Greg Sankey’s bland assurances otherwise notwithstanding, let me introduce to the eventual reason the SEC goes to a nine-game conference schedule.
College football’s version of the gig economy gets rolling Thursday, as teams across the country begin the annual ritual of playing one-time, non-conference games in exchange for huge payouts.
This season, well over $175 million will change hands just for teams getting on the field for these so-called “guarantee” games, according to an analysis of more than 275 contracts for matchups involving teams in the NCAA’s top-level Bowl Subdivision.
Top of the list? The Florida Gators.
The greatest payout this season is the $2 million Colorado State is getting from Florida for a game Sept. 15 that the schools created as part of package under which coach Jim McElwain fulfilled the $7.5 million buyout he owed for leaving the Rams to join the Gators after the 2014 season.
Boy, that turned out to be money well spent.
The trend, as the header quote from Iowa AD Gary Barta indicates, is upwards. At some point, you’d have to think the conferences are going to realize the math stops adding up.
Get The Picture 
Last October, Florida offered Colorado State two more games in Ft. Collins if they’d take Sharkey back.
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Well done, sir
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I foresee the day when big TV (ESPN) money disappears and athletic budgets take a substantial hit. Cable cutters and the backlash directed at ESPN will eventually drain the well.
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Agree, the day is coming. I wonder if B-M will be able to cut back on spending when TV money starts going the opposite way.
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You think the demand to watch games just goes away? Demand will be there, ads will be sold, rights will be paid…deals will be struck.
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As a cord cutter I haven’t watched a game on espn in 5 years. I’ll go to the home games & watch any games that happen to be on CBS via an HD antenna. For those away night games on espn, I’ve gone old school & listen to the radio broadcast.
I have no regrets about ditching cable/satellite & don’t miss espn. I can say I’ve never, ever seen the SEC Network.
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Those deals will be a lot less once the advertisers figure out the eyeballs aren’t there anymore. ESPN isn’t pulling that money out of their ass. In the longer run, the money will find another path (if CTE doesn’t kill the game completely), but there’s going to be a “correction” in the future and it will be painful.
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The eyeballs aren’t going anywhere…
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Yeah, it’s going to be a hard fall. As someone here pointed out, our “reserve fund” might help us for a while, but when the entire enterprise is sinking, it won’t help us that much. Only delay the inevitable.
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I tend to disagree the money will go away. If anything ESPN and broadcast networks may be getting a bargain right now.
https://www.si.com/college-football/2018/05/24/wwe-tv-deal-conference-media-rights-contracts
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We will move toward a model where you can purchase the rights to view individual teams or conferences independent of other television services. The issue here will be pricing and how much is offset by advertising. When consumers are directly paying for the product, their willingness to pay more relative to before (i.e. the amount for sports programming relative to their previous cable bill) increases and their willingness to put up with more commercial interruptions decreases.
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Sort of off topic….
Colorado State lost their opener to Hawaii last weekend. Offense has a transfer QB and was incredible at times but also went to sleep for a qtr or 2. Defense has a new DC named John Jancek. That name rings a bell… Anyway, defense sucks.
CSU plays their instate rival this Friday night and it’s worth watching to see if Bobo has the offense humming. If so, he could make a run at beating the Gators. Go Rams!
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Real question. How many 7 win seasons will it take for Bobo to get run out of Colorado Springs? Because it looks like he’s staring down the barrel of another one this year.
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First, CSU is in Fort Collins, which is almost in Wyoming. As for Bobo, I think he can be successful enough to keep the job for a a decade or more. People here in Colorado love the Broncos and barely follow CFB, so it’s easy for him to just be OK.
The problem I see for Bobo is he can’t win enough at CSU to jump to a major P5 team so he is stuck. Personally I’m hoping he has a couple of rough seasons and ends up as UGA’s next OC.
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Well the sports media has different ideas. https://www.denverpost.com/2017/12/16/mike-bobo-csu-rams-matt-stephens/
As for your last sentence you can get bent. I’ve seen enough Brice Ramsey’s in Athens thanks.
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after seeing what the Pit Boss has pulled in on the OL the last 2 years, I’d hate to see him leave, ever.
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Your link proves my point. After 3 straight seven win seasons CSU gave Bobo a raise and extension.
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Your use of the phrase “people here in Colorado” didn’t seem like a reference to the CSU administration. However the writer of the article is a person in Colorado ie the general population you seemed to be referring to. The writer has disparaging things to say about Bobo, and therefore the article does not, in fact, prove your point.
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You are right. I’m an idiot. Sorry to waste your time.
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I’m hoping he win enough there that he stays for life. I don’t want any part of the Richt era back in Athens. If you need to be reminded why, I invite you to replay first and goal from the four in Columbia in 2014.
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I agree about getting stuck at a place like CSU. They’ve got know that a coach who strings two or three 10-11 win seasons together is definitely getting poached by a bigger program. And a couple of 3-4 win seasons probably gets a coach fired there. So, that 7-8 win season with maybe an occasional 9 wins seems to be the sweet spot.
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“CSU is in Fort Collins, which is almost in Wyoming.”
It’s also almost in Denver. But what’s that got to do with the price of tea in China?
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A little Colorado humor. Fort Collins is sometimes referred to as the capital of Wyoming because of the number of Wyoming tags in the town.
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Yep, the Fightin’ Bobos against the Gators is an easy call for me. If Florida still sucks on offense, CSU might have an outside chance. But yeah, the CSU defense was non-existent. Bobo should be used to that, though.
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Him having his medical issues hasn’t helped CSU so far. They rolled up the Warriors for a bit there and almost clawed their way back into it. I think the Buffs cover.
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That game looked absolutely horrible except for CSU’s first drive on offense and then that crazy comeback bid they made at the end. Defense couldn’t get a stop to save their lives. Hoping they can string together some wins for Bobo’s sake. An upset against the Gators would be outstanding.
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An upset win against the Gators that eventually lead to them hiring Bobo as the HC in the future would be ideal from my vantage point.
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