Thanks to our new sponsor Inteleca for helping bring back Q's Take my weekly look at things around GT and college sports from my vantage.
I engaged in an interesting conversation this week with a high-level SEC source who was privy to the SEC Meetings down in Destin recently. The big surprise for most was the decision of the league to stick with an 8-game schedule even after the addition of Texas and Oklahoma in 2024. That seemed puzzling as it would remove more opportunities for top-flight games and probably kill off some lame FCS and lower-tier G5 games many in that league like to load up on in non-conference as either early warm-up games or the week before Rivalry Week tune-ups.
However, something I've hinted at is apparently behind the decision to keep it at 8 games. ESPN, the four-letter network is stretched thin financially and my sources tell me the league was told they are not going to pay for additional SEC games and to not look at expansion in the near term beyond the current 16-team format. Disney has spun off ESPN into their own area on their financials and they are tied to some pretty serious rights deals with various leagues all while cord-cutting is at an all-time high and inflation and the economy are going in opposite directions and likely to remain that way for a while after a long boom. The Big 10 already received bad news with some of the fine details of their new media rights deal with Fox by the exiting league commissioner Kevin Warren and despite a bump from the World Cup, Fox has plenty of their own financial concerns as well for similar reasons as ESPN.
I've mentioned on here many times that at some point the bubble would pop on all of this. I think we are getting closer to that. Streaming is becoming bigger and bigger and companies like ESPN/FOX/NBC are trying to navigate that as well without becoming Blockbuster to the next Netflix of streaming whatever that ends up being.
I've said if the ACC survives to the end of the decade the TV deal might look okay once the dust settles. It won't be more than others, but it could be more competitive over time.
College Football feels a little to me like Major League Baseball in 1994 just ahead of the strike. They are losing the plot and are going to end up losing fans with the mega conferences and money if they are not careful. No one wants to watch minor league baseball or the G-league or minor league hockey on TV.
I think a super league of 30-40 teams is doomed to fail because it will just be minor league football and people will tune out expect for those interested and it will break off what made CFB special. I'm hoping that the pushback from ESPN and likely Fox might start to stall all of this out.
The Big Ten leadership may also want to cut USC and UCLA loose before they join because that is where the lawsuit that will allow CFB players to become employees or unionize is going to come from and they will end up paying for that decision as well.
Just some thoughts, I actually feel a little better about GT's standing in all of this at the moment, but it can change on a dime.
I engaged in an interesting conversation this week with a high-level SEC source who was privy to the SEC Meetings down in Destin recently. The big surprise for most was the decision of the league to stick with an 8-game schedule even after the addition of Texas and Oklahoma in 2024. That seemed puzzling as it would remove more opportunities for top-flight games and probably kill off some lame FCS and lower-tier G5 games many in that league like to load up on in non-conference as either early warm-up games or the week before Rivalry Week tune-ups.
However, something I've hinted at is apparently behind the decision to keep it at 8 games. ESPN, the four-letter network is stretched thin financially and my sources tell me the league was told they are not going to pay for additional SEC games and to not look at expansion in the near term beyond the current 16-team format. Disney has spun off ESPN into their own area on their financials and they are tied to some pretty serious rights deals with various leagues all while cord-cutting is at an all-time high and inflation and the economy are going in opposite directions and likely to remain that way for a while after a long boom. The Big 10 already received bad news with some of the fine details of their new media rights deal with Fox by the exiting league commissioner Kevin Warren and despite a bump from the World Cup, Fox has plenty of their own financial concerns as well for similar reasons as ESPN.
I've mentioned on here many times that at some point the bubble would pop on all of this. I think we are getting closer to that. Streaming is becoming bigger and bigger and companies like ESPN/FOX/NBC are trying to navigate that as well without becoming Blockbuster to the next Netflix of streaming whatever that ends up being.
I've said if the ACC survives to the end of the decade the TV deal might look okay once the dust settles. It won't be more than others, but it could be more competitive over time.
College Football feels a little to me like Major League Baseball in 1994 just ahead of the strike. They are losing the plot and are going to end up losing fans with the mega conferences and money if they are not careful. No one wants to watch minor league baseball or the G-league or minor league hockey on TV.
I think a super league of 30-40 teams is doomed to fail because it will just be minor league football and people will tune out expect for those interested and it will break off what made CFB special. I'm hoping that the pushback from ESPN and likely Fox might start to stall all of this out.
The Big Ten leadership may also want to cut USC and UCLA loose before they join because that is where the lawsuit that will allow CFB players to become employees or unionize is going to come from and they will end up paying for that decision as well.
Just some thoughts, I actually feel a little better about GT's standing in all of this at the moment, but it can change on a dime.
