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I am once again begging folks to understand that TV markets are no longer-

the primary driving force behind conference expansion. It is not 2003 anymore. It's not even 2013. At this point, in 2026, thinking of legacy linear cable market impact is an absolutely antiquated way of analyzing who would be a candidate to go here or there. By 2030, it will just be even more antiquated. You can thank Big Tech, for better or worse, for killing legacy linear cable and with it the business model that previously drove college sports conference expansion, but, for all intents and purposes, it's dead, just like legacy movie theaters are dead - Big Tech did the exact same thing to the film industry and its business model that was around for 100+ years. Folks on here have to get it out of their heads that the people sitting in the Disney and FOX board rooms making decisions about what numbers to put on P2 conference media rights checks are thinking about adding, for example, Virginia Tech, and also thinking about built in numbers from the Washington, DC metro cable market. Yes, there's going to be some correlation there, because plenty of VT alumni live in the DMV, and those folks usually want to watch VT football. But, the days of automatic built in money from forcing people to purchase a conference network as part of a legacy cable package are numbered, which means that model is dead. The future (actually, it's not even the future, it's the present) is streaming apps, which means people have to choose to pay for the product, which means you have to bring a product to the table that people WANT to watch. And, on streaming apps, the BTN, SECN, and ACCN are just other boxes you can click, like another Netflix or Hulu show. And, just like for Netflix and Hulu, whether the parent company wants to spend money on a particular product, and how much, will depend entirely on how many people click on the box, and then keep the content on, and for how long. It's that simple. It also bears pointing out that the SEC and, to a lesser extent, the Big 10 are already the primary college football products being consumed in every major metropolitan area in the country, right now, today. Whether you're in New York City, LA, Detroit, San Francisco, Indianapolis, Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, or Miami, the vast majority of anybody that is consuming college football broadcasts in every single one of those areas are consuming content that involves an SEC and/or Big 10 football program. Neither conference needs to add any additional college football programs to gain some imaginary foothold in a major metropolitan market. If you don't think that's the case, I welcome you to check the Nielson ratings for the previous decade.
Posted: 07/27/2026 at 11:47 AM ET
(In response to this post by VTCALS72)

Thread Replies (18)

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This youtube makes a lot of sense to me...
TDVick 07/26/26 04:51 AM ET
2 things I don't understand about the B1G's approach to Southern expansion
Maroon Baboon 07/26/26 11:51 PM ET
My opinion, it is the old BC thing in ACC expansion
VTCALS72 07/27/26 07:54 AM ET
I am once again begging folks to understand that TV markets are no longer-
Baltimore_Hokie 07/27/26 11:47 AM ET
I agree with you the model is changing to something new.
VTHokie2000 07/28/26 12:18 PM ET
True - I'm sure the "cable channels via streaming" services like Hulu and-
Baltimore_Hokie 07/28/26 12:51 PM ET
FWIW blackouts still exist in the NHL. If Monumental Sports has the
VTHokie2000 07/28/26 01:31 PM ET
My inclination is that linear cable and "channels" will just die off.
Baltimore_Hokie 07/28/26 03:00 PM ET
But isn't what you call
VTCALS72 07/27/26 03:35 PM ET
There are no more "markets" in the sense that you're selling a bundle of-
Baltimore_Hokie 07/27/26 05:05 PM ET
All that still speaks to a process of bringing your product to market
VTCALS72 07/27/26 06:04 PM ET
Here's where I think our disconnect on this is-
Baltimore_Hokie 07/28/26 09:45 AM ET
Good post. Fully agree with the general theme of your 2nd paragraph
VTCALS72 07/29/26 08:27 AM ET
I always thought it a house of cards to build your business model on
Maroon Baboon 07/27/26 01:56 PM ET
Duke B-ball with UNC is huge money(maybe)**
MrFantastic! 07/28/26 06:58 AM ET
Agree with everything in your post 100%.
Baltimore_Hokie 07/27/26 02:13 PM ET
Agreed
TerryD 07/27/26 03:02 PM ET
I think the numbers changed signficantly once the SEC landed Texas and OU
TDVick 07/27/26 05:53 AM ET
Interesting take, here’ a clickable link for others to make it easier.
Stech 07/26/26 07:44 PM ET