Expansion Rumors…

My biggest question is this... how much more money will we be really getting in the long run? Right now B1G and SEC have loads of cash going to each school from their media rights. I hate to say it but the more teams you add, the more you water each conference down and TV viewership across the board isn't going to change. Where is all of this extra money going to come from to pay the schools? Schools like GT will end up with a huge raise and it seems to me the "old" teams currently in the B1G and SEC will end up bringing home less. The conferences will basically have the same wealth, just now they will be spreading it out farther (and thinner).

EDIT: I'm not saying this is a bad thing because it seems like it will level the playing field a little more but it's just weird that schools like Bama, UGAg, Ohio State, Michigan, etc. are on board with all this expansion stuff as those types are in line to lose the most.
 
Take out downtown ATL proper and you have an ok place. Most of Peachtree St south of the connector is an armpit, though. OTOH, they can't stop building enough apartments all around because of businesses relocating or expanding. Somebody likes this place especially bankers who are funding all this.
 
I think ATL is a prime target for B1G. Sure there are UGAg fans all over the state and many in ATL but there are also tons of B1G transplants living/working in ATL too. Also they would love to get a foothold in the middle of SEC country. Sure they could go after UNC or Duke but football is what's driving all this. Also I don't think having a presence in NC is nearly as valuable as in ATL. Can you imagine Atlanta hosting the B1G championship in the Benz? It would make the saltiest of salty SEC tears and I'm all for it.
 
GoGATech said:
My biggest question is this... how much more money will we be really getting in the long run? Right now B1G and SEC have loads of cash going to each school from their media rights. I hate to say it but the more teams you add, the more you water each conference down and TV viewership across the board isn't going to change. Where is all of this extra money going to come from to pay the schools? Schools like GT will end up with a huge raise and it seems to me the "old" teams currently in the B1G and SEC will end up bringing home less. The conferences will basically have the same wealth, just now they will be spreading it out farther (and thinner).

EDIT: I'm not saying this is a bad thing because it seems like it will level the playing field a little more but it's just weird that schools like Bama, UGAg, Ohio State, Michigan, etc. are on board with all this expansion stuff as those types are in line to lose the most.
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B1G media deal ($430M/year) is already bigger than the SEC ($300M/year) deal with espn. Sec deal runs through 2031. B1G deal expires next year and is expected to approach $1.2B/year. Adding new marquee teams and brands will drive that even higher.

Edit to add: ACC deal is $240M/year through 2027.
 
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The ACC needs to pull a rabbit out of their hat. Stop being the conference all the others point at and laugh. The Big12 was raided and don't have near the cache as the ACC but rumors are swirling that they will take in some PAC 12 teams.
 
TechRush said:
The ACC needs to pull a rabbit out of their hat. Stop being the conference all the others point at and laugh. The Big12 was raided and don't have near the cache as the ACC but rumors are swirling that they will take in some PAC 12 teams.
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The ACC is going to dissolve and there will be 3 conferences
 
TechRush said:
The ACC needs to pull a rabbit out of their hat. Stop being the conference all the others point at and laugh. The Big12 was raided and don't have near the cache as the ACC but rumors are swirling that they will take in some PAC 12 teams.
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I think the problem with this is none of the ACC schools are committed to the ACC and would rather be part of the B1G or SEC than add to the ACC to continue being a second rate conference. The way things work anymore is you could make moves to remain a viable conference one year and become obsolete again the next year. You're either in the B1G/SEC or second rate.
 
TampaBayJacket said:
I think the problem with this is none of the ACC schools are committed to the ACC and would rather be part of the B1G or SEC than add to the ACC to continue being a second rate conference. The way things work anymore is you could make moves to remain a viable conference one year and become obsolete again the next year. You're either in the B1G/SEC or second rate.
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Well said. But that is what you should expect when the conference pats itself on the back for bringing in Syracuse and BC, and expected people to be impressed
 
I cannot see an end game here that's not the total dismantling of the traditional regional conference system. I mean the way things are swinging I would say we should just totally remake the entire NCAA universe. What exactly would that look like? Not sure but it appears that's where we're headed. Somewhere down the road.
 
GoGATech said:
I think ATL is a prime target for B1G. Sure there are UGAg fans all over the state and many in ATL but there are also tons of B1G transplants living/working in ATL too. Also they would love to get a foothold in the middle of SEC country. Sure they could go after UNC or Duke but football is what's driving all this. Also I don't think having a presence in NC is nearly as valuable as in ATL. Can you imagine Atlanta hosting the B1G championship in the Benz? It would make the saltiest of salty SEC tears and I'm all for it.
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I would venture to say there are more soccer fans in Atlanta than Uga football fans. The population dynamics of this city are mind boggling.
 
Put me down for the SEC. We have built in former rivalries with a few schools and it enhance our recruiting. You're seeing guys come cross country to play in the SEC for the perceived "better competition" mantra. You couple our academics with an SEC schedule and I could see our recruiting get better over time. Bobby Dodd would be rocking if say a Florida, Bama, LSU, Tennessee, Auburn and now OU/Texas came to Atlanta.....

We don't really have any of that with the Big10. Add in travel costs for a game in East Lansing as well as the weather in late fall.....No thanks.
 
YellowJacket4Life said:
Put me down for the SEC. We have built in former rivalries with a few schools and it enhance our recruiting. You're seeing guys come cross country to play in the SEC for the perceived "better competition" mantra. You couple our academics with an SEC schedule and I could see our recruiting get better over time. Bobby Dodd would be rocking if say a Florida, Bama, LSU, Tennessee, Auburn and now OU/Texas came to Atlanta.....

We don't really have any of that with the Big10. Add in travel costs for a game in East Lansing as well as the weather in late fall.....No thanks.
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Would make travel much better, sell out every game, afford to get a good coach etc.. I would be very happy.
Our division would be:
Georgia
Clemson
Tech
Auburn
 
BigDanT said:
Would make travel much better, sell out every game, afford to get a good coach etc.. I would be very happy.
Our division would be:
Georgia
Clemson
Tech
Auburn
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Half of our fans are thrilled that our ACC pod consists of Clemson, UL, and Wake for öööö sake, happy to avoid FSU. You're going to make someone reply with a bigcry post, be ready.
 
BigDanT said:
Would make travel much better, sell out every game, afford to get a good coach etc.. I would be very happy.
Our division would be:
Georgia
Clemson
Tech
Auburn
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We would sell out, but I think it would probably be bad for Tech's fanbase and program in the long run. Going to a game at BDS would be cheaper than going to an actual home game for fans of those teams, and for many of them it would involve less travel.

I wouldn't be surprised if our home games against each of those schools was > 75% opposing fans. Tough to build fan support that way, even if we start producing decent results.
 
WracerX said:
You only pull Pitt if you are afraid the SEC will add them. And even then you probably don’t.

The B1G draw their money from local cable operators. It they can get enough houses to sign up for their network, they force the cable company to add the B1G network to their basic package. They have enough Penn State and OSU fans to do that already in the Pittsburgh market. I don’t know if adding GT gets them over the hump in the Atlanta market or not (there are a lot of B1G alum in Atlanta already). GT+FSU/Clem probably does it. FSU+Clemson might do it without us. For the B1G it is very much about selling their network.
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I have WOW as my cable provider in Augusta, and we already have the Big10 network here. Not sure if Augusta Comcast already has it or not.
 
YellowJacket4Life said:
Put me down for the SEC. We have built in former rivalries with a few schools and it enhance our recruiting. You're seeing guys come cross country to play in the SEC for the perceived "better competition" mantra. You couple our academics with an SEC schedule and I could see our recruiting get better over time. Bobby Dodd would be rocking if say a Florida, Bama, LSU, Tennessee, Auburn and now OU/Texas came to Atlanta.....

We don't really have any of that with the Big10. Add in travel costs for a game in East Lansing as well as the weather in late fall.....No thanks.
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What about travel costs to go to OK or Texas, not to mention HOT weather in the Fall?
 
With the caveat that none of us actually know what any of the power brokers are thinking, the consensus here seems to be that the B1G sees value in GT while the SEC would only reluctantly take us as a defensive maneuver. Frankly, I'd hope we cast our lot with the B1G if there are competing offers on the table at the end of this. Worst case scenario, of course, is that none of this amounts to anything for us and we end up stuck in the ACC with BC, Pitt and some Big 12 castoffs.
 
Supersize that order mutt said:
What about travel costs to go to OK or Texas, not to mention HOT weather in the Fall?
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There will be some crossover pros and cons, sure. But in totality, away game toad trips would be much cheaper and better and drivable for the most part sans 2 or 3 maybe? In any given season we would play Florida, Tennessee, Auburn, Bama, LSU, SC, Kentucky, Ole Miss and Miss State, Vandy (who doesn't love Nashvegas) which are all drivable & fun road trips. The only outliers are Aggy, Texas, OU & Mizzou.

Compare those to road trips such as Rutgers, Illinois (cost of a weekend trip to Chicago is far more $$$) Indiana, Purdue, Northwestern, Iowa and Mich State & Minnesota. The only schools that would be fun trips are Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State & Wisconsin, the latter being very far. I've been to Ann Arbor, not much going on there and it's the quietest 110,000 people you'll ever be around lol.

The tailgating and energy is just different in the south and we are used to the dog days of summer. Not so much freezing temps with rain or snow.
 
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