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College Football Revenue Sharing

IdaGriz01

Well-known member
I thought about putting this on one of the many “new structure for D-I football” threads, but decided it was different enough to deserve its own discussion. I was triggered by the continued commentary about it on talk radio and elsewhere. Of course, college football already has revenue sharing: Bowl money goes to the conferences, which then dole it out to all the conference members by their own formulas, whose details we outsiders never hear about.

No, I’m thinking of a different form of revenue sharing that may be coming. Most “experts” seem to feel that the big boys will go off to form some sort of “super-division.” However, no where have I seen any of them take into account that all but a relative handful of the programs involved are state-supported institutions.

The super-division may well happen. (And whatever happens at the FBS level will surely have a trickle-down effect on the FCS, so it does matter for the Griz.) But they have to get that notion through multiple legislative processes, or at least the respective state collegiate educational structures.

Some interesting stats: Only two states do not have Division-I football. For some strange reason (😀), Alaska gets by without it, while the University of Vermont competes only at the club level in football. Among the rest, we find that 42 states have (or will soon have) FBS teams in them. (The rest, like Montana, have only FCS D-I programs.) Of those 42, I was a bit surprised to discover that 35 states have teams in the Power-5 (I thought is was more concentrated than that). Most of those states also have FBS teams in the Group-of-5 “classification.” (Many also have FCS programs. of course.)

If the big boys want to have their own super-money division, what happens to the educational budgets in those 35 states? Because, let’s face it, that association will suck up even more of the available TV and other money than they already do. The states will be left holding the bag in supporting the other programs … with less sponsor money coming in. I don’t think that will play well.

That’s already happened, in effect, in California. The UC Regents have ordered UCLA to pay Cal-Berkeley up to $10 million a year for at least three years to “atone” for how their departure from the Pac-12 basically ruined Cal’s hopes of raking in enough to cover their expenses. (The Bears are already behind the 8-ball anyway.)

https://www.latimes.com/sports/ucla...-ucla-pay-cal-10-million-annually-three-years

I think we could see something similar play out in other states between the P-5 and G-5 backers.. It’s just the nature of governments to grab every dime they can get, and we’re talking some pretty big bucks.
 
I don’t think congress has any interest in touching it with a ten foot pole. It will probably take a lawsuit from peers in the Olympic sports regarding revenue sharing

However, As far as NIL you see what Dunne has done at LSU in an Olympic sport. It doesnt seem like there’s any taming the NIL beast in a fair and equitable way across various sports or across genders.

This is where a division in the upper and lower echelons of the FBS could help, which could get rid of the NCAA, and bring in a new governing body that schools agree to give power to and drop the hammer on NIL in its current iteration in the name of fair competition. Also if there is a division separation with two different governing bodies we could see a more strict policy on moves between the divisions stopping the free for all and having a well laid out pathway with safeguards to protect the athletes and the schools.
 
I thought about putting this on one of the many “new structure for D-I football” threads, but decided it was different enough to deserve its own discussion. I was triggered by the continued commentary about it on talk radio and elsewhere. Of course, college football already has revenue sharing: Bowl money goes to the conferences, which then dole it out to all the conference members by their own formulas, whose details we outsiders never hear about.

No, I’m thinking of a different form of revenue sharing that may be coming. Most “experts” seem to feel that the big boys will go off to form some sort of “super-division.” However, no where have I seen any of them take into account that all but a relative handful of the programs involved are state-supported institutions.

The super-division may well happen. (And whatever happens at the FBS level will surely have a trickle-down effect on the FCS, so it does matter for the Griz.) But they have to get that notion through multiple legislative processes, or at least the respective state collegiate educational structures.

Some interesting stats: Only two states do not have Division-I football. For some strange reason (😀), Alaska gets by without it, while the University of Vermont competes only at the club level in football. Among the rest, we find that 42 states have (or will soon have) FBS teams in them. (The rest, like Montana, have only FCS D-I programs.) Of those 42, I was a bit surprised to discover that 35 states have teams in the Power-5 (I thought is was more concentrated than that). Most of those states also have FBS teams in the Group-of-5 “classification.” (Many also have FCS programs. of course.)

If the big boys want to have their own super-money division, what happens to the educational budgets in those 35 states? Because, let’s face it, that association will suck up even more of the available TV and other money than they already do. The states will be left holding the bag in supporting the other programs … with less sponsor money coming in. I don’t think that will play well.

That’s already happened, in effect, in California. The UC Regents have ordered UCLA to pay Cal-Berkeley up to $10 million a year for at least three years to “atone” for how their departure from the Pac-12 basically ruined Cal’s hopes of raking in enough to cover their expenses. (The Bears are already behind the 8-ball anyway.)

https://www.latimes.com/sports/ucla...-ucla-pay-cal-10-million-annually-three-years

I think we could see something similar play out in other states between the P-5 and G-5 backers.. It’s just the nature of governments to grab every dime they can get, and we’re talking some pretty big bucks.
Seemed pretty bizarre to me that Berserkley was hung out to dry by the Cali regents. Then again don't the flagships and the much larger State U system sometimes have competing priorities?

I would think as long as revenue for the big dogs covers the whole cost of the programs not much will change. If, as I expect big boy football and basketball payrolls get to 100 million plus and cuts to other sports have to be made it won't fly in a lot of state legislative bodies. The programs with VERY deep pocketed donors will be left standing in that scenario. Lots of possible unexpected consequences out there so keep the popcorn ready.
 
I don’t think congress has any interest in touching it with a ten foot pole. It will probably take a lawsuit from peers in the Olympic sports regarding revenue sharing

However, As far as NIL you see what Dunne has done at LSU in an Olympic sport. It doesnt seem like there’s any taming the NIL beast in a fair and equitable way across various sports or across genders.

This is where a division in the upper and lower echelons of the FBS could help, which could get rid of the NCAA, and bring in a new governing body that schools agree to give power to and drop the hammer on NIL in its current iteration in the name of fair competition. Also if there is a division separation with two different governing bodies we could see a more strict policy on moves between the divisions stopping the free for all and having a well laid out pathway with safeguards to protect the athletes and the schools.
I tend to agree but also think that "fairness" genie will be next to impossible to put back into the bottle. It could be argued that Dunne would be punished individually if her earning potential was tamped down by institutional agreements. To the lawyer contingent isn't this how all the legal actions starting with O' Bannon got us to this point? That's my layman's observation but that is not nuanced or knowledgeable.
 
I don’t think congress has any interest in touching it with a ten foot pole. It will probably take a lawsuit from peers in the Olympic sports regarding revenue sharing

However, As far as NIL you see what Dunne has done at LSU in an Olympic sport. It doesnt seem like there’s any taming the NIL beast in a fair and equitable way across various sports or across genders.

This is where a division in the upper and lower echelons of the FBS could help, which could get rid of the NCAA, and bring in a new governing body that schools agree to give power to and drop the hammer on NIL in its current iteration in the name of fair competition. Also if there is a division separation with two different governing bodies we could see a more strict policy on moves between the divisions stopping the free for all and having a well laid out pathway with safeguards to protect the athletes and the schools.
The NCAA needs to exist for all the nonrevenue sports out there. Hence why you will never see the NCAA completely abolished. They do a great job of running all those sports and tournaments and conference commissioners would rather not put all of that on their own plates. I don’t really care if Football breaks away from the NCAA, but I just don’t really see them going away in its entirety
 
The NCAA needs to exist for all the nonrevenue sports out there. Hence why you will never see the NCAA completely abolished. They do a great job of running all those sports and tournaments and conference commissioners would rather not put all of that on their own plates. I don’t really care if Football breaks away from the NCAA, but I just don’t really see them going away in its entirety
NCAA policies and actions resulting in numerous lawsuits that they lost is the reason for the status quo. Why do you think it would be different without football?
 
Now Private equity wants to make a buck on college athletics...

And why not? There's a lot of money involved. This was referenced in another thread, but it fits well here:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor...ten-sec-revenue-2023-fiscal-year/73772300007/

That's (as noted elsewhere) a total of over $1.7 billion just from the SEC and Big Ten for that one year ... enough to get your attention. No doubt the Big-12 and ACC (Pac-12 is irrelevant) aren't dragging in that much, but theirs is not chump change either. I suspect many state finance committees are already sniffing around.
 
I don’t think congress has any interest in touching it with a ten foot pole. It will probably take a lawsuit from peers in the Olympic sports regarding revenue sharing

However, As far as NIL you see what Dunne has done at LSU in an Olympic sport. It doesnt seem like there’s any taming the NIL beast in a fair and equitable way across various sports or across genders.

This is where a division in the upper and lower echelons of the FBS could help, which could get rid of the NCAA, and bring in a new governing body that schools agree to give power to and drop the hammer on NIL in its current iteration in the name of fair competition. Also if there is a division separation with two different governing bodies we could see a more strict policy on moves between the divisions stopping the free for all and having a well laid out pathway with safeguards to protect the athletes and the schools.
+100................... good post
 
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