Follow the Money - The Big Business of College Football

[Legacy]

The article was extremely misleading. Crippling debt??? Seriously? He insinuates that the taxpayers are paying Saban's salary and paying for stadium renovations. He absolutely knows this isn't so, but he insinuates it, leaving the uninformed reader to make assumptions which aren't accurate. It was an intentionally misleading and dishonest article. Bama had a bond issue to overhaul the stadium and improve athletic facilities. The payback on the bonds is about $10 million per year. It's paid back primarily by the athletic department from revenue generated by football, and underwritten by the state (not surprising since the state owns the stadium and other facilities).

The article totally (and intentionally) misses the point: football generates a huge amount of money and pays for its own expenses such as facilities, salaries, and operating costs, plus it funds the non-revenue generating sports, and gives millions back to the university for funding professors, scholarships, new buildings, etc. It's not being funded by taxpayers. It's funding stuff that taxpayers would've had to pay for if not for football generating so much money.

That brought to mind another Forbes article from a while back....
Nick Saban Will Make $11 Million Next Football Season And He Is Worth Every Penny

 

[wizards8507]

https://sports.yahoo.com/title-game...rcent-college-football-worried-214530894.html

Championship tickets are down below $140. Almost like, wait for it, a neutral site playoff is idiotic because people in San Francisco don't give a shit about watching a college football game between two teams from the Deep South. Almost like it would be a lot better if these teams had just played in the Orange Bowl in the first place.

 

[BobbyMac]

https://sports.yahoo.com/title-game...rcent-college-football-worried-214530894.html

Championship tickets are down below $140. Almost like, wait for it, a neutral site playoff is idiotic because people in San Francisco don't give a shit about watching a college football game between two teams from the Deep South. Almost like it would be a lot better if these teams had just played in the Orange Bowl in the first place.

...almost like Bama and Clemson be like, been there done that and are sitting one out. They'll meet again next year in the Superdome and then Miami the following year so no need to go to a strange, foreign land outside of Dixie where they charge 10x as much for fish, then don't even cook it.

 

[calvegas04]

https://sports.yahoo.com/title-game...rcent-college-football-worried-214530894.html

Championship tickets are down below $140. Almost like, wait for it, a neutral site playoff is idiotic because people in San Francisco don't give a shit about watching a college football game between two teams from the Deep South. Almost like it would be a lot better if these teams had just played in the Orange Bowl in the first place.

I don't think it is about being in Cali, it is more about this being a 4th sequel to game everyone is getting tired of

 

[Ndaccountant]

I don't think it is about being in Cali, it is more about this being a 4th sequel to game everyone is getting tired of

I think it being in Cali is absolutely part of it.

Obviously the collective fan base for both schools is spread out, but the core is in the SE. Remember the old adage that you can't fly out of the SE without going through Atlanta? Obviously there are other flight paths, but I think there are only like 7 flights a day between Atlanta and San Fran, 2 per day to San Jose and 2 to Sacramento. Charlotte is less than that. Not surprisingly, if a fan this week wanted to book flights for the game it could be over $1000 per seat. You will need at least two nights of hotels, most likely a rental car, food, etc. Simply put, if ticket prices remained at last years level of $1,700 peak, most people would be looking at a 2X cost increase YoY per person.

To make matters worse, the game kicks off at 5PM local time. So even some locals who may be interested could simply say forget it since the could miss a decent chunk of the game.

The location makes no sense.

 

[Domina Nostra]

I don't think it is about being in Cali, it is more about this being a 4th sequel to game everyone is getting tired of

I think it being in Cali is absolutely part of it.

. . .

The location makes no sense.

It's both.

Plus, any Alabama fan who wanted to go to a NC game as a bucket list item has gone. All of them. And it is not the richest crew to begin with.

The game should definitely be in Texas, Georgia, Florida, or North Carolina.

 

[Circa]

It's both.

Plus, any Alabama fan who wanted to go to a NC game as a bucket list item has gone. All of them. And it is not the richest crew to begin with.

The game should definitely be in Texas, Georgia, Florida, or North Carolina.

I personally think it’s funny!!! Alabama fans are literally the most spoiled fans in the country! ESPN has made their bed with them and Clemson. I know for a fact that people in San Francisco could care less about anything in The Carolina’s or Dirty Alabama!
People out there won’t even go to 49er games because of the sun....

 

[calvegas04]

The game should definitely be in Texas, Georgia, Florida, or North Carolina.

Every championship game should be? I personally don't think there is a better location for the Champ game than the Rose Bowl or soon to be Las Vegas.

 

[ND87]

Dec. 28 NYT:
"Having completed a nine-figure makeover of the stadium and its surrounding environs, and facing a financial landscape in college football that threatens to leave the Fighting Irish behind, Notre Dame is now ready to leverage, very carefully, one of its most valuable assets: a mystique it has spent more than a century cultivating."

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/28/sports/notre-dame-college-football-playoff.html

 

[BobbyMac]

I personally think it’s funny!!! Alabama fans are literally the most spoiled fans in the country! ESPN has made their bed with them and Clemson. I know for a fact that people in San Francisco could care less about anything in The Carolina’s or Dirty Alabama!
People out there won’t even go to 49er games because of the sun....

That won't be a problem, it'll be in the low 50's, raining & dark come gametime Monday.

Every championship game should be? I personally don't think there is a better location for the Champ game than the Rose Bowl or soon to be Las Vegas.

I wonder if the Rose Bowl will ever host the NC again? It was the last non-NFL stadium to host an NC game in 2013. Plus, the new Rams/Chargers mega-stadium opens in '20 and has the NC scheduled there in '22.

 

[wizards8507]

Every championship game should be? I personally don't think there is a better location for the Champ game than the Rose Bowl or soon to be Las Vegas.

It shouldn't be predetermined. If #1 and #2 are from the Pac-12 and the Big 10, play it in the Rose Bowl. If it's Clemson and Alabama, put it in the Orange Bowl. If it's Alabama and Oklahoma, put it in the Sugar Bowl. If it's Notre Dame and Michigan, put it in Lambeau Field.

 

[Irish#1]

I think it being in Cali is absolutely part of it.

Obviously the collective fan base for both schools is spread out, but the core is in the SE. Remember the old adage that you can't fly out of the SE without going through Atlanta? Obviously there are other flight paths, but I think there are only like 7 flights a day between Atlanta and San Fran, 2 per day to San Jose and 2 to Sacramento. Charlotte is less than that. Not surprisingly, if a fan this week wanted to book flights for the game it could be over $1000 per seat. You will need at least two nights of hotels, most likely a rental car, food, etc. Simply put, if ticket prices remained at last years level of $1,700 peak, most people would be looking at a 2X cost increase YoY per person.

To make matters worse, the game kicks off at 5PM local time. So even some locals who may be interested could simply say forget it since the could miss a decent chunk of the game.

The location makes no sense.

You don't think those 750 fans that fill Stanford stadium will go to the NCG?

 

[wizards8507]

You don't think those 750 fans that fill Stanford stadium will go to the NCG?

 

[irishtrain]

https://sports.yahoo.com/title-game...rcent-college-football-worried-214530894.html

Championship tickets are down below $140. Almost like, wait for it, a neutral site playoff is idiotic because people in San Francisco don't give a shit about watching a college football game between two teams from the Deep South. Almost like it would be a lot better if these teams had just played in the Orange Bowl in the first place.

Here's why this happened-no one cares about these 2 schools because they don't really have a national appeal-(only reason why people will watch is because its the championship game and they ARE the two best teams) next-everyone knows how and why they win and its just not that appealing to college fans anymore next-- last February we knew who would be playing in this game and its worn out its welcome. Where does Alabama play Clemson next year? Lastly people are getting wise to the marketing of college football ( like a running back from Alabama wearing a patch that says sec graduate-really? ) and how its turned into minor league semi pro football- most college fans would like to see more COLLEGE in college football-this is just not interesting. IF I WANTED TO WATCH THE PROS I CAN WATCH IT ON SUNDAY!!!! The only people who are really interested are the fan bases of these two schools because everyone else knows its a rigged deck. By the way putting a patch on a jersey that said sec graduate was for me the last straw if Notre Dame did some bull^%#@ thing like that you'd never here the end of it- that should be the reason why you went to school bub. Like my Dad used to say "you can only put the shuck on someone for so long-eventually they get wise to the game"

 

[Legacy]

The cheapest ticket price in the secondary market for the semifinal Clemson - Notre Dame game in Dallas was $225, but rose to $250 before the game. The average ticket price was $666.

The cheapest price for the national championship in Santa Clara was $140 with the lower level price at $220. Average ticket prices soared in 2017 and 2018 when fans of Clemson, Alabama and Georgia could drive from their home states to watch games in Tampa Bay, Florida (2017) and Atlanta, Georgia (2018). When Alabama and Clemson met in Glendale, Arizona in 2016, the average ticket price was $593. The low ticket price for this year's NC was attributed to the fact that the final teams' fans could not drive to the game.

The average ticket price for the Clemson - Notre Dame game in Clemson in 2015 was $279. Tickets for the Notre Dame - Georgia game in South Bend ranged from a low of $425 apiece for upper level to as much as $7,000 for lower-level sideline seats.

Ratings for College Football Playoff national championship hit new low

Top Ten Markets in Ratings
Birmingham is No. 1 Local Market
Birmingham led the way among local markets, with an impressive 56.6 overnight. The top 10 markets:

Rank Market Rating
1 Birmingham 56.6
2 Greenville, S.C. 36.9
3 New Orleans 28.6
4 Atlanta 25.5
5 Knoxville 25.4
6 Nashville 24.3
7 Charlotte 23.4
8 Columbus, OH 23.2
9 Jacksonville 22.2
10 Tulsa 20.8

Viewership dropped as Clemson blew out Alabama in the largest margin of victory for a NC game since 2005.

 

[Irish#1]

Top Ten Markets in Ratings
Birmingham is No. 1 Local Market
Birmingham led the way among local markets, with an impressive 56.6 overnight. The top 10 markets:

Rank Market Rating
1 Birmingham 56.6
2 Greenville, S.C. 36.9
3 New Orleans 28.6
4 Atlanta 25.5
5 Knoxville 25.4
6 Nashville 24.3
7 Charlotte 23.4
8 Columbus, OH 23.2
9 Jacksonville 22.2
10 Tulsa 20.8

Viewership dropped as Clemson blew out Alabama in the largest margin of victory for a NC game since 2005.

So basically it was the SEC tuning into the game so they could thump their chest and yell S E C, S E C only to be disappointed.

 

[Legacy]

Next year's National Championship game will be in New Orleans on January 13th.

 

[Legacy]

Dabo - New contract

Dabo - New contract

A new financial standard has been set for a sport that still can’t find a way to meaningfully compensate the players largely responsible for its success.

Late Friday morning, Clemson announced that it has reached an agreement with head coach Dabo Swinney on a new 10-year, $93 million contract. The per-year average of $9.3 million is the largest ever for a college football coach. In July of last year, Alabama gave Nick Saban a revamped eight-year, $74 million contract while Texas A&M will be paying Jimbo Fisher $75 million over the next 10 years; those were the previous contract standard bearers for the sport.

Swinney will make $8.25 million in total compensation in the first two years of the deal — Saban was the highest-paid coach in college football at $8.3 million in 2018 — with those numbers rising to $8.5 million in Years 3 and 4; $8.75 million in Year 5; $9 million in Year 6; $9.25 million in Year 7; $9.5 million in Year 8; and topping out at $10 million in each of the last two years. Also included in the new deal, which runs through 2028, is a split-life premium of $1 million (executed by Sept. 1, 2019) as well as a pair of $1 million retention bonuses, each payable in the springs of 2021 and 2023.

Aside from the sheer magnitude of the dollars involved, arguably the most interesting aspect of the deal is the buyout. Specifically, language is included that would increase the buyout Swinney, who played his college football at Alabama and has long been rumored as Saban’s eventual successor in Tuscaloosa, would be forced to pay by 50 percent should he leave Clemson for his alma mater.

https://collegefootballtalk.nbcspor...-deal-is-biggest-in-college-football-history/

Does Saban have an escalator clause that he must be the highest paid coach in CFB?

 

[Legacy]

Where does the money go in Alabama's $174.3 million athletics revenue

Alabama quietly extended Nike deal that missed gold rush

Alabama approves new contracts for all 10 assistant coaches

Alabama Planning to Upgrade Multiple Athletic Facilities With 10-Year, $600 Million Initiative

 

[Legacy]

NCAA Doesn’t Employ—or Have to Pay—Athletes, Court Rules
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-12/ncaa-doesn-t-employ-or-have-to-pay-athletes-court-rules?srnd=premium

 

[Circa]

Baylor jumping 5 spots after winning against a garbage Texas team and Us staying put at #16 shows the way money and the politicization of the committee (JOKE) has gone.

8 Is the magic number and I'm not sure at 10-2 we belong but 4 Is the number that causes good people to go sideways.
When you have pressure to put a GARBAGE Pac12 team in the playoffs your gonna get ugly results.

 

[T Town Tommy]

A pretty good breakdown on the state of CFB and television rights. It isn't looking too good for the PAC-12, Big-12, and to a lesser degree the ACC. The SEC and the Big 10 appear to be in a position to dominate not just the revenue streams but the exposure streams.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/01...hing-like-this/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

 

[Legacy]

Arrest warrant for Odell Beckham Jr. issued over incident in LSU postgame locker room

LSU's statement:

"Initial information suggested bills that were exchanged were novelty bills. Information and footage reviewed since shows apparent cash may have also been given to LSU student-athletes.

"We were in contact with the NCAA and the SEC immediately upon learning of this situation in which some of our student-athletes may have been placed in a compromising position. We are working with our student-athletes, the NCAA and the SEC in order to rectify the situation."

 

[Circa]

Arrest warrant for Odell Beckham Jr. issued over incident in LSU postgame locker room

LSU's statement:

They (NCAA) really need to make an example out of LSU and this mockery of the rules.

 

[Bishop2b5]

They (NCAA) really need to make an example out of LSU and this mockery of the rules.

In all fairness, I'm not sure LSU is to blame. OBJ apparently did this on his own. I'd treat him just like a booster who gets caught providing illegal benefits: ban him from any and all association with the program for several years. Some states now have statutes making it a criminal offense to do anything that compromises an amateur athlete's amateur status. If Louisiana has such laws, arrest him and fine him.

 

[PapaIrish37]

The arrest in this case (at this time) didn't have anything to do with his handing out cash. It seems to be for simple battery for his striking a Superdome Security Staffer on the buttocks in the locker room (in one story it commented that the Security Officer was an off duty police officer). I agree that LSU doesn't seem to be at fault here other than the poor judgment of allowing him on the field or near the team.

 

[Circa]

In all fairness, I'm not sure LSU is to blame. OBJ apparently did this on his own. I'd treat him just like a booster who gets caught providing illegal benefits: ban him from any and all association with the program for several years. Some states now have statutes making it a criminal offense to do anything that compromises an amateur athlete's amateur status. If Louisiana has such laws, arrest him and fine him.

He Is filmed on the field after the game saying "I got you, I told you I got you". You can't look past what OBJ said.

Obviously nobody thought he would be so blatant and that's now caused a problem for LSU.
He obviously has been paid in his past stint in the college career, (just a hunch) and wants to pay it forward.
His arrogance should show that they need to burn it all down with obvious facts that are available to everyone.....
that wants to see past their love of kids playing for an education.
It's blatant and against the rules. Let's stop sugar-coating the rules that haven't been changed yet.

If this was equally allowed and not under a system of negligent culpability. I'd say yes It is just a mistake.

If the NCAA takes away our wins in 2012 for self-reporting some educational help that went too far. They need to show presidence with this case of money exchanging hands in front of everyone...

The poor kids don't have money to eat BS Is out the window.

 

[phork]

He Is filmed on the field after the game saying "I got you, I told you I got you". You can't look past what OBJ said.

Obviously nobody thought he would be so blatant and that's now caused a problem for LSU.
He obviously has been paid in his past stint in the college career, (just a hunch) and wants to pay it forward.
His arrogance should show that they need to burn it all down with obvious facts that are available to everyone.....
that wants to see past their love of kids playing for an education.
It's blatant and against the rules. Let's stop sugar-coating the rules that haven't been changed yet.

If this was equally allowed and not under a system of negligent culpability. I'd say yes It is just a mistake.

If the NCAA takes away our wins in 2012 for self-reporting some educational help that went too far. They need to show presidence with this case of money exchanging hands in front of everyone...

The poor kids don't have money to eat BS Is out the window.

I fully expect the NCAA to hammer Lousiana Tech over this violation.

 

[Irish#1]

In all fairness, I'm not sure LSU is to blame. OBJ apparently did this on his own. I'd treat him just like a booster who gets caught providing illegal benefits: ban him from any and all association with the program for several years. Some states now have statutes making it a criminal offense to do anything that compromises an amateur athlete's amateur status. If Louisiana has such laws, arrest him and fine him.

Spoken like a true Bama fan. lol

I don't think anyone is putting the blame on LSU, but they do need to get out in front of this and let the NCAA know they won't let this happen again.

They need to ban OBJ from the sidelines for a season, but he is the face of LSU in the NFL which helps recruiting so they need to come up with a solution that will satisfy everyone.

 

[Bishop2b5]

Spoken like a true Bama fan. lol

I don't think anyone is putting the blame on LSU, but they do need to get out in front of this and let the NCAA know they won't let this happen again.

They need to ban OBJ from the sidelines for a season, but he is the face of LSU in the NFL which helps recruiting so they need to come up with a solution that will satisfy everyone.

I'm not an OBJ fan at all. I think he's a typical attention whore, "look at me" prima donna WR. He's definitely a me first instead of team first kind of guy. He had to have known he isn't allowed to do what he did. He didn't care what problems it caused for LSU or some of its players. He was only interested in showing off and the attention it gained for him. Dude's a self-aggrandizing ass clown in my book. I feel bad for LSU. In their biggest moment, that dipshit is the biggest story of the week. I'd ban him from ever being on the sideline again until he grows up.