4 ms·

> "I hate it too, but its clearly profitable" That's not clear to me. Google tells me there are nearly 800 university football teams in America. Alabama i

> "I hate it too, but its clearly profitable" That's not clear to me. Google tells me there are nearly 800 university football teams in America. Alabama is obviously top-tier and is doubtlessly profitable. But how many of the other hundreds are profitable?

headcanon 7y ago
The statement was scoped to NCAA Division 1 schools, which I imagine all have profitable football programs. However most of those also happen to be top-tier academic and research schools as well (there are of course exceptions), so I'm comfortable scoping the conversation to those schools.
- partialrecall 7y ago
  Well as I said previously, I take issue with the scheme as a whole. Furthermore, don't many players, coaches, etc, transfer up from lower divisions when they demonstrate themselves to have exceptional merit? It's not clear to me that Division 1 wouldn't be impacted if the lower divisions were eliminated. If that's true, then lower divisions are effectively subsidizing higher divisions, so it's a mistake to consider the matter on a case by case basis rather than holistically.
  - Rebelgecko 7y ago
    For players, there's some transfers but I certainly wouldn't say "many"
  - eitally 7y ago
    No. It's rare for players to transfer up. In fact, the ones that do transfer are usually the ones who do have professional prospects but aren't currently projected as lottery pics (and some who are, like Jalen Hurts transferring from Alabama to Oklahoma).
- eitally 7y ago
  I don't think that's necessarily true. It's true for the Big 5 "Power" conferences because they negotiate enormous media contracts, but if you're a mid-major school in a 2nd or 3rd tier city, and especially if you're not a consistent winner, I think profitability is a very high bar. https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidching/2018/04/17/big-tens-rights-deal-threatens-to-widen-financial-gap-between-even-the-biggest-conferences/#aaaffa25bf26 https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidching/2018/04/17/big-tens-... https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/espn-reaches-12-year-deal-to-air-college-football-playoffs/ https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/espn-reaches... On that latter deal with ESPN, note that the $470m/yr ESPN pays for the CFP games is relatively in the same ballpark as the NFL rights for Monday Night Football games ($600m/yr).

headcanon 7y ago

The statement was scoped to NCAA Division 1 schools, which I imagine all have profitable football programs. However most of those also happen to be top-tier academic and research schools as well (there are of course exceptions), so I'm comfortable scoping the conversation to those schools.

partialrecall 7y ago
Well as I said previously, I take issue with the scheme as a whole. Furthermore, don't many players, coaches, etc, transfer up from lower divisions when they demonstrate themselves to have exceptional merit? It's not clear to me that Division 1 wouldn't be impacted if the lower divisions were eliminated. If that's true, then lower divisions are effectively subsidizing higher divisions, so it's a mistake to consider the matter on a case by case basis rather than holistically.
- Rebelgecko 7y ago
  For players, there's some transfers but I certainly wouldn't say "many"
- eitally 7y ago
  No. It's rare for players to transfer up. In fact, the ones that do transfer are usually the ones who do have professional prospects but aren't currently projected as lottery pics (and some who are, like Jalen Hurts transferring from Alabama to Oklahoma).
eitally 7y ago
I don't think that's necessarily true. It's true for the Big 5 "Power" conferences because they negotiate enormous media contracts, but if you're a mid-major school in a 2nd or 3rd tier city, and especially if you're not a consistent winner, I think profitability is a very high bar. https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidching/2018/04/17/big-tens-rights-deal-threatens-to-widen-financial-gap-between-even-the-biggest-conferences/#aaaffa25bf26 https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidching/2018/04/17/big-tens-... https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/espn-reaches-12-year-deal-to-air-college-football-playoffs/ https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/espn-reaches... On that latter deal with ESPN, note that the $470m/yr ESPN pays for the CFP games is relatively in the same ballpark as the NFL rights for Monday Night Football games ($600m/yr).