• The KillerFrogs

Interesting piece in the Athletic this week

Limey Frog

Full Member
Interesting piece on the future of college football. It's only one AD's quotes, and the source is anonymous. But anyone who is paying attention must see that some version of this is where it's all heading.

Posted for your consideration and discussion, in case y'all want to talk about anything other than our next coach: link

Here's the most interesting excerpt:

“In 10 years, I think football programs will be buying the brands from our universities and renting the facilities.”

An interesting take, because it would signal a contractual divorce between the football programs and their schools.

The team I spend most of my time covering, Florida, makes for a solid case study. It has an 88,548-seat on-campus stadium and an $85 million training facility scheduled to open next summer. According to the anonymous AD’s forecast, the football Gators would split off into a new corporation that leases Ben Hill Griffin Stadium for home games, scrimmages and walk-throughs, and the training facility presumably year-round.

The football program would purchase licensing rights for logos and trademarks (non-revenue sports would remain under the current athletics department). What might seem like merely a paper transaction could bring real-world repercussions: By becoming its own entity, football would have no compulsion to fund other sports. The university — presuming it wants to continue fielding teams in baseball, soccer, tennis, swimming, gymnastics, etc. — would have to recoup tens of millions through negotiating license and lease fees to do so. Otherwise, the university would need to dip into its own coffers or mandate student-activity fees.

The male-female balance of scholarships required under Title IX also would be impacted if 85 football scholarships were deducted from the equation.

----

FWIW, this general idea is what I was driving at in my not-very-well-received (and, I admit, poorly/provocatively constructed) comment about non-revenue [women's] sports last week. Most football revenue is going to move out of the legal space in which it can be subject to the regulatory authority of federal education law. Other than whatever slice of it football programs pay back to the universities as royalties (plus indirect income from gameday spending on campus), the cash streams that have funded every program other than football and men's basketball are going to dry up for those programs. Will fans/alumni/TV viewers pay and/or donate to sustain those programs? Will they do so below their current budget level? Will they do so at all? Will students pay extra tuition if a chunk of it is going to support men's track or women's equestrian? Maybe so. I don't care if they do; that would be fine. I like soccer and I'd be happy to see people support it at the collegiate level if that's what people want. If I had to place a bet on what will happen, I'd push all of my chips out on "they sure won't".
 

LisaLT

Active Member
I don’t know. I’d rather not fund or watch a crappy losing football program, but I’m ok with funding and supporting a nationally ranked women’s soccer team playing for a championship.
Shopping Omg GIF by Spice Girls
 

HFrog1999

Member
At some point College Football will just be Minor League Football. When that’s the case, schools like TCU which compete against NFL teams in the market will have a even harder time generating loyalty and interest from Alumni.


I know this may sound crazy, but when I went to TCU, I actually saw football players in class, in student organizations and in the dorms. I went to the games ( even though we were terrible) because they went to school with us. We were all Horned Frogs.

Soon, many of the players will just be professionals who change schools based on the highest bidder

There won’t be any connection between the players and the schools/students
 

LisaLT

Active Member
At some point College Football will just be Minor League Football. When that’s the case, schools like TCU which compete against NFL teams in the market will have a even harder time generating loyalty and interest from Alumni.


I know this may sound crazy, but when I went to TCU, I actually saw football players in class, in student organizations and in the dorms. I went to the games ( even though we were terrible) because they went to school with us. We were all Horned Frogs.

Soon, many of the players will just be professionals who change schools based on the highest bidder

There won’t be any connection between the players and the schools/students
I agree. Sad too for these players as most won’t make it to the NFL. Getting an education should always be the top priority. Oh well.
 

Wexahu

Full Member
At some point College Football will just be Minor League Football. When that’s the case, schools like TCU which compete against NFL teams in the market will have a even harder time generating loyalty and interest from Alumni.


I know this may sound crazy, but when I went to TCU, I actually saw football players in class, in student organizations and in the dorms. I went to the games ( even though we were terrible) because they went to school with us. We were all Horned Frogs.

Soon, many of the players will just be professionals who change schools based on the highest bidder

There won’t be any connection between the players and the schools/students
Can't imagine anyone would really have much interest in that, but what do I know? Pro football only with much worse players......sounds awesome.
 

TheElephant

Active Member
At some point College Football will just be Minor League Football. When that’s the case, schools like TCU which compete against NFL teams in the market will have a even harder time generating loyalty and interest from Alumni.


I know this may sound crazy, but when I went to TCU, I actually saw football players in class, in student organizations and in the dorms. I went to the games ( even though we were terrible) because they went to school with us. We were all Horned Frogs.

Soon, many of the players will just be professionals who change schools based on the highest bidder

There won’t be any connection between the players and the schools/students
I had a few classes with some football and baseball players (math major so not many athletes) but I feel the same way. It was personal back then!
 

Icaughtthevisor

Active Member
they opened Pandoras Box with TIL, we are now in an era with no salary cap, generously one year contracts, and unlimited free agency. Why should they even keep the 4 years of eligibility rule? If they make more money with 5/6 years of eligibility who can stop it ?
 

BABYFACE

Full Member
Probably, but 18 - 34 is the main demographic advertisers care about. So my opinions and viewing habits haven’t mattered for a while
Unless it has changed,18-54 is where most advertising is targeted.

18-33 is about branding and growing your customers. 34-54 is where the buying power is.
 

tyler durden

Tyler Durden
Maybe we could then get some badass intramural teams, have TCUs best team compete with other school’s best teams and we can get this back to being more like something of the students and for the students.
 

Jared7

Active Member
I'm not sure if I understand why this would necessarily be bad for non-revenue sports. For schools that own their stadiums and facilities, the leasing of those (as well as trademarks, names and everything else) would generate quite a bit of money for the universities, which could then use that money to fund the remaining athletic program in ways not too dissimilar to the way they do now. The football corporation could then pay players directly rather than going through NIL hoops, the Presidents and Chancellors and Boards would no longer be responsible for running the football program and, instead, there would be "owners" which consisted of big money donors who would hire and fire GM's and coaches and staff. And small-money donors could also be "shareholders" with a stake in the corporation.

The major "change," I think, would be deciding whether the players also had to be "students." I suspect not. Would there be a union? What would be the governing body? The conferences? Would all this happen at once in some sort of grand transition or would some schools do it first and the remainder decide whether to follow? How long would such a transition take? What would be the structure for the schools that opted out? Would current conferences allow schools to remain members if they were legally restructured in this way? Would we have competing systems and competing "national championships" for awhile? It sounds fairly complicated and the lawyers setting it up seem certain to make a lot of money. I suspect also that there might be some arguments and lawsuits. 10 years seems fairly quick for a major change of this magnitude.
 

HornFrogger

Active Member
At some point College Football will just be Minor League Football. When that’s the case, schools like TCU which compete against NFL teams in the market will have a even harder time generating loyalty and interest from Alumni.


I know this may sound crazy, but when I went to TCU, I actually saw football players in class, in student organizations and in the dorms. I went to the games ( even though we were terrible) because they went to school with us. We were all Horned Frogs.

Soon, many of the players will just be professionals who change schools based on the highest bidder

There won’t be any connection between the players and the schools/students
If by soon, you mean this transition is happening now, then I agree with you. I think this is happening with the upper echelon players and schools already.

If we hire a coach who can manage NIL and the Transfer Portal with success, we’ll see it firsthand in ‘22.
 

Limey Frog

Full Member
... 10 years seems fairly quick for a major change of this magnitude.

After a handful of years of every coach and admin feeling exhausted from the constant fear of losing their players to new transfer rules + NIL, but then their trying to poach other teams' players because you have to, people are going to be ready to regulate the flow of cash; I think it'll happen pretty soon.

Personally, I'd rather see college football go back to what made it great in the classic era of the true student athlete. But TV has created a mountain of cash which can either flow legitimately to the place it naturally belongs (the players who people are paying to watch), or it will exert a distortive effect if that natural flow is artificially interrupted. NIL lawlessness is the new brown-bag action of the '80s SWC. There are millions of dollars in this sport. You can:

a) pay it to the players
b) let the black market pay them instead
c) all not watch football on TV anymore

B is untenable, C is intolerable. A will happen.
 

gofor2

Active Member
The NFL is getting a free minor league system (of sorts) with the current arrangement, so there is little financial incentive for them to blow that up and start paying guys right out of high school. However, for the long term health of CFB, maybe a setup similar to MLB and its affiliated minor league farm teams is the way to go?
Players good enough to get drafted out of high school, do so (and get paid) and go pro. The others go to 2 year colleges or 4 year colleges with a shot to get drafted their Junior year. It's a pipe dream, but it really provides the best outcome for several groups and theoretically solves quite a few problems.
 

Eight

Member
The NFL is getting a free minor league system (of sorts) with the current arrangement, so there is little financial incentive for them to blow that up and start paying guys right out of high school. However, for the long term health of CFB, maybe a setup similar to MLB and its affiliated minor league farm teams is the way to go?
Players good enough to get drafted out of high school, do so (and get paid) and go pro. The others go to 2 year colleges or 4 year colleges with a shot to get drafted their Junior year. It's a pipe dream, but it really provides the best outcome for several groups and theoretically solves quite a few problems.

why would the nfl agree to pay anything when they have what they have right now

the problems in cfb are the making of the powers that be, the ncaa, egos and alums, and don't forget the tv network first and foremost the mouse
 
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