Let's rethink the $8.1 billion deal ...

[WhosYourDawggy]

Warren deserves credit ... as terrible as he was with Covid, he killed this contract.

But, per the Athletic, the travel costs for the 2 LA teams is going to double or triple, and it will also increase for the other 14 teams as well.

The Bruins spend $8 million a year on travel and game expenses for their athletic programs, according to financial information reported to the NCAA. That could explode if UCLA charters half the time, costing as much as $13.1 million and more than doubling if every sport charters with an estimated cost of $23.7 million, according to the conference source.

So, the two LA teams are going to spend between $5.1 and $15.7 million more in expenses. Call it $10 million more per team, but I'd bet it will be the higher number. I would assume those will be absorbed by the conference and not borne solely by the LA teams. That also means that the other 14 teams have to travel a couple times a year to LA. I have no idea how much more that will cost, but let's put it at $2 million more per team.

That's $20 million for the LA teams, and $28 million for the other 14 teams, for $48 million per year. Multiply that my 7 years, and you get $336 million.

So, it's really a 7.8 billion contract, still huge. And each team will get about $3 million per team less due to expenses.

Keep in mind this is just for 2 teams - @duckboy33 might keep that in mind when thinking that they may be wanting to add 4 more west coast teams. That would add another $40 million per year in increased travel costs for the west coast teams, and another $2-$4 million per team to go out to play 6 teams instead of 2. Certainly, they will have east and west coast swings where possible, but you can't have teams staying east or out west for weeks at a time ... they are students who have to go to class after all.

What USC, UCLA's move to the Big Ten means for sports other than football

USC and UCLA will get Big Ten paydays, but will charters and scheduling partners ease increased demands on student-athletes?

theathletic.com

 

[duckboy33]

They are going to have to be creative when it comes to scheduling for other sports besides football. You obviously can’t send UCLAs soccer team to the east coast every other week. Obviously a national conference has its perks but the travel question is serious. It’s why I didn’t initially expect any PAC schools to join the Big Ten.

I disagree on your last point though. Adding 4 West Coast schools greatly increases your options to cut down on travel. Allows you to split the conference east and west when it comes to non-revenue sports

 

[WhosYourDawggy]

They are going to have to be creative when it comes to scheduling for other sports besides football. You obviously can’t send UCLAs soccer team to the east coast every other week. Obviously a national conference has its perks but the travel question is serious. It’s why I didn’t initially expect any PAC schools to join the Big Ten.

I disagree on your last point though. Adding 4 West Coast schools greatly increases your options to cut down on travel. Allows you to split the conference east and west when it comes to non-revenue sports

Sure, let's bring everyone together into a conference and then split them up based on geography. We can call the western division the, I don't know, let's call them the PAC division, and the eastern division the B1G. Wait, wut?

I get what you are saying, but at the end of the day you have to travel. It's going to be a pain, and it's going to be expensive.

 

[Wild Turkey]

Sure, let's bring everyone together into a conference and then split them up based on geography. We can call the western division the, I don't know, let's call them the PAC division, and the eastern division the B1G. Wait, wut?

I get what you are saying, but at the end of the day you have to travel. It's going to be a pain, and it's going to be expensive.

Don’t forget travel to Miami, Atlanta and Vicksburg. According to Duckboy they are next.

 

[broncosmitty]

We talking about a 4% ding on the total?

I’d assume the LA schools will gain much more than 4% in attendance for a few seasons.

The Rose Bowl is still the Rose Bowl to us Midwesterners, even if it’s October.

 

[WhosYourDawggy]

We talking about a 4% ding on the total?

I’d assume the LA schools will gain much more than 4% in attendance for a few seasons.

The Rose Bowl is still the Rose Bowl to us Midwesterners, even if it’s October.

I am not saying it's not worth it. Just pointing out that when you look at total value of the deal, you also have to look at costs. The west coast aspect of this has a lot of friction costs - direct and indirect. Just pointing that out. 4% ain't a rounding error.

I love that the SEC is staying relatively regional. I can still drive to most of any games I want to go to and I live outside our footprint, far to the east. Personally, I'd be pissed if the SEC went any further to the west. If they expand in the future, I wouldn't mind UNC (son goes there and I live 20 minutes away), Clemson, FSU and Miami (a trip to South Beach every other year works and I grew up in south Florida). But, if they had gone west coast, that would have sucked.

 

[osubuckeye89]

They are going to have to be creative when it comes to scheduling for other sports besides football. You obviously can’t send UCLAs soccer team to the east coast every other week. Obviously a national conference has its perks but the travel question is serious. It’s why I didn’t initially expect any PAC schools to join the Big Ten.

I disagree on your last point though. Adding 4 West Coast schools greatly increases your options to cut down on travel. Allows you to split the conference east and west when it comes to non-revenue sports

At one point the old Big West Football conference had

Arkansas State
Louisiana Lafayette
La Tech
Northern Illinois
Utah State
New Mexico State
Nevada
UNLV
Pacific (CA)
San Jose State

Imagine how big of a travel mess that was for them back then, lol.

 

[broncosmitty]

I am not saying it's not worth it. Just pointing out that when you look at total value of the deal, you also have to look at costs. The west coast aspect of this has a lot of friction costs - direct and indirect. Just pointing that out. 4% ain't a rounding error.

I love that the SEC is staying relatively regional. I can still drive to most of any games I want to go to and I live outside our footprint, far to the east. Personally, I'd be pissed if the SEC went any further to the west. If they expand in the future, I wouldn't mind UNC (son goes there and I live 20 minutes away), Clemson, FSU and Miami (a trip to South Beach every other year works and I grew up in south Florida). But, if they had gone west coast, that would have sucked.

I’d like to see Cal added personally. Cuz my sister is in administration at Berkeley and I can get free tickets.

I think we’re going to see huge road attendance out west for awhile. Especially the last month or so of the season.

That could wear off after each team has played out there a couple times. But that will take about a decade.

 

[ralphiewvu]

They are going to have to be creative when it comes to scheduling for other sports besides football. You obviously can’t send UCLAs soccer team to the east coast every other week. Obviously a national conference has its perks but the travel question is serious. It’s why I didn’t initially expect any PAC schools to join the Big Ten.

I disagree on your last point though. Adding 4 West Coast schools greatly increases your options to cut down on travel. Allows you to split the conference east and west when it comes to non-revenue sports

But if they do indeed end up having 6 west coast schools and split into 2 divisions, 4 of those Midwest schools will still have to be in that west division. I understand what you are saying but that’s hella travel for teams like Nebraska, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa (the most likely in that division) for any of the sport.

 

[Hu War Yu]

At one point the old Big West Football conference had

Arkansas State
Louisiana Lafayette
La Tech
Northern Illinois
Utah State
New Mexico State
Nevada
UNLV
Pacific (CA)
San Jose State

Imagine how big of a travel mess that was for them back then, lol.

Like the old 16 team WAC. Too spread out, and none of those teams were huge revenue generators to begin with

 

[duckboy33]

I am not saying it's not worth it. Just pointing out that when you look at total value of the deal, you also have to look at costs. The west coast aspect of this has a lot of friction costs - direct and indirect. Just pointing that out. 4% ain't a rounding error.

I love that the SEC is staying relatively regional. I can still drive to most of any games I want to go to and I live outside our footprint, far to the east. Personally, I'd be pissed if the SEC went any further to the west. If they expand in the future, I wouldn't mind UNC (son goes there and I live 20 minutes away), Clemson, FSU and Miami (a trip to South Beach every other year works and I grew up in south Florida). But, if they had gone west coast, that would have sucked.

SEC has a huge advantage over the Big Ten. They can remain regional and still have enough brands to remain one of the premier conferences. The Big Ten does not have that luxury due to demographics. Their only way of keeping up with the SEC is to go national. That comes with it's advantages but also it's disadvantages.

I think there going to have to get creative when it comes to non-revenue sports. Too much wasted money flying teams across the country in non-revenue sports. They can't think like a traditional regional conference because they are no longer that.

 

[duckboy33]

But if they do indeed end up having 6 west coast schools and split into 2 divisions, 4 of those Midwest schools will still have to be in that west division. I understand what you are saying but that’s hella travel for teams like Nebraska, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa (the most likely in that division) for any of the sport.

If they stick with the current configuration, that would be a problem. Big Ten might have to think outside of the box in order to figure out the travel issue. For some non-revenue sports, the Big Ten has associate members that are not members of the Big Ten for football. Could they get enough west coast partners to have a 10 team division for non-revenue sports?

 

[duckboy33]

At one point the old Big West Football conference had

Arkansas State
Louisiana Lafayette
La Tech
Northern Illinois
Utah State
New Mexico State
Nevada
UNLV
Pacific (CA)
San Jose State

Imagine how big of a travel mess that was for them back then, lol.

That's something...but I'm assuming they didn't do that for any other sports besides football. That might be the path for the Big Ten

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

Alternate headline, Georgia fan mad that his school makes less than Rutgers.

 

[ralphiewvu]

If they stick with the current configuration, that would be a problem. Big Ten might have to think outside of the box in order to figure out the travel issue. For some non-revenue sports, the Big Ten has associate members that are not members of the Big Ten for football. Could they get enough west coast partners to have a 10 team division for non-revenue sports?

Theres going to be issues anyway ya slice it. And again, I think expanding west (if the B1G wants to keep going and can’t get ND) makes sense since SC and CLA are already coming. But the B1G may just want to do away with divisions and for certain sports have everyone play home and away against the others in their region. Then play the rest some home and some away to fill out that conference schedule. sure you may not play everyone in a conference season, but it could ease travel issues and save some coin.

 

[Thiefery]

Theres going to be issues anyway ya slice it. And again, I think expanding west (if the B1G wants to keep going and can’t get ND) makes sense since SC and CLA are already coming. But the B1G may just want to do away with divisions and for certain sports have everyone play home and away against the others in their region. Then play the rest some home and some away to fill out that conference schedule. sure you may not play everyone in a conference season, but it could ease travel issues and save some coin.

think they got the media contracts they got because they will deliver the big name matchups.. They want SC vs tosu/psu/um/wi/il/neb more times than naught..

 

[ralphiewvu]

think they got the media contracts they got because they will deliver the big name matchups.. They want SC vs tosu/psu/um/wi/il/neb more times than naught..

Absolutely, for Football. My suggestion was for the other sports. Like it or not travel for SC and CLA won’t be that pleasant in every other sport. (most sports you can play more then once a week). The idea of regional home and home was my thought if the B1G added 4 more from the PAC to keep travel costs down and make sense for all. Nebraska is still 200+ miles closer to Rutgers then they are LA. And Lincoln is the closest school to SC and CLA.

 

[WhosYourDawggy]

SEC has a huge advantage over the Big Ten. They can remain regional and still have enough brands to remain one of the premier conferences. The Big Ten does not have that luxury due to demographics. Their only way of keeping up with the SEC is to go national. That comes with it's advantages but also it's disadvantages.

I think there going to have to get creative when it comes to non-revenue sports. Too much wasted money flying teams across the country in non-revenue sports. They can't think like a traditional regional conference because they are no longer that.

They wouldn't have gone west but for USC and LA.

If they felt they need 2 more teams, they could have waited until 20forever and picked off a couple ACC teams that fit better.

But, it is what it is ... I'll enjoy watching them deal with the friction costs.

 

[WhosYourDawggy]

Alternate headline, Georgia fan mad that his school makes less than Rutgers.

Good thing we don't and never will then.

I think Warren did a great job ... I started my post with that. After Covid, that's a pleasant surprise. It's a great deal you got for sure. The friction costs associated with the distances is intriguing to me. After reading that article, unless they get 2 more, and do 3 6 team pods, I am guessing it's going to be a lot harder with a lot of unanticipated consequences. We'll see.

 

[Thiefery]

Absolutely, for Football. My suggestion was for the other sports. Like it or not travel for SC and CLA won’t be that pleasant in every other sport. (most sports you can play more then once a week). The idea of regional home and home was my thought if the B1G added 4 more from the PAC to keep travel costs down and make sense for all. Nebraska is still 200+ miles closer to Rutgers then they are LA. And Lincoln is the closest school to SC and CLA.

Gotcha.. I see what you mean and that's a good point. For baseball maybe they should expand and have the west coast teams play more.. maybe throw in a weekend tournament somewhere in midwest where a couple of the West coast schools come out there to play.. or have some schools from the east play vs the CA schools in Vegas over a weekend..

I'm sure they'll come up with creative ways to ease travel