Is there a reason to take Colorado to the B12 over say...Memphis? Which is better in both basketball and football? Arizona/Arizona State/Memphis/Utah would make the B12 run college basketball.
You could argue that the teams Colorado plays brings the eyeballs more than Colorado itself. What has it done in the last 10-20 years besides be an annual doormat? Memphis-Baylor is an infinitely more intriguing matchup both in football and basketball than Colorado-Baylor. Is the argument that the Denver Metro is going to out-eyeball the Memphis metro? I can see it from a #s standpoint (3 mill vs 1.3 mill) but I don't see CU being a huge eye ball draw from Colorado as it is. Unless they became a relevant program but the B12 is probably more talented than the P12 in both football and in basketball. And in a weaker conference it still couldn't hold its own. Also I get that it's a fools errand to try and make sense of decisions made in college athletics. There's #s and TV#s and more than anything else.....egos.
I'm not gonna ask you to take what I say on faith, but I've been following a lot of this crapola the entire Summer and I remember hard to argue with metrics pointing out very plainly Colorado's brand being significantly more valuable than Memphis. It's not that Colorado is great, it's more that Memphis is kinda terrible (low ratings, small market, etc). I think if you dig into it you'll find the same. I think people are also sleeping on how significantly more attractive the Big 12 would be with 4-5 sports programs in the Mountain or Pacific timezone. With that kind of inventory your conference slate could cover 12PM to 9PM kickoffs. That's very appealing to networks.
You also have to take into account that the Memphis basketball team will be on probation for 7 of every 10 years, in perpetuity.
And any success their football team is having is likely temporary. They'll get good...coach will get hired away...start over...rinse...repeat.
When is the last time any of those schools been in a final 4? Arizona is the only big time program of the 4.
I know it's about all about money and brand, but academically CU is significantly better than Memphis. I'm hoping that the B12 cares about that, but who am I kidding that' probably the last thing they are worried bout.
The unfortunate reality is that basketball does not matter at all when it comes to the money getting thrown around right now. Even Kansas football pulls in $13M per year compared to an annual average of $6M for a storied basketball program. It's part of the reason that UCLA is in so much debt despite having a basketball resurgence.
Football games are events. Alums and family plan vacations around home football games; on the other hand Basketball games are just that, just another game.
IIRC blue blood basketball programs (KU, UCLA, Duke, UK, etc) only barely scratch the bottom of the P5 (aka top 65) in terms of football revenue. Football is driving the bus here and it isn't particularly close.
https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/SB-Blogs/Newsletter-Media/2022/08/08.aspx Fox agreed to the "A" package months ago. As part of its deal, it will carry a football game on the broadcast network at noon ET, plus football games on its cable channels FS1 and BTN, in which it holds a 60% stake. The conference’s deals with CBS and NBC are not finalized. But it looks like the two networks are in the lead to split a "B" package. CBS would pick up games for the 3:30pm ET window, and NBC would carry games in primetime. NBC’s streaming service, Peacock, also would wind up carrying some games. The Big Ten is expected to be the first college conference to eclipse $1 billion per year in rights fees once all is said and done. If ESPN moves on from the Big Ten, look for the company to be especially aggressive in trying to secure Big 12 and Pac-12 rights, as well as renewing its deals with the NCAA Championships and College Football Playoffs.
Maybe I’m not reading the numbers right but this seems like a significantly bigger deal than the SEC’s. Yet the projected payouts per team we’ve seen didn’t seem that much different between the two conferences.
The league unveiled seven-year agreements with Fox/FS1, CBS, NBC and the Big Ten Network, which will take the Big Ten through the 2029-30 academic year. The conference also announced a deal with Peacock, the direct-to-consumer streaming platform from NBCUniversal. Peacock will exclusively stream four conference football games per year in addition to four nonconference games involving Big Ten teams. The Athletic has confirmed that CBS and NBC are each paying around $350 million per year for their Big Ten packages, and sources said that the Big Ten’s new rights agreements are worth more than $7 billion over the seven-year term. That would make it the largest rights deal ever for a college athletic conference. Each contract is for seven years, which means the Big Ten will go to market again before the SEC’s new contract with ESPN expires in 2034. Fox landed the Big Ten’s premier package of games, which it will carry in the noon ET window. Starting in 2024, CBS will broadcast a Big Ten game at 3:30 p.m. ET, followed by a Big Ten game on NBC in primetime. Fox has increased its number of top selections in the football games draft in addition to maintaining the first overall selection for the next seven years; Fox will also broadcast four Big Ten championship games during the term. CBS, FOX and NBC will each televise designated Big Ten football championship games during the term of the agreements. Fox will broadcast the league’s title game in the odd years (2023, 2025, 2027 and 2029), while CBS will broadcast it in 2024 and 2028, and NBC will air it in 2026. Fox/FS1 will carry up to 27 regular-season football games in 2023, then up to 32 games per year from 2024 onward. BTN will broadcast up to 41 games in 2023 and a maximum of 50 games per year afterward. NBC will broadcast 16 regular-season Big Ten games in 2023 and then 15 games per year from 2024 onward. Games on NBC will simultaneously stream on Peacock. NBC will carry a primetime game on Black Friday as well. Because the SEC will remain on CBS through the end of the 2023 season, the Big Ten will have a partial schedule on the network its first year. CBS will carry seven Big Ten football games as well as regular season and postseason men’s basketball as well as, for the first time, the women’s basketball tournament final. Starting in 2024, CBS will broadcast up to 15 Big Ten football games per season, including an afternoon game on Black Friday. All of those games will be broadcast on CBS, and every game CBS airs will also stream on Paramount+. As for basketball, CBS will broadcast up to 11 regular-season men’s basketball games in 2023 and will carry 15 games (13 of which will be conference games) from 2024 onward; CBS will continue to carry the Big Ten tournament semifinals and the championship game, which leads into the CBS Selection Sunday show each March. Peacock will stream 32 regular-season men’s basketball games (20 conference games) in 2023-24 and 47 games (32 conference games) from 2024-25 onward as well as the Big Ten tournament’s opening night doubleheader. Peacock will also stream 30 regular-season women’s basketball games (20 conference games) per year starting in 2023-24. Fox/FS1 will carry a minimum of 45 regular-season men’s basketball games per year, while BTN will carry a minimum of 126 men’s games per year. BTN will air the four Thursday games and four quarterfinal games of the Big Ten men’s basketball tournament.
A lot can be read from the deal. Not that it was a secret but the built in escalator just confirms that super conferences are pretty much right around the corner. Not quite sure why the SEC was playing coy all of a sudden. Coupled with the news that the CFP board has started talking about pulling away from the NCAA. Think things could start moving quicker than some of us thought.
