How much money would the B1G lose if Michigan left?
Due to the equal revenue sharing that the B1G has, lower rung schools like Northwestern get to suck the teet of the cash cow that is Michigan... and they show their appreciation by conspiring against Michigan. So, I would love for Michigan to leave the B1G over this injustice and the shitty treatment from schools that should be thanking them. Make them beg Michigan to stay and force them to make amends somehow... otherwise we're leaving!
Anyway, does anybody have an exact # or rough figure of how much $$ each school would likely lose if Michigan were to leave?
November 11th, 2023 at 11:21 PM ^
Somewhere between a bunch and $0.
Probably
November 11th, 2023 at 11:21 PM ^
C’mon man. This talk is BS. Michigan isn’t going anywhere. And HOW could someone possibly have an answer to tour question?
IMO - M loses leverage because USC, UCLA, Washington and Oregon are joining. No longer the Big 2.
November 11th, 2023 at 11:27 PM ^
Agree with you in the point in time. In five years it will be Um, OSU and USC. That’s it. Sec will be three or four teams. And who gives a shit about the particulars. This is about being the team in prominence as the ncaa becomes a minor league. This is a point in time that will define the next 20 years until college footy is completely destroyed. God bless the student athletes. These fox contracts are for you. Go Blue.
bet
November 11th, 2023 at 11:29 PM ^
footy? really?
November 11th, 2023 at 11:29 PM ^
So, why did Those 4 leave PAC--12 if they have such a leverage?
UM might leave. There is a chance for that to happen.
Who cares how much other teams lose. I don't give a shit how much they make. No money is worth how UM is being treated.
November 11th, 2023 at 11:47 PM ^
Michigan isn’t going anywhere just like Nebraska, USC, UCLA, Washington, Oregon, Texas and Oklahoma.
Money and feelings will determine what Michigan does
November 12th, 2023 at 1:16 AM ^
They're not going to withdraw before the current GOR expires, but I'm sure leaving after that is on the table. I'm also sure the lawyers are looking at whether it can be argued the Big Ten materially breached.
If we go, Michigan is one of the most valuable brands, we will command money no matter where we go. The SEC is probably not a culture fit, but either the ACC or ND-style independency with an ACC alliance could possibly work. A radical option would be getting the more valuable half of the ACC to dissolve their conference and create a new conference. Maybe that would force ND to join a conference, and, depending on the timeframe, maybe Oregon and Washington could be enticed. Remember, they are only getting half shares to start. I think it's plausible their Big Ten exit fee could be offset by full shares in a new conference.
A conference with Michigan, FSU, Clemson, Miami, ND, UVA, UNC, Duke, Georgia Tech, Va Tech, Stanford, Cal, Oregon, and Washington...would love to see the TV value of that.
November 12th, 2023 at 4:32 AM ^
That Conference proposal actually sounds refreshing and like a lot of fun. Fun is still allowed in this sport, right?
November 12th, 2023 at 6:26 AM ^
100% sports are supposed to be fun. You know what isn't fun? Your business partners digging up minor infractions then gas lighting the sports world into thinking its a bigger scandal than Jerry Sandusky at Penn State. Time for new business partners!
November 12th, 2023 at 12:28 AM ^
Bullshit. It's a good question. People are highly paid to figure this out. It's an answerable question, even more so with AI.
November 12th, 2023 at 5:05 AM ^
I doubt you need AI. Viewership of individual sporting events has been going on for a very long time. Fox and other networks have a very good idea of the numbers for each game played and base what it and its partners pay the B1G based on numbers and advertising dollars.
Michigan at Penn State (noon ET, ABC) was the most-viewed game of Week 11 across all networks with 5,942,000 viewers. It ranks as ABC’s most-viewed noon or afternoon game of the season and fifth-best game overall. The audience for Wolverines-Nittany Lions peaked with 8.7 million viewers as Michigan edged Penn State for the win.
November 11th, 2023 at 11:23 PM ^
More than 58 million. That's the payout to each school. BigTen would fall behind the SEC in terms of largest revenue generating conference.
November 11th, 2023 at 11:55 PM ^
Good lord; that’s 812 million. Idk numbers or anything; people smarter than me could figure out how many eyes each team draws, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Michigan was responsible for bringing in almost a quarter of that.
November 12th, 2023 at 12:01 AM ^
58 Million seems like a wee bit less than we could negotiate with ND and Texas and a network or two.
November 12th, 2023 at 12:36 AM ^
If each school gets an equal $58 million payout, then if you extract Michigan from the media rights based on Michigan’s viewership it would easily be responsible for twice that amount. So over $100m per year would be extracted from the B1G contract and the same added to another conference. It could easily be more. But none of this happens unless Michigan wants to leave and unless they can prove the B1G breached their contract and they can rescind their grant of media rights.
November 12th, 2023 at 12:50 AM ^
“But, but Ryan Day was mad and said they were a bunch of cheaters. I didn’t know it would cost us anything”
Sincerely,
The little 12
November 11th, 2023 at 11:24 PM ^
Departure needs to be a serious consideration if a good landing spot is found.
November 12th, 2023 at 12:24 AM ^
if a good landing spot is found.
That won’t be an issue. There’s not a conference in the country that wouldn’t move heaven and Earth to bring Michigan aboard.
November 12th, 2023 at 1:19 AM ^
It's about finding a conference that works culturally and financially, though. SEC checks the money box, but can we stomach the culture? The ACC is a perfect fit culturally, but can the money be worked out?
November 12th, 2023 at 2:02 AM ^
Enough about the SEC and culture. The Big Ten had Penn State coaches raping kids, an MSU doctor (and Michigan doctor) doing the same, MSU on steroids beating down defenseless players postgame while their head coach beat down himself on the phone. 13? Head coaches grabbing their pitchforks and torches going after a coach for literally NOTHING after he already served a 3 game suspension for serving his players two hamburgers (literally NOTHING also). Oh and the commissioner who probably took a $5m bribe likely from an OSU influencer (speculation, but there's something odder than a used vacuum shop there for sure) delivers the knockout for the angry mob.
What has the SEC done that's worse? They cheat. OSU can match that in aces. At least they don't gang up on Alabama or Georgia when they are on top due to peti-ness.
November 12th, 2023 at 2:08 AM ^
The SEC has a long history of turning each other in to the NCAA particularly Alabama and Auburn. Its like a sport to them.
Only in recent times have they all kind of agreed probabtions hurt everyone, they just hide it and accept it better now.
November 12th, 2023 at 4:08 AM ^
Yea I agree with this re: culture. This drumbeat about culture fit in the SEC just reinforces the image people have about Michigan being elitist and snooty.
And as much as people here hate to admit it, and whether it’s justified or not, Michigan’s program doesn’t appear to be upstanding to the casual college football viewer right now.
November 12th, 2023 at 7:50 AM ^
And somehow the committee that is in charge of determining whether the commissioner is entitled to go way beyond his authority in determining the premature punishment is 75% made up of PSU and OSU - the two teams that stand to gain the most from pitchforking Michigan. The Big Ten is a complete joke, designed for the benefit of Ohio State.
November 12th, 2023 at 7:51 AM ^
Completely agree about SEC and fit. We are supposed to be the leaders and why not bring that to the table. Look. Texas is a pretty damn good school academically, and athletically and almost on par with UM. I would argue that Texas is a better fit than any of the current B1G teams and on par with USC. So, nothing wrong with SEC being a fit
November 12th, 2023 at 5:43 PM ^
I’ve always interpreted the “culture” thing as an academics focused thing, in addition to a willingness to bend the rules a bit.
The SEC has a few schools (Texas, Vandy, Florida) with high quality academics, but the SEC has 10 schools that rank outside the top 100 universities in the US compared to just 1 each for the Big Ten and ACC.
A school like Michigan cares about academics. They care about prestige in academia. So they would want their peer institutions to be like minded. Conference affiliation is about more than just athletics, I would seriously think Michigan would want to align themselves with other academic focused universities as well as good athletics.
Michigan would not be short on options at all. I don’t think the SEC is the best fit, the ACC is but all options would be on the table.
November 11th, 2023 at 11:26 PM ^
You single out Northwestern but I’m pretty sure that their representative voted in our favor. If it had been a unanimous vote you know that Petitti would’ve said it but he clearly didn’t.
November 12th, 2023 at 12:30 AM ^
I spend too much time on this site, but I still missed the vote tally. Is it known exactly who voted against us, or even just how many?
November 12th, 2023 at 12:48 AM ^
I don’t think so at this point but we know it’s a 4 person panel do the vote had to be at least 3-1. I still truly believe that had it been unanimous that Petitti would’ve emphasized that. The other 3 voters were PSU/OSU guys. In fairness, I don’t know but I do t think it takes a rocket scientist to figure out the voting results. For the official tally we’ll probably need to wait for Bacon’s book to come out
November 12th, 2023 at 6:30 AM ^
Have you seen a breakdown of the votes somewhere?
November 11th, 2023 at 11:26 PM ^
I think we are looking at this all wrong. Leaving the Big Ten will be a complicated and long process. It may hurt them long term, especially in competition with the SEC, but they will still be a mainstay in college football.
What UofM should do is burn the house down from the inside. How much more damage can be caused from within? Push the pressure points none of them want to even talk about (anti-trust, players as employees, etc.) Go full Daenerys, knowing that when it is all a smoldering ruin Michigan will still be standing.
November 12th, 2023 at 7:54 AM ^
Along this viewpoint, we keep gnashing over the bias against UM, but what is it about osu that keeps that same bias at bay? I mean, they have a lengthy history of playing fast and loose with rules and have a historic record that is in the same ballpark as UM...what makes the b1g accept them and hold 'us' as a pariah, because this has been the case longer than Harbaugh's tenure as coach.
November 12th, 2023 at 11:37 AM ^
I want to leave the Big Ten. But whether Michigan stays or leaves, we absolutely need to start working with other schools on the "super conference" and the post NCAA college football landscape. In a few years there probably won't be a Big Ten, or an SEC, or ACC, or NCAA football. So you might as well work to be on the forefront of what comes next.
November 11th, 2023 at 11:29 PM ^
The lower-rung schools are not the ones conspiring. I doubt Northwestern cares a jot whether Harbaugh gets suspended or not. It's the coaches whose losses to Michigan drop them from a winning season to a losing season that care.
Having said that, it is deeply disturbing that not one Big Ten program is raising any public objection to the elevation of Tipetti to dicktater of the conference.
November 11th, 2023 at 11:31 PM ^
Irreconcilable differences is an understatement at this point…not a matter of “if” anymore (I thought Brian was being facetious when he said SEC on the round table), but it’s become increasingly obvious that it is a matter of “when” do we leave the Big Ten.
If the article in the Yale review on antitrust law holds true, then it follows that the advanced in-person scouting rule is in itself in violation of law. If the NCAA is taken to court by UM over the initial infraction being illegal, then Stallions has a case for personal damages and may rake in quite a bit of cash. The NCAA as we know it will cease to exist. If Michigan then leaves the conference as the Regents suggested as the Conference did not follow due process, then it’s beyond reasonable to go independent and tell them all to go to hell. In fact, it becomes the de facto decision. Michigan is self sufficient. This is a business relationship. And a guy in Oakley’s blew up the whole conference for being on a sideline of a Thursday night game. Amazing.
November 12th, 2023 at 5:15 AM ^
Being independent in a 12 team CFP seems like it could be pretty workable, but I would hope that leaving the conference also means blowing up the NCAA.
November 11th, 2023 at 11:32 PM ^
I'm intrigued by the idea of leaving the B1G, partly over this whole ridiculous scenario, partly because the conference isn't really "the conference" anymore, and partly because I'm just one of the weirdos who likes to watch the world burn.
But I don't see it as realistic, and when people talk about the SEC, do we really think Michigan would receive better treatment in that conference?
November 11th, 2023 at 11:37 PM ^
To your last question, yes. Because it’s practically impossible to imagine the SEC somehow treating Michigan worse than the Big Ten is right now. And they will continue to do so give the bad blood that they’ve drawn.
November 11th, 2023 at 11:45 PM ^
I couldn’t picture all the teams in the sec ganging up on umich the way the big ten has
November 11th, 2023 at 11:56 PM ^
It'd be more challenging to make trips to road games (I live near Philadelphia) but somehow I envision one trip per year to Baton Rouge, Athens, Tuscaloosa, etc., being more memorable than Piscataway NJ.
November 12th, 2023 at 5:52 AM ^
November 12th, 2023 at 7:58 AM ^
Eugene is pretty cool IMO, but yea otherwise I agree.
November 12th, 2023 at 7:26 AM ^
SEC has its issues, but honestly the big is a dogshit conference. it's two nationally relevant teams, plus one more decent team, and the rest are dogshit. Which, that used to be fine when we used to be a midwest family, but if the likes of indiana and minnesota are content to add more dogshit teams like rutgers and nebraska, we don't really belong anymore.
November 11th, 2023 at 11:33 PM ^
All of it.
November 11th, 2023 at 11:40 PM ^
There are a lot of variables, but the sum total is more than $100〽️ per year.
SEC would be good for increasing recruiting footprint in the South.
November 12th, 2023 at 12:39 AM ^
Yea I wouldn’t like joining the SEC. If we’re being honest, we can’t compete with those teams down there. Not unless we do a 180 on NIL. We just don’t have/recruit the talent. ACC is a better option especially if we can bring notre dame.
November 11th, 2023 at 11:40 PM ^
You don’t want to leave the B1G as a first option, you want to win the lawsuit against them on good faith/fair dealing grounds and basically force the B1G to back the fuck up and leave us alone as a condition of us staying.
Defeating the B1G in (court) battle is mostly about setting the eventual peace on our terms. (Petitti’s head metaphorically on a spike, and they drop their entire crusade)
November 12th, 2023 at 6:31 AM ^
M is in a conference with a constellation of conniving and unethical rivals and a feckless, easily-manipulated commissioner. Winning a lawsuit might mitigate the damage this time around, but will not change the underlying conditions.
November 12th, 2023 at 8:15 AM ^
I think your words make sense but it won’t matter if they win. What will determine your feelings and those of all who love Michigan is what happens if they do have that dossier and share it. If the Big does nothing comparable or treats it differently then I see an immediate effort to leave. Before 2030. Independent seems likely as there will be more movement in 2030.
November 11th, 2023 at 11:49 PM ^
Bout $3.50
November 12th, 2023 at 12:05 AM ^
Goddammit Cartman!