Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems: 14 Schools Prepare for Latest Wave of Conference
Realignment as July 1 Nears. - Brett McMurphy
“On Saturday, more than 10% of all FBS programs will officially move to a new conference. Add in next season’s changes in the SEC and Big Ten and last year’s Sun Belt moves, and nearly one-fifth of all FBS schools will have changed conferences in a three-year stretch between 2022-24. And there could be even more movement depending on what happens out West.”
42 Replies
3y
NBC 7’s Monica Dean and Derek Togerson break down what’s happening in the Aztecs potential conference switch, and what the immediate future might hold for the school, the Pac 12, and the Mountain West.
Video: 7 minutes
Link:
https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/delays-in-sdsu-quest-to-join-pac-12-conference/3253496/
(In response to this post by WBGV)
3y
“Upon receipt, and before President Adela de la Torre considered the weight of the university’s letter to the conference, Nevarez used SDSU’s formal notice to promptly remove de la Torre from the Mountain West board. She then initiated separation of SDSU from the conference for the 2024-25 academic year, and shockingly notified SDSU that the university would not receive the estimated $6M distribution the university was due for 2022-23. Ouch.”
(In response to this post by WBGV)
3y
in state of Florida. - Berry Tremal
“The towers of Kennedy Space Center's launch pads are visible from the FBC Mortgage Stadium pressbox, 35 miles away. Quite fitting, considering 30 percent of NASA employees are graduates of the University of Central Florida, which opened in 1968 as Florida Tech and was designed as a technical school for the space program. Current football coach Gus Malzahn has been known to don a spacesuit to get his players and fans jacked up for a ballgame.”
. . . . .
“SpaceU, the Knights call themselves, and they should. UCF had 11,000 students in 1978. Today, UCF has 12,000 engineering students and 12,000 employees. Enrollment has been on a meteoric rise, to 68,442, trailing only Texas A&M among American universities.”
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3y
But if they do struggle I think they will get better quickly. Orlando is a fun place for young people
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VPI_1998
3y
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Stech
3y
I don’t care what you say, that’s very very painful for the fans. We know from having a handful of losing seasons recently, it sucks no matter what the Athletic Department is making.
*Conference Football record, is the never winning record part.
** Edited by Stech at 6/28/2023, 9:12:47 AM
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Vippie1
3y
but their fanbase dwindled as the losing streak extended :-)
(In response to this post by Stech)
Rutgers went 8-5 in 2014….Maryland has had 3 winning seasons….But….
I’m assuming the reference is to conference record. Maryland has had 5 wining conference records in last 32 years. Rutgers, 5 in 29. They both suck. Indiana has had 2 winning conference seasons in 29 years. Minnesota has 5 winning seasons in last 31 years. Lots of suck going on
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Truthahn
3y
Maybe not that bad.
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EDGEMAN
3y
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Mercury
3y
New presidenf came in and saw huge debt in athletics and in the red. And they were planning more capital expenses and no increase in fan attendance or contribution.
He was the provost at illinois and knew the big ten and its revenue. Actually alot of rhe big 10 behind the scenes operation is in champaign. Big ten gave them an offer they couldnt refuse. Debt removed; running in the black even with nominal investment by alumni and fans.
So maryland got to clear the books; participate in a preeminent conference for branding and frankly run without risk from lack of support.
Also maryland was tired of acc carolina based decision making process. They were a founding member and really ignored.
University leadership is not even looking back or cares
(In response to this post by Stech)
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2hhoop3
3y
Loh was at Iowa not Illinois, and he was never at Illinois. You need to do more research on B1G operations. The debt was not removed. Eventually they may run in black but, not starting out, nor are they out of debt yet.
Maryland's move had everything to do with their own operating and financial ineptitude. Their move was likely the only financial lifeline that even gave them a shot at getting out of the hole, which they are not out of yet. It also gave Wally Loh a chance to fulfill his dream of being B1G president through the backdoor, because he was unlikely to ever get there through the front door. They might have known the ACC would not/could not bail them out but, the lack of support was a BS excuse. In fact, Maryland administrators ignored their sinking ship for years just sticking their head in the sand. They never even explored the option. Finally, would you care to share with the board how you determined University leadership is not looking back OR CARES? My conversations tell me they are fine and adjusting to B1G and very glad their current address insulates them from much of the upheaval of conference realignment. However, there are plenty who still care about why, and more importantly HOW, they got there and it includes leaders, staff and fans.
(In response to this post by Mercury)
3y
They borrowed the money from the B1G for their ACC exit fee and for some of their debt. They did that while only getting the same amount they would have received from the ACC under the ACC's contract. Now that they will soon be getting a "full distribution", they will now have to start repaying their loans and will be bringing in a lot less money than the other schools in the conference.
Rutgers on the other hand just kept operating their athletic department with the knowledge that they would be underfunded but would reap the windfall when they started receiving a full share which is now.
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3y
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2hhoop3
3y
is consistent with my understanding. Rutgers did keep operating and has kept spending money like a drunken sailor(see my post below). The frightening thing, if someone is a NewJersey taxpayer, is the amount of university and government funding that continues to subsidize their athletic deficits and the admission by their administrators that these deficits are expected to continue for the remainder of the decade. Given those statements it would be interesting to see how and when their leaders project a turnaround. We're a similar situation to occur at any Virginia school taxpayers AND politicians would be screaming bloody murder and demand a plan/fix well before the decade's end. The Rutgers situation, while sad, is extremely humorous given how in earlier times a pompous group known as the Rutgers 1000(100?) used to lecture VT on what they perceived to be misplaced athletic priorities. The Rutgers group along with UNC prof Sue Estroff(?) appear to be dining on substantial helpings of crow.
(In response to this post by mrcaniac)
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Mercury
3y
If fhe new president had a meeting first with acc leadership - acc would have assisted md get right as a founding member. However cleaned house and rhe new team knew nothimg about the acc and also swofford was stuck in greensboro and didnt outreach rhe new guy until too late and after the new guy called his big Ten friends. Acc would have could have helped maryland and all confidential.
In terms of being in hock- no matter what fans think- the president was able to write off md debt and mo problem; big Ten will take care with them and so what if reduced outlays - the ledger book is clear. And to a new oresident that is great.
I hate losing maryland but they did what they needed to do. To the acc leadership poor case of nurturing the entire membership not just the 4 and tame fsu.
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2hhoop3
3y
before continuing to spread more misinformation. Jim Delaney initiated things with Maryland not the other way around. There is a big question what the ACC could have done to help but, they were never given the chance. Your contention that he cleared the ledger is an outright lie.
The facts are both Maryland and Rutgers continued to spend money they didn't have. Rutgers is in a perpetual deficit situation and their leadership has admitted that is unlikely to change before the end of the decade despite massive government and internal university loans. Maryland still has debt, has run deficits for the majority of their time in the B1G but, they did run in the black in their most recent year $55K on $92MM in revenue which still leaves them running a large cumulative deficit since B1G entry and lots of debt still to repay. The reality is the best thing that happened for both Maryland and Rutgers was they now have an address in a conference whose stability is not in question in conference realignment. However, the financial positions of the individual schools remains precarious at best and, depending upon how someone looks at the ledger, maybe even worse. Again, educate yourself before posting misleading, at best, and outright wrong information, at worst.
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RJHokie
3y
almost non-existent relative to other Big Ten schools. Rutgers probably is too.
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2hhoop3
3y
ticket sales have been an ongoing issue for both football and basketball at Maryland. Everything is upside down at Rutgers and despite multiple investigative reports on the Scarlet Knights things never get fixed. Not really surprising that either school faces dwindling donor support given the way their organizations have been run. While VT is not perfect and this board reasonably criticizes financial decisions made from time to time, this place would have exploded with the magnitude of negligence and financial mismanagement that has gone on and still persists at both Maryland and Rutgers and it is only magnified by the fact that all that spending has not yielded better results on the field or court.
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jmanatVT
3y
having issues selling tickets...
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Mercury
3y
and VT is equivalent to the Maryland in alumni base in the DMV....,
So lets set the stage.
largest Alumni base in DMV VT and Maryland tied....
largest alumni base in charlotte VT
whose alumni base is the most energetic??? hmm
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jmanatVT
3y
in all time attendance at the Byrd (2005 and 2009, respectively). #1 is 59k against PSU in 1975. #2 out of 70 years of games, ~300? 3 is WVU in '83, #4 is Alabam in '74. There's a reason the 2014 VT@UMD game was scheduled to be played in the 71k M&T Bank Stadium.
There was an article out there that VT Football had the best TV ratings in the DMV, but that was old and I can't find it. Not sure it would have changed though.
Link:
Lane Stadium North
(In response to this post by Mercury)
3y
When we talk about the ACC, we need to always remember this aspect. The ACC's limitations and challenges are almost all self created. And all we need to do is look at the state of NC to see the schools who are the source of so much past drama for the ACC.
I completely understand MD wanting to leave the ACC, beyond just the money aspect.
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EDGEMAN
3y
...they left the ACC. I think there were about 5% of the fan base that supported that move, and it was for financial issues only. They preferred the ACC.
Would guess the majority of the fanbase likes the B1X, but the old school fans still miss the ACC.
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Stech
3y
They only fill the stadium by having other fans teams like Penn State and Ohio State there. They basically gave up football for money.
If we join one the P2 one day, I hope we don’t send up the surrender flag for football, and rise to the occasion like we did when we joined the Big East and ACC. Many predicted we would be at the bottom of the Conference in both, and even though we are down now, I think we have hit bottom are bouncing back up.
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Mercury
3y
We need to not take the membership as ‘ we are jusf fortunate to be here attitude but an opportunity to lead and achieve at a higher benchmark
Frankly i thought at vt beginning to the acc vt atttude was we wanted fo be here for 50 years and we jusf happy to be here and then coasted. All our goals met.
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EDGEMAN
3y
MDU was always a basketball school, not a football school.
(In response to this post by Stech)
The B1G justification for taking RU and UMd was it "helped" Penn State.
But I live in Penn State country. When it's time to play Maryland or Rutgers, eye rolls and sighs abound.
So I think it goes both ways.
I for one miss Maryland in the ACC. Others thought it no big deal when they left, and even thought Louisville was an upgrade. But not me. It was a bad sign for the ACC. We are now a conference where schools leave. Of course, the ACC reaction was over the top, crazy big exit fees and long GOR and media deals. So to me, the damage of UMd leaving was far worse than many think.
** Edited by Maroon Baboon at 6/27/2023, 1:02:13 PM
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EDGEMAN
3y
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3y
cares about UMD and Rutgers. They’re “oh yeah” teams, as in “oh yeah, those guys are in the conference. I forgot.”
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2hhoop3
3y
the angle the B1G peddled, however, everybody knows it was purely about the in state footprints and cable subscribers in the MD/DC and NJ/NY metro areas and the fact that Maryland and Rutgers were both drowning from an athletic financial perspective. Funny thing is that after 9 or 10 years neither Rutgers or Maryland has changed their habits they're just spending more money and not really competing at a higher level. Maybe I have just missed the reports of their glowing financial results and rapidly improving athletic programs?
(In response to this post by Maroon Baboon)
3y
they had not moved?
(In response to this post by 2hhoop3)
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2hhoop3
3y
financially unstable and no guarantee they would have been any more competitive. My issue was mostly with the B1G's comic justification, which was akin to someone urinating in to a fan and trying to convince you it was raining. The funny part is that both Maryland and Rutgers have historically, up until their move to the B1G, been the source of periodic reports about how poor the athletic financial management has been. Since their moves, those periodic reviews have been much less frequent. Maybe that is a reflection of the decline in reporting, the B1G PR machine, school or state politicians not wanting to disclose how the actual benefits have stacked up to the promises made to secure support for the move, etc.. Fact is Rutgers was already scraping the bottom so they had no where to go but up. The Maryland evaluation is likely a little less straightforward. Seems like a ten year anniversary would be a nice cutoff point to evaluate results to date. No doubt both, like Vandy, are pleased to have hitched a ride on a winner, regardless of their own results or contribution to that success.
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Stech
3y
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HOO86
3y
I'm enjoying the new faces we have in the ACC. That one, MD, is good riddance. Part of why they aren't succeeding in the B1G is why I don't want UVA to go there. The core members of that league have no interest in UVA.
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HOO86
3y
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EDGEMAN
3y
When this all shakes out, hopefully we'll make it into the few.
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Stech
3y
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