have finished in the Top 16 CFP poll a majority of the time (5/9).

Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Penn State.

We then make the offer to 13 schools that have finished in the Top 16 3 or 4 times.

Auburn, Baylor, Florida, Florida State, Iowa, Michigan State, Mississippi, Oklahoma State, USC, Utah, TCU, Washington, and Wisconsin.

If this resulted in more than 16 teams total, these teams would have a playoff to determine the 16 teams.

The offer could be extended to other schools if necessary.

To be honest and as I think about it more, I don’t think $150 million would be enough for the Big Ten schools with the TV contract that they just signed. Probably not for the SEC schools, either.

In any event, a Super League isn’t going to base its invites solely on performance during the CFP era. Any setup of the sort is about the most powerful brands. There’s a strong correlation between performance and brand value there, but it’s not a one-to-one relationship. For instance, Texas wouldn’t qualify based on your criteria even though they would be a must-have invite #1 from a business perspective if I’m paying out $150 million per school for a Super League. This entire conference realignment board exists because multiple leagues deemed Texas to be the most valuable school for expansion back in 2010. Not having Texas in a Super League is a non-starter just as not having any pro football Super League without the Dallas Cowboys would be a non-starter.

It goes back to who outside of the Big Ten or SEC would actually even have a chance for a Super League in the first place. Florida State and Miami would for sure… but I don’t think Oregon and Washington are no-brainers or else they would have been invited to the Big Ten already. If they can’t add $100 million per year each to the current Big Ten, how would they be worth $150 million per year each in a Super League? There’s no one else that can be pointed to as that extraordinarily valuable for football purposes. UNC has a lot of traditional conference realignment value as an all-sports school, market location and academics, but not as a pure football play.

The Big Ten and SEC have already aggregated the schools that would be in a Super League with only a very small handful of exceptions (e.g. maybe even only a couple). Those two leagues are with other non-elite programs that still reflect other institutional goals (whether it’s presence in important markets, cultural fits, academic fits, etc.). At the rate that their TV contracts have been rising, the Big Ten and SEC could get to at least the ballpark of $150 million per year per school on their own without having to deal with schools that they otherwise don’t really want to associate themselves with. So, it would take a LOT more than $150 million each to pry them away.

On the flip side, note that the practical economics are that even at $150 million per school each, that’s at a level where that TV network would be better off just paying up for more NFL games (which would get higher ratings) instead. The NFL had 82 of the 100 most-watched TV programs in 2022. In contrast, college football had 5, with 3 of them being CFP games and 1 being the Rose Bowl. The only regular season game on the list was Michigan - Ohio State. So, college football is popular, but they’re not NFL package numbers (which is what these Super League proposals would require to realistically work out financially). There were a lot of hypothetical Super League-level matchups this year, such as Alabama-Texas, Ohio State-Penn State, and ND-Clemson, and yet *every* Sunday afternoon, Sunday Night and Monday Night NFL game got higher ratings than all of them (even the worst matchups). If I’m throwing billions of dollars around as a TV network, I’m sending that directly to the NFL for efficiency purposes.

Miami is like a homeless man's Nebraska. They've both had great success on the field, but Miami's was longer ago and they've been ho hum since joining a real Conference. Nebraska has top 10 level fan engagement, Miami brags about it when they can crack the top 25% (aka top 35) in game attendance. I'll be honest, I don't get the enthusiasm some in P2 circles have with Miami, they can't buy their way back to the top anymore and they aren't big enough to build it up from the ground floor. They don't need a better Coach, or more athletic revenues, they need a miracle.

Spot on about Texas though. As much as it galls me to say it, they'd be the #1 pick.


RE: $150 million dollar question. - chess - 01-24-2023 03:22 PM

(01-24-2023 03:13 PM)bryanw1995 Wrote:  Miami is like a homeless man's Nebraska. They've both had great success on the field, but Miami's was longer ago and they've been ho hum since joining a real Conference. Nebraska has top 10 level fan engagement, Miami brags about it when they can crack the top 25% (aka top 35) in game attendance. I'll be honest, I don't get the enthusiasm some in P2 circles have with Miami, they can't buy their way back to the top anymore and they aren't big enough to build it up from the ground floor. They don't need a better Coach, or more athletic revenues, they need a miracle.

Spot on about Texas though. As much as it galls me to say it, they'd be the #1 pick.

Miami is going to love the NIL. It may be a great decade for the U.


RE: $150 million dollar question. - TexanMark - 01-25-2023 10:39 AM

(01-24-2023 03:13 PM)bryanw1995 Wrote:  
(01-24-2023 08:34 AM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  
(01-23-2023 11:23 PM)jimrtex Wrote:  
(01-23-2023 06:21 PM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  The hypothetical is too clear cut in the sense that it’s “easy money” - anyone and everyone is taking $150 million from a U.S. TV network. There’s not much of a hard choice there.

I’d be much more interested in where this dilemma is *actually* happening: massive amounts of money *are* being offered in sports without regard to whether it would make a profit… but it’s coming from places like Saudi Arabia and Qatar where there is a lot of consternation about human rights issues and, in the case of American academia, taking money from places that directly contravene their environmental and sustainability mandates.

Are any US universities going to be willing to take *that* type of money (particularly with how academia is across the board no matter if it’s a blue state or red state location)? The fact that LIV Golf is paying out monster contracts to big-name golfers but can’t get a TV deal in the US without giving away for free is instructive.

I apparently did not explain my premise very well. This competition would be limited to 16 schools. They would likely have to give up their conference payments in exchange for the $150 million.

Our initial invitation is limited to the nine schools that have finished in the Top 16 CFP poll a majority of the time (5/9).

Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Penn State.

We then make the offer to 13 schools that have finished in the Top 16 3 or 4 times.

Auburn, Baylor, Florida, Florida State, Iowa, Michigan State, Mississippi, Oklahoma State, USC, Utah, TCU, Washington, and Wisconsin.

If this resulted in more than 16 teams total, these teams would have a playoff to determine the 16 teams.

The offer could be extended to other schools if necessary.

To be honest and as I think about it more, I don’t think $150 million would be enough for the Big Ten schools with the TV contract that they just signed. Probably not for the SEC schools, either.

In any event, a Super League isn’t going to base its invites solely on performance during the CFP era. Any setup of the sort is about the most powerful brands. There’s a strong correlation between performance and brand value there, but it’s not a one-to-one relationship. For instance, Texas wouldn’t qualify based on your criteria even though they would be a must-have invite #1 from a business perspective if I’m paying out $150 million per school for a Super League. This entire conference realignment board exists because multiple leagues deemed Texas to be the most valuable school for expansion back in 2010. Not having Texas in a Super League is a non-starter just as not having any pro football Super League without the Dallas Cowboys would be a non-starter.

It goes back to who outside of the Big Ten or SEC would actually even have a chance for a Super League in the first place. Florida State and Miami would for sure… but I don’t think Oregon and Washington are no-brainers or else they would have been invited to the Big Ten already. If they can’t add $100 million per year each to the current Big Ten, how would they be worth $150 million per year each in a Super League? There’s no one else that can be pointed to as that extraordinarily valuable for football purposes. UNC has a lot of traditional conference realignment value as an all-sports school, market location and academics, but not as a pure football play.

The Big Ten and SEC have already aggregated the schools that would be in a Super League with only a very small handful of exceptions (e.g. maybe even only a couple). Those two leagues are with other non-elite programs that still reflect other institutional goals (whether it’s presence in important markets, cultural fits, academic fits, etc.). At the rate that their TV contracts have been rising, the Big Ten and SEC could get to at least the ballpark of $150 million per year per school on their own without having to deal with schools that they otherwise don’t really want to associate themselves with. So, it would take a LOT more than $150 million each to pry them away.

On the flip side, note that the practical economics are that even at $150 million per school each, that’s at a level where that TV network would be better off just paying up for more NFL games (which would get higher ratings) instead. The NFL had 82 of the 100 most-watched TV programs in 2022. In contrast, college football had 5, with 3 of them being CFP games and 1 being the Rose Bowl. The only regular season game on the list was Michigan - Ohio State. So, college football is popular, but they’re not NFL package numbers (which is what these Super League proposals would require to realistically work out financially). There were a lot of hypothetical Super League-level matchups this year, such as Alabama-Texas, Ohio State-Penn State, and ND-Clemson, and yet *every* Sunday afternoon, Sunday Night and Monday Night NFL game got higher ratings than all of them (even the worst matchups). If I’m throwing billions of dollars around as a TV network, I’m sending that directly to the NFL for efficiency purposes.

Miami is like a homeless man's Nebraska. They've both had great success on the field, but Miami's was longer ago and they've been ho hum since joining a real Conference. Nebraska has top 10 level fan engagement, Miami brags about it when they can crack the top 25% (aka top 35) in game attendance. I'll be honest, I don't get the enthusiasm some in P2 circles have with Miami, they can't buy their way back to the top anymore and they aren't big enough to build it up from the ground floor. They don't need a better Coach, or more athletic revenues, they need a miracle.

Spot on about Texas though. As much as it galls me to say it, they'd be the #1 pick.

Big East actually was a pretty solid conference back in the day. It was underrated in Football.


RE: $150 million dollar question. - jimrtex - 01-25-2023 04:05 PM

(01-24-2023 08:34 AM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  
(01-23-2023 11:23 PM)jimrtex Wrote:  
(01-23-2023 06:21 PM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  The hypothetical is too clear cut in the sense that it’s “easy money” - anyone and everyone is taking $150 million from a U.S. TV network. There’s not much of a hard choice there.

I’d be much more interested in where this dilemma is *actually* happening: massive amounts of money *are* being offered in sports without regard to whether it would make a profit… but it’s coming from places like Saudi Arabia and Qatar where there is a lot of consternation about human rights issues and, in the case of American academia, taking money from places that directly contravene their environmental and sustainability mandates.

Are any US universities going to be willing to take *that* type of money (particularly with how academia is across the board no matter if it’s a blue state or red state location)? The fact that LIV Golf is paying out monster contracts to big-name golfers but can’t get a TV deal in the US without giving away for free is instructive.

I apparently did not explain my premise very well. This competition would be limited to 16 schools. They would likely have to give up their conference payments in exchange for the $150 million.

Our initial invitation is limited to the nine schools that have finished in the Top 16 CFP poll a majority of the time (5/9).

Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Penn State.

We then make the offer to 13 schools that have finished in the Top 16 3 or 4 times.

Auburn, Baylor, Florida, Florida State, Iowa, Michigan State, Mississippi, Oklahoma State, USC, Utah, TCU, Washington, and Wisconsin.

If this resulted in more than 16 teams total, these teams would have a playoff to determine the 16 teams.

The offer could be extended to other schools if necessary.

To be honest and as I think about it more, I don’t think $150 million would be enough for the Big Ten schools with the TV contract that they just signed. Probably not for the SEC schools, either.

In any event, a Super League isn’t going to base its invites solely on performance during the CFP era. Any setup of the sort is about the most powerful brands. There’s a strong correlation between performance and brand value there, but it’s not a one-to-one relationship. For instance, Texas wouldn’t qualify based on your criteria even though they would be a must-have invite #1 from a business perspective if I’m paying out $150 million per school for a Super League. This entire conference realignment board exists because multiple leagues deemed Texas to be the most valuable school for expansion back in 2010. Not having Texas in a Super League is a non-starter just as not having any pro football Super League without the Dallas Cowboys would be a non-starter.

It goes back to who outside of the Big Ten or SEC would actually even have a chance for a Super League in the first place. Florida State and Miami would for sure… but I don’t think Oregon and Washington are no-brainers or else they would have been invited to the Big Ten already. If they can’t add $100 million per year each to the current Big Ten, how would they be worth $150 million per year each in a Super League? There’s no one else that can be pointed to as that extraordinarily valuable for football purposes. UNC has a lot of traditional conference realignment value as an all-sports school, market location and academics, but not as a pure football play.

The Big Ten and SEC have already aggregated the schools that would be in a Super League with only a very small handful of exceptions (e.g. maybe even only a couple). Those two leagues are with other non-elite programs that still reflect other institutional goals (whether it’s presence in important markets, cultural fits, academic fits, etc.). At the rate that their TV contracts have been rising, the Big Ten and SEC could get to at least the ballpark of $150 million per year per school on their own without having to deal with schools that they otherwise don’t really want to associate themselves with. So, it would take a LOT more than $150 million each to pry them away.

On the flip side, note that the practical economics are that even at $150 million per school each, that’s at a level where that TV network would be better off just paying up for more NFL games (which would get higher ratings) instead. The NFL had 82 of the 100 most-watched TV programs in 2022. In contrast, college football had 5, with 3 of them being CFP games and 1 being the Rose Bowl. The only regular season game on the list was Michigan - Ohio State. So, college football is popular, but they’re not NFL package numbers (which is what these Super League proposals would require to realistically work out financially). There were a lot of hypothetical Super League-level matchups this year, such as Alabama-Texas, Ohio State-Penn State, and ND-Clemson, and yet *every* Sunday afternoon, Sunday Night and Monday Night NFL game got higher ratings than all of them (even the worst matchups). If I’m throwing billions of dollars around as a TV network, I’m sending that directly to the NFL for efficiency purposes.
What are the annual NFL payments? $9-$10 billion. I am only paying out $2.4 billion for a Saturday window that the NFL is legally barred from entering.

If Ohio State gets $100 million now, they are subsidizing Northwestern and Indiana, same way with Alabama and Missouri.

There could be a second tier. I don't know if you are familiar with how the English Football League evolved. It started with 12 teams, mostly in the Midlands. No teams from London. There were teams that wanted to be added, and rather than expand, they had the new clubs play in a second division. The best teams from the second division could be elected to the first division. Initially, they might look at performance, and attendance, etc. Some teams disbanded, or the first division might become larger, until they reach 20 or 22 or 24.

Eventually a third and fourth division were added, and promotion and relegation were formalized. But until recently, there was not automatic promotion from the Conference to the EFL. Teams still had to be elected, and there would be conditions such as suitable (size and all-seater) grounds.


RE: $150 million dollar question. - bryanw1995 - 01-25-2023 09:06 PM

(01-24-2023 03:22 PM)chess Wrote:  
(01-24-2023 03:13 PM)bryanw1995 Wrote:  Miami is like a homeless man's Nebraska. They've both had great success on the field, but Miami's was longer ago and they've been ho hum since joining a real Conference. Nebraska has top 10 level fan engagement, Miami brags about it when they can crack the top 25% (aka top 35) in game attendance. I'll be honest, I don't get the enthusiasm some in P2 circles have with Miami, they can't buy their way back to the top anymore and they aren't big enough to build it up from the ground floor. They don't need a better Coach, or more athletic revenues, they need a miracle.

Spot on about Texas though. As much as it galls me to say it, they'd be the #1 pick.

Miami is going to love the NIL. It may be a great decade for the U.

Miami loved the NIL the same way that Saban loved the NIL before it was actually ok to do it. It's a whole lot more fun bidding on players when ND, or UCLA, or Wisconsin, or Nebraska AREN'T bidding on them. But now Miami has to openly bid against UF, FSU, Alabama, Texas, Auburn, Texas A & M, Georgia...anybody with aspirations to compete in the South. Not to mention new SEC schools like OUT who really want to make a splash as they prepare to enter the league. Good luck competing with the furniture salesmen in bama, much less the oil money in Texas.