KevFu
Registered User
The whole point- 10 years ago- was that schools were having trouble selling basketball to students and fans outside the major programs.
That's not really different today.
NCAA D-I MBB attendance has risen by 7 million fans over the last 20 years, but the AVERAGE attendance has actually fallen. It's "only" 4900 per game.
Because there's FIFTY more schools than 20 years ago, and those new guys are small. More schools are "moving up" into that "big time status" (Gonzaga, VCU, Butler for example). But for every one of those, there's a half dozen new DI teams with low attendances building from scratch.
Conference realignment has had a massive effect as well. MBB attendance is a lot like NHL revenue. The "average" is misleading because 2/3 are actually "below average" because there's 6 "Toronto" conferences, 6 Boston "conferences" then 10 "Buffalo" conferences and 10 "Phoenix/Long Island" conferences.
I also recognize the key issue when it comes to college... that football coach IS going after the hockey money. And the gymnastics money. And so on. The AD usually finds a way, but outside those signature schools (a PERCENTAGE of the BCS, not their whole), it's not long-term sustainable. That's partly because the TV contracts aren't long-term sustainable.
I don't think that last part is true. The TV contracts are sustainable for two reasons:
#1 - Conferences are forming TV Networks, giving them subscriber fees, like the Big Ten.
#2 - The consolidation of power into few mega-conferences and tons of have-nots increases the demand for their TV rights.
You'd think that with four major companies: ABC/ESPN, CBS, Fox and NBC and five major conferences now (SEC, Big 10, Big XII, Pac-12 and ACC) that the demand would decrease, but the SEC and Big Ten are way ahead of the others. Limited TV sets in Big XII territory, lack of prowess for ACC football, time zone issues for Pac-12 and the perceived dominance of the SEC makes for TWO marquee properties, three secondary properties, and the other conferences are filler (with additional quality properties for basketball).
There's a reason ESPN was broadcasting Big West, then Mountain West, now WCC basketball games: It was cheaper than paying the Pac-12 that big BCS money when fewer people were still awake and watching on the East Coast. The reason the Pac-12 is back on ESPN is because ESPN had to protect themselves in case they lost the SEC in the last negotiations (remember the TV deals are ALL-SPORT contracts, it's football driving the bus.
Before the "Bowl Coalition" eventually led to the BCS, the talk was always of the "Superconference." That's the schools I'm talking about being the "percentage" of the BCS. The endgame of this greed is really that.
What's funny is that people think this conference realignment stuff is "new" and that the greed is new. This has been going on for DECADES. There's been a season without a conference membership change only EIGHT times since 1908!
There IS no "end game." It's just capitalism.
But the point with all this is: The talent has DEFINITELY gone down in college basketball, and the rich get richer and more "poor teams" move to Division I to chase the dream of exposure.
Someone brought up Florida Gulf Coast. They are a new Division I school (2007-08). They moved up because if they fund Division I basketball, win their conference tournament and millions of people see them on the bracket they gain exposure. If they pull an upset on CBS, their university gets a ridiculous amount of exposure which improves the University as a whole. It not only brings in the money for improvements to facilities, it raises admissions standards because as more kids apply, the University can be more selective.
Gonzaga's size, status and academic rating has dramatically risen as their MBB team had success. That's why they do it. And that's why the reform needed isn't paying the athletes what they are "worth." They're getting more than they are worth as professionals because people don't care about anything but MAJOR LEAGUE pro sports.
The reform that's needed is finding a way to shrink the gap between haves and have nots without pissing off the BCS so they bolt from the NCAA.
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