FBS Football split proposal could affect BE in many ways

[DumpsterFireA10]

871 schools sponsored varsity level Football teams during 2012. NCAA I - FBS accounted for 124 of them. In that category, 14,525 men participated in football. The athletic scholarships limit per school equalled 85; average team size was 117.

We know, with some degree of certainty, that a large portion of these schools do not operate on a positive EBITDA basis, even with the new television money they receive. The truly profitable schools, like Ohio State, Florida, Alabama, Texas, Michigan, etc. make the money they make via large - down right huge - consistently filled stadiums and strong marketing (i.e. apparel sales, etc.) along with their conference distribution, NCAA Unit Money, bowl money, etc.

Now take the 85 number. Assume a salary of $50k per player on average (for giggles). That equates to $4.25 million per year per school. I want to see the look on, say, the Wake Forest's AD when he contemplates that number.

Frankly, I still can't see them wrecking the basketball tournament. I can see them weeding out the conference champion from conferences like the Southeast Northwest Middle School conference comprised of schools most people couldn't pinpoint on a map if their lives depended upon it. But some amount of breadth and David/Goliath flavor had better be a part of it, or it will go stale, which means it will lose some of its economic value.

You win for best description of a low major conference. Well done. And the word Dumpster wasn't even used.

[Bill Marsh]

871 schools sponsored varsity level Football teams during 2012. NCAA I - FBS accounted for 124 of them. In that category, 14,525 men participated in football. The athletic scholarships limit per school equalled 85; average team size was 117.

We know, with some degree of certainty, that a large portion of these schools do not operate on a positive EBITDA basis, even with the new television money they receive. The truly profitable schools, like Ohio State, Florida, Alabama, Texas, Michigan, etc. make the money they make via large - down right huge - consistently filled stadiums and strong marketing (i.e. apparel sales, etc.) along with their conference distribution, NCAA Unit Money, bowl money, etc.

Now take the 85 number. Assume a salary of $50k per player on average (for giggles). That equates to $4.25 million per year per school. I want to see the look on, say, the Wake Forest's AD when he contemplates that number.

Frankly, I still can't see them wrecking the basketball tournament. I can see them weeding out the conference champion from conferences like the Southeast Northwest Middle School conference comprised of schools most people couldn't pinpoint on a map if their lives depended upon it. But some amount of breadth and David/Goliath flavor had better be a part of it, or it will go stale, which means it will lose some of its economic value.

You've put your finger precisely what is the problem. You've gone in one direction; I'd go in another.

With the ACC's TV contract, Wake Forest actually can afford $4.25 million without any problem. If they don't like it, they're still way better off than they were under their old revenue stream just a decade ago. If they decide they can't live with it, they're free to leave the ACC and their will be a long line of candidates waiting to take their place.

Paying players is at the heart of this situation and it's why the P5 would run their own basketball tournament despite losing the charm of David vs Goliath. It's simply not feasible to run a tournament with true amateurs who receive no compensation vs professionals who are drawing substantial salaries. At least David currently has a chance of recruiting a very good player here or there so that he can be competitive in the tournament. When players are being paid, recruiting will completely dry up for schools who don't pay players. The distinction between P5 basketball programs and everyone else will be even sharper than the current difference between D1 and non-scholarship D3.

[Bill Marsh]

They will never be allowed to only pay revenue sport athletes. Title IX will never allow such disparate treatment, especially when football rosters are so large compared to all other sports.

I would have thought so too,but then I'm not a sports attorney. Apparently that's not the case. Read the attached and/or click on the link at the bottom for the original Time article of 2 weeks ago:

Http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/2013 ... onize-now/

All that article talks about is the need for players to unionize. Title IX prevents disparate treatment of athletes based on gender and also mandates equal access. So if a University pays its football players and basketball players, it will have to pay everyone. Title IX is federal law that applies to all divisions, all schools, college, high school, middle school, etc. The BCS school may have a lot of power, but not as much as they would need.

I would have thought so too, but that's not what they're talking about. They're talking about paying players in revenue producing sports - including women's programs that produce revenue. I don't know if it can be done, but they seem to think that it can be.

Read the Time article, which you can access from the link at the bottom of the page of the first piece which Inlinked.

[Bill Marsh]

I don't know if the NCAA would go along with that. I realize that the tourney is where they get all their money, but I'm pretty sure there would be very strong legal challenges to overcome in order for the P5 to be able to play under different rules (Georgetown puts out some pretty good lawyers, I hear, and Marquette has the best sports law program in the country). If they keep their other sports under the same rules as the other NCAA schools, then we have a possibility. If not, then we are looking at a scenario where the P5 will have to have a complete brake from the NCAA. In that event it would be necessary to take along several non-football conferences in order to fill out their non-revenue sports, and the Big East is probably the top of that list. Hopefully the college sports bubble bursts before they have a chance to fully go through with this either way. Without the massive influx of tv dollars, this all becomes moot.

Well said. That's exactly why I hate SLU's involvement in the Dumpster Fire so much. If they split, there is no way the Atlantic 10 goes with the bigger schools. If that happens, every school not in the Big Division becomes nationally irrelevant.

You need to relax a bit man. If anything, this will compel the key basketball-only leagues to ally with each other. WCC, MVC, Horizon, A-10, and the Big East will vote with each other and lobby for their interests.

I don't see what difference that would make, these 5 conferences are obviously intent on going their own way either within the NCAA structure or outside of it. All of the lobbying in the world isn't going to change that. No one can force them into a situation that they don't want to be in.