OT: Introducing Radical Football
Remember back in December when Mark Cuban talked about challenging the BCS?
He's a man of his word. Introducing....Radical Football
The formation of the company was first reported by The San Diego Union-Tribune. Radical Football has at least one employee: Brett Morris, 40, who has experience as president of a national marketing agency focused on sporting goods and as Notre Dame's promotions coordinator.
"[Cuban is] real engaged in this," Morris told the Union-Tribune while in San Diego representing Radical Football as a judge in a contest for college students who pitched plans to change the football postseason.
Cuban's basic idea is to keep the bowl system but make it more profitable for programs to qualify for his playoffs than to participate in a bowl.
"Put $500 million in the bank and go to all the schools and pay them money as an option," Cuban told ESPNDallas.com in December. "Say, 'Look, I'm going to give you X amount every five years. In exchange, you say if you're picked for the playoff system, you'll go.'"
February 19th, 2011 at 2:59 PM ^
and appreciate some of the things he has done in the past, but he's missing the mark on this one. This isn't really about money as much as he wants it to be. Delany has admitted that they are leaving hundreds of millions of dollars on the table .
http://host.madison.com/sports/college/article_16d08bb6-6612-11df-a460-…
"Delany is quiet and circumspect, but has been in the headlines before. In 2005, he joined other officials in telling Congress that the Bowl Championship Series was preferable to a national championship playoff because it preserved tradition, kept the regular season relevant and wouldn't impact academics. He said that even while conceding that "an NFL-style football playoff would provide three to four times as many dollars to the Big Ten as the current system does. There is no doubt in my mind that we are leaving hundreds of millions of dollars on the table.""
Even tBCS director admits there's more money to be made from the playoffs
Q: Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany has said before that he believes there's a lot of money being left on the table, hundreds of millions of dollars, by not going to a playoff. How do you argue against there being more revenue at the end of the day if you went to a playoff system?
Hancock: No one knows how much more revenue there might be. And what part of the revenue might go out of the regular season and into the postseason, as is happening with basketball, frankly? We all think there might be more revenue for the postseason, but we don't know for sure. . And isn't it interesting that so many times those of us in college sports are criticized for making more money and here they're criticizing us for leaving money on the table, not taking more money, so we can meet the needs and experiences of the student athletes? I find that fascinating.
http://www.sportingnews.com/ncaa-football/feed/2010-12/bcs-title-game/s…
So while it's nice that Cuban is gaining publicity for a playoff, I don't think this is something you can just throw money at.
February 19th, 2011 at 3:13 PM ^
is money given out to executive chairmen, coaches and AD for making it to the BCS bowl game. They are only more interested with cash in their pocket more than revenues for the school.
February 19th, 2011 at 8:21 PM ^
...And to lock out the Cinderella schools that could pull an upset like in the NCAA Basketball Tournament. Playoffs work fine everywhere except D1, so all of the missing school/travel arguments are pure BS.
February 19th, 2011 at 11:56 PM ^
but D-1AA is D1 and they have playoff. :-P
Your point are taken nonethless
February 19th, 2011 at 8:19 PM ^
Bill Cosby endorses products besides Jell-O and Coke? Never saw that coming.
February 19th, 2011 at 3:18 PM ^
I don't like it. It seems very mercenary to just throw money at such a tradition rich sport. As much as the current system may have problems, I do like that things are now unified. I don't like Cuban trying to buy his own way.
February 19th, 2011 at 3:28 PM ^
So the idea is that the universities of the FBS want to participate in a playoff but some nameless evil entity is keeping them from participating? That is pure nonsense.
If the schools wanted a playoff, there would be a playoff. Mark Cuban saying, "Hey, schools, I have a playoff for you to participate in" is not going to attract the FBS universities who are already choosing, again and again, not to have a playoff.
Cuban has fallen into the trap of thinking that "The NCAA" and "The BCS" are restricting the rights of universities. Unfortunately, though, "The NCAA" and "The BCS" are both made up only of the universities, and those organizations are electing to have a playoff field of exactly 2 teams. It stands to reason that only a minority--and likely a vanishingly small minority--of universities would have an interest in participating in a playoff, and I would venture a guess that exactly zero FBS universities would participate in a playoff that is not sanctioned by the NCAA, since participating in a non-sanctioned playoff is specifically against NCAA rules.
February 19th, 2011 at 3:37 PM ^
I have a feeling that this would get exactly zero participation, for as someone said, the moment you stepped on Cuban's field of choice, you would be in violation of NCAA rules. Why get paid to play in such a game when you would have to give that money right back basically?
February 19th, 2011 at 7:48 PM ^
XFL + NCAA = Radical Football.
Estimated half-life: 1.3 years.
February 19th, 2011 at 3:46 PM ^
February 19th, 2011 at 4:21 PM ^
Can't happen; there have to be <50% at large bids for an NCAA tournament.
February 19th, 2011 at 6:03 PM ^
The NCAA can really change any rule they want to any time they want to. If they wanted to get rid of that rule, they could do it in 48 hours in a hastily-arranged "emergency meeting." If the money and political pressure is right, the rule will be a thing of the past, remembered almost as fondly as the "no dunk rule."
February 19th, 2011 at 6:21 PM ^
They would have let him buy the cubs.
February 19th, 2011 at 7:19 PM ^
Was really hoping that this would be a league for old trotskyites to run the Wing T or something. Surely a missed marketing opportunity.