Annually: $10B - NFL $7B - NBA $3.8B - College Conference Rights fees (combined, including CF playoffs) $700M-$1B: MLB, NHL, PGA Tour, NCAA Tournament, Olympics (annual payments) The NBA was at $2.7B before this season, and the big difference is NBC. They paid $2.5 billion to the NBA for their Sunday night & Tuesday package. This deal is huge because of the impact it is likely to have on other sports rights fees. NBC currently pays the NFL $2.0 billion for their Sunday night NFL package. Many reports say the NFL is pissed, because they get 2 or 3 times the audience of NBA games in that same Sunday night time slot. So now the NFL is opening negotiations early to get even more, and CBS-Paramount will be the first victim. CBS-Paramount pays $2.1B to the NFL for their Sunday afternoon package plus certain playoff games. The NFL is now negotiating with them for a raise to $3.0B annually, in exchange for guarantees by the NFL on the last few years of the deal. All because NBC likely overpaid for the NBA. So that $1B difference CBS is going to pay is now out of the mix for any sort of college rights payment. Don't be surprised if the NFL's other partners follow suit, and these media companies either stand pat or reduce allocations on college sports.

VT going to a 225 million dollar budget, is not exceptional its the requirement baseline to compete at the top tier. Every year. Its requiring unviversities to adjust how they raise money, (corporate, naming rights (and not local), real estate development etc, to operate basically a professional program). Folks augue where is purpose of universities. Universities are major corporations too. Schools like VT 35k and higher, huge R&D engines that supported by industry and Federal and State investment, and education. There is a gap between the smaller schools and the major state schools and national private univerisites. THese universities budgets are in the billions. Athletics create the branding and inational interest to invest in not only sports, but national recognition. Its culturally foreign to many older alumni Simply schools like VT are not the same in 1973 and now. For those who say enrollment is going down; its more to the small schools, schools like VT UVA have record number of applications and huge waiting lists. WHile the smaller schools are challenged. It; market driven.,.

FRankly for fans, its not our concern. VT is a 3 billion dollar operation, they will do what they needed to do. and the BOV will support it.

The BOV has directed, we are not going back, and they will be on the CFO (and Sands) butt, until they gets with the program. Until the new way with athletics as a core funded mission of the university and processes is really integrated, the BOV will be all over the operation, and budget formulation of VT and the strategic plan, to make sure it is EXPLICIT in every thread of VT operation. not a side business line,.

have no clue what the job of the CFO entails so stop pretending.