It will be for a while. But don't you think that revenue gap will shrink in the direction of G5 money after a few years? Much to the chagrin of FSU and Clemson, which teams draw big audiences on their own....without playing another big or bigger name?
It's pretty big ...
We are talking 4 million v. 40 million. Even if it is just 25 million that's big.
And, I don't know that many people have thought through the next big increase. That's the back breaker in 2026 - the CFP money. Here is what I know:
- CFP money will go from $450 million-ish, to $1.8 billion-ish. Close to 4X. Some of that will go to the G5 as it does now. But, there are no requirements that it do so.
- The shares will be based more on a distribution schedule like March Madness. Here is an example of how there are units based on the games played and the amount of revenue derived.
Each 2022 unit is worth $338,887 paid to the conference of the participating school. Each unit has a six-year shelf life, meaning one unit this season is worth $2,033,322 overall. Those payouts are split evenly among the conference's 11 schools. The conference office does not take a share. For a conference like the MW, one NCAA Tournament game equaling $2.03 million is huge money. So having teams advance in the NCAA Tournament is a big deal. Unfortunately, that hasn't happened much of late.
So, you have 12 teams, and a total of 11 games. Some money will be skimmed off the top, but the rest will be paid out in units based on the number of teams that get in and advance. As you can see, this benefits the SEC and the B1G greatly, where you can anticipate 3-4 teams per year, and with the SEC at least those teams going deep. I actually think there may be 15 units instead of 11, with the 4 byes getting a unit for getting a bye.
In any event, this is where it gets crazy and the SEC will go from $72 million per year per team, to $110 million per year per team. And when the ACC gets 1 or 2 in, their numbers will go up. Not sure about the PAC and/or the B12.
What people see as ACC 40 million v. SEC 72 million could easily go to ACC 55 million, SEC 110 million.