Uh-oh, nothing good is going to come of this idea where college football is concerned.
Wall Street is serious. Yahoo! Sports and Clarion-Ledger alumnus Ross Dellenger reported:Over the summer, as college administrators scrambled to unearth new cash for the onset of athlete revenue sharing, a svelte, bespectacled man visited with leaders at some of the most high-profile athletic departments in the country. He presented to them his solution for the unwieldy entity of college football. It is called Project Rudy. “His claim is that everybody will be saved,” said one power conference athletic director. As SEC and Big Ten leaders prepare to meet Wednesday and Thursday in Nashville for a historic summit of the industry’s two powers, there is an unreported undercurrent driving the discussion: Project Rudy. Spearheaded by former Disney executives-turned-investment professionals, Project Rudy is a super league-esque concept — separate and more simplified than the one made public last week — that incorporates football programs of the four power conferences in a 70-team structure. The model preserves the four power conferences, expands the postseason, overhauls scheduling, tiers revenue distribution and, most importantly, infuses as much as $9 billion of private capital cash into the system. The architects behind the model work for Smash Capital, a venture capital and private equity firm with offices in Los Angeles and New York. Representatives from Smash Capital declined to comment when reached last week, but their concepts are outlined in a 14-slide presentation obtained by Yahoo Sports. Over the last four months, athletic directors at more than 25 power conference programs have seen the presentation, many of them in person during meetings with Smash Capital representatives. Others held only phone or Zoom calls about Project Rudy, its name a nod to the famous Notre Dame walk-on, Rudy Ruettiger. Three of four power conference commissioners were shared details of the model directly from the architects as well (those from the SEC, Big 12 and ACC). In a recent acquisition, the architects of Project Rudy successfully recruited to join their team one of the most respected people within the college space: former Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick. It is a stunning move for someone who just six months ago sat on the College Football Playoff governing committee as one of the most powerful decision-makers in the industry. “Of all the ideas I’ve seen, this one makes the most sense,” said Miami athletic director Dan Radakovich, who has seen the presentation. “Conferences are kept intact, commissioners still have an important and valuable role, and there is the ability for schools to make increased money from bigger matchups and more playoff games."......
Kingfish note: Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl.....
17 comments:
What is this about "athlete revenue sharing"? I though NIL was for student athletes to make money from their name, image, and likeness, instead of schools hiring college kids to play football.
And are people really considering making it official and turning over college sports to a bunch of finance bros? I guess the "venture capitalist" dorks are no longer satisfied with "fantasy football" and trying to make it to the World Series of Poker, and want to gamble with real people instead of plastic chips and crypto. F those guys.
All this reveals the utter hypocrisy of these institutions of "higher education". They will sponsor professional athletics and further devalue their academic missions if the price is right. None of these powerhouses will argue that the opportunity to access their academic programs is in itself worth an athletes time and effort. Instead, since they must compensate the students like professionals, they are excused if they seek all the money the market will bear like any other professional franchise. Next they should seek an exemption to allow them to host gambling and take bets at their stadiums. Why not?
Surely he knows a school cannot be involved with NIL money.
"If capitalism was condemned to be hanged, it would put in a bid on the rope". - Old Lefty Joke
I say bring it on. People will finally see college football for what it is. I predict fans in droves will walk away and either watch real professional football or the local division II team. DI has been ruined, give it a few more years.
I could make an argument that ESPN has already purchased the SEC and has been making annual payments for the past many years. Sort of like a "SEC - Lady of the evening" and her "ESPN - John". Only thing missing is a 4 year contract with the University Pimps and the strings of hookers who play the game on Saturdays.
Time for these institutions and “employees” to pay income taxes and ad valorem taxes like the rest of us.
You men just now figuring everything and anything, even your beloved football, can be sold? Women have known this since The Garden.
"I predict fans in droves will walk away and either watch real professional football or the local division II team. DI has been ruined, give it a few more years. "
Negative ghost rider, CFB will continue to grow. The same folks who watch CFB watch the NFL also. No one will ever watch DII, those programs will continue to die off.
For the last few years, folks have bemoaned NIL/Collectives/the portal and CFB has just bigger, better, more interesting and drawn higher ratings. It's not going away, but will rightsize to about 60ish programs.
Will these geniuses have a CTE lottery soon? Where fans can bet on who develops it and when? That way the fans can be winners just like the players already are.
Best post this week. Well done.
"Real" professional football died 20 years ago with the advent of "targeting" and "you can't touch Tom Brady" rules.
When they stopped teaching young people to "protect yourself" while playing football (thus the reason for the helmet and pads as a backup)...., the sport died, and the showbusiness truly kicked in.
"money can drive some people out of their minds...Money Money Money Muuuuney.... Muuuuuney" - The OJAYS
If that's the case, then these colleges, should not get taxpayer money. Why should taxpayer money go to Professional sports teams.
Because America's Corporate Media is corrupt as the World Banking System only interested in one thing. Keeping the sheep in their pen while fleecing them.
All of them are short-sighted fools including our two Mississippi SEC schools. 15+ years of ESPN revenue money, if just any percentage of it had been set aside to build a trust/endowment type structure where eventually they could pull money from forever. But all of them spent it on the now.
Between NIL and the revolving portal D1 is just not as fun for me personally.
I am not mad about it. Change is part of life.
I'm also getting older so its not the end of the world for me to simply opt out of college sports and find other things to enjoy just as I did with the NFL. I am sure many will continue to enjoy it and that is fine by me too.
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