(09-15-2021 06:20 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  The B1G has definitely made smarter media-related moves than the SEC, that's why it's total media revenue is greater, even though the SEC is more valuable and should be making more.

But .... let's look at some numbers. IIRC, according to a report (see first link at bottom), in 2017 the BTN was valued at about $1.14 Billion. So we can assume it was worth what, about $1 Billion in 2012, when Rutgers joined? Of that, FOX owns 51% and the B1G 49%, so the B1G share was worth $490 million. Divide that by the 12 members of the B1G (excluding MD and RTG) and you get a value of about $41 million. That's what each B1G member's share of the BTN was worth, approximately.

So it stands to reason that the "buy-in" for the BTN would be about $41 million for Rutgers and Maryland, each. Sure, make some adjustment for the time value of money, but we're talking a time of low inflation and just seven years, so maybe add 15% to that amount? Make it $48 million paid off over seven years?

Now from a 2019 Rutgers report, here is how much the B1G paid Rutgers, excluding loans and advances, the projected base payments (see p.14 of link below):

2015 $8,645,986
2016 $9,043,606
2017 $9,442,178
2018 $9,841,721
2019 $10,242,246
2020 $10,643,801

In contrast, the B1G paid out to its "full members" during those years (all numbers approximate, btw)

2015 .... $32m
2016 .... $34m
2017 .... $35m
2018 .... $50m
2019 .... $52m
2020 .... $55m

So from what I can tell the discrepancy between what Rutgers was paid is .... massively different from what "full" B1G members were paid. Add it up and the amount is something like .... $57m paid to Rutgers, $255m paid to a "full" members. Almost $200m less.

That's a bit more than a $48 million buy-in for the BTN, IMO.

Plus, that's assuming a straight buy-in situation where the new partner brings nothing to the table but their buy-in fee. But IMO Rutgers brought more than that. The whole logic behind the B1G invitation to Rutgers (and Maryland) was the value they brought to the BTN via the additional cable subscriptions.

And indeed, we see that B1G revenue has skyrocketed since they joined: In 2014-2015, the first year with M and R, the B1G distributed about $110 million more than it did in 2013-2014 (see third link below). The B1G also signed a very lucrative re-up deal with networks in 2017.

So IMO, that increase in value alone should have constituted their "buy in". I mean, if I start a restaurant, and it is valued at $1 million, and Michael Jordan wants to become my partner, and my advisers say that the restaurant will be worth $2 million the instant that MJ becomes a partner and puts his name on it, well I don't ask MJ for a $500,000 buy-in. His "buy in" is the extra value he brings to the business.

So in the final analysis, IMO, it is fair to say that the B1G squeezed and milked and drained Rutgers and Maryland for the past seven years. IMO, they should have been brought in as full-stream equity and revenue partners, from day one.

And even though I agree that the B1G model is better than the SEC model - it's why the B1G has made more - it could be that that the B1G's "beggar thy newcomer" approach could have been oft-putting to Texas and Oklahoma. I seriously doubt those schools would want to be told they would have to take lesser shares to "buy equity" in the BTN. The SEC's model makes it very easy, and cost-free, for a new member to join.

That could have been a factor in TX and OU contacting the SEC, not B1G, about membership. If so, I would say the SEC model paid off in spades.

Just MO.

https://www.al.com/sports/2017/05/the_se...the_k.html

https://scarletknights.com/documents/201...Report.pdf

https://www.cbssports.com/college-footba...-with-sec/

Can't disagree with this. Each school was in a different situation and Nebraska, Rutgers, and Maryland each accepted different terms. I don't really consider it a "squeeze" in so much as schools negotiating with different leverage. These schools had to buy their way in, but will share in the exact same exact payouts in perpetuity as Michigan and Ohio State. So long as the BTN shares are worth $41 million and up, anyone joining is going to have to pay.

Even if Rutgers was getting full shares, it isn't clear they would have avoided the hole they've found themselves in. They have fundamental attendance and fiscal discipline issue that $55 million a year can't solve.

I can't speak to why texahoma went with the SEC and maybe the buy in was part of their calculus on avoiding the B1G...but I suspect it had a lot to do with ESPN. If they prioritized staying together above all other issues, then I've always thought unwinding the Longhorn Network would be a challenge if they went to any non ESPN controlled conference. ESPN owns the SEC/ACC media rights in their entirety and are in a position to come up with creative solutions for the Longhorn Network. If Texas joined the B1G, ESPN owning their 3rd tier rights through 2031 would have made for "interesting" negotiations with FOX/BTN. Maybe they could have figured it out but that always felt like a fundamental sticking point. All things being equal, both schools likely would make more in the B1G than the SEC but I doubt the buy in was the sticking point. Cultural differences and the Longhorn Network all seem like way higher sticking points than the buy in.