"College athletics serves as a community anchor and a driver of economic activity"..... exactly, which is why what ESPN and FOX Sports are doing to college sports is such a crime. They are gutting many smaller college towns, or college adjacent cities like Boise, and killing off the lifeblood of those towns. Congress needs to act, but doesn't. What is new?
The answer is the smaller schools breaking away from the NCAA entirely and forming their own division. Half the schools that are in the Power 4 are about to go under financially. If the G5 broke away first, half the power 4 would go with them because they themselves can't compete with the 12-15 schools the are driving this un-American Swiss-British-Venetian Oligarchical system. There are 3 types of people in the world; those who makes things happen, those who let things happen and those who wonder...what the hell just happened. Instead of waiting for the shoe to drop, the G5 needs to accept where they are, dial up some leadership and create their own entity, separate from the NCAA, which is silently controlled by the same said un-American Swiss-British-Venetian Oligarchy.
It would be great if enough of the smaller schools would simply be brave enough to do it. The NCAA made themselves up in March of 1906 to solve a problem regarding the high number of serious football injuries. I think we've got that covered now. Why bother staying involved with that organization when it clearly has outlasted its usefulness to most collegiate athletics. There used to be a bunch of blacksmiths around town in 1906 too, haven't seen them for awhile. Things change and your idea addresses that, I'd rather be part of making things happen.
NCAA was created by the Godfather of the American Oligarchy - Teddy Roosevelt, who came into office after Mckinnley was Assassinated by the Cabal. He was the last of the true patriot presidents that supported American nationalism, protective tarrifs, a national bank (not a European Central bank-humongous difference) that provided cheap credit for the American businessman looking to productive inventions to support national growth and bring its citizens out of poverty and feudal backwardness). Every president, 8 in all, nine if you include Alexander Hamilton, that supported the American National Nation Building system of American economy has been assassinated by this very cabal, the very cabal that was behind the creation of the NCAA to create Amateurism (modern day slavery). This very cabal has sent America off its founding idealism of win-win nation state economies that work together with other countries.
Having read a couple of massive biographies on Teddy R, my favorite President all-time, I completely agree with you. Teddy was an iconoclast. He did his own thing. Even though his family was wealthy, one might say, Elite, I wouldn't call him an oligarch because he didn't go along with anyone else, not even his own GOP, which he left after his term was up in 1908 and ran Independent thereafter. Teddy is who drove the Monroe Doctrine even though he gets no credit for it. He cared nothing for Europe or oligopolies like central banking (which came into existence in 1913 after, ironically, Teddy blew up the GOP and ran under his own Progressive Party (when that term was a good word) which split the GOP in half and opened the door for Woodrow Wilson, a socialist, who rammed through the central banking system.
Tim, the word conspiracy is in Blacks Law Book, they actually send people to prison for it (see the current NBA scandal with gambling). It is a REAL entity. The people who uncover it are detectives (they connect dots of truth into a visual picture), no different than truth seekers. I actually bet me wife that within 24 hours of putting statements like this up, there would be the same group of gatekeepers coming on here with the usual tin foil, you must be crazy bullshit we always see. You see Tim, I'm a speed reader who goes through (devours) non-fiction books (usually tied to history) and I simply read books, do my own research and connect dots, no different than detectives who actually uncover criminal conspiracies. So gatekeep away
Tim, won't stop me from uncovering these red threads of history that always lead to the same doorsteps.
Precisely. The NCAA serves no one but its own overfed leadership. No reason for the non-elite sports schools to listen to a word they say. The next 100 schools need to break off and start their own athletic association.
The “committee” that is going to “fix” college sports will do more harm than good. Not because it is being lead by the most corrupt and immoral president ever, but more so because of who is on the committee. This notion that Saban will be able to make college sports better is spooky. Hall of fame coach? Yes. However, Nick couldn’t adapt to NIL and the portal, and thus he hung it up. He, and the rest of the SEC football teams could not stack teams anymore with stars on the second strings (see Tua and Hurts). Also, Urban Meyer left football in disgrace after molesting a girl at an Ohio St pub. And Don The Con had everything handed to him in life and has never held himself accountable. This “committee” reeks of liquid diarrhea. This committee will not fix the problem; they will make it worse.
Yes, this! I came to say pretty much the same thing. And why would Tiger Woods be invited, or Adam Silver? Rich guys in other sports. This sounds more like a list of guys that the president wants to have lunch with, not a panel that could actually have viable answers for fixing or improving college football. I hope they at least get served a better lunch than the men's Olympic hockey team did.
You can tell the list was made by a staffer who doesn't know sports, with the key criteria being "who will actually show up" and "who does Cody Campbell want to meet."
I spent 6 years as a campus pastor a WSU. I saw the impact college sports had on the community far beyond the students. Those schools serve a broad base of Allumni, communities and businesses far beyond the city limits. It is Good American Fun…. It needs to preserved. Those teams are like a national park for generations.
They don't prosecute Antitrust, unless its a government alphabet agency trying to eliminate a competitor - it insulates monopoly capitalism (and the narcotics industry that props everything up along with the phony monied Federal Reserve) by buying off judges - the whole thing is crony capitalism.
Provocative column, as usual. A few comments, having been a Washington, DC antitrust attorney for decades:
1. 35-person DC meetings are for show, not substance.
2. Group of Six interests will be unheard and unreflected since not present.
3. Congressional action is very unlikely given the disparate views of both members and college/conference interests, particularly given the long list of broad asks being pushed.
4. Some type of presidential order is much more possible given how unilaterally this president likes to act, but its legality will, as usual, be in question, and its content will be dependent on agreement by the Power 2 at a minimum.
5. Proactively, a unified push to provide for a new labor law category for student athletes in defined revenue generating sports seems a simpler and perhaps more expeditious ask, either of Congress or the president, which would allow collective bargaining to deal with pressing issues such as eligibility, transfer portal, NIL payments, and the like.
On relegation, this seems a non-starter. No professional sports league globally uses the relegation model other than soccer (and a couple of small European hockey leagues), which system began in England in the 19th century and is ingrained historically in that sport. Elsewhere, pro sports franchises have never accepted the great financial instability and hit from a relegation system (and which instead benefit from immense entrance fees from expansion franchises), and there seems no economic reason that would motivate the Power 2/4 to do so.
Spot on regarding the president/congress. Additionally, on the senate side, assuming it ever made it to the floor, it would take a near impossible 60 votes unless it got shoved into an omnibus bill and passed the Senate parliamentarian's review.
The collective bargaining route you suggest, with a revenue sharing arrangement similar to the pro leagues, is a proven framework which will create some stability and durability. I'm surprised there have been no attempted unionization efforts since NIL surfaced.
Allowing student athletes to make money off their NIL is one thing. Making them employees is a whole other ballgame and may result in athletics or at least football and basketball as an entertainment business rather than a part of a nonprofit organizations tax exempt purposes. If this happens, all the money made by athletics could be considered unrelated business taxable income.
In addition to NIL, "student athletes" are now directly paid by universities. Those students are clearly employees under IRS regs and those in most states. Treating them as independent contractors is a risk universities are taking. Looking at what big time college athletics is, the question should be why isn't it being taxed as a business since that is exactly what it has become! 35 year CPA here..
You are so right. College football is now firmly established with the "haves" and "have nots". It's all about money and as you point out, the Big 10 and SEC schools will control who even has access to the bank.
Why would I donate to a NIL arms race that smaller schools like mine are destined to lose. Why would I invest my hard earned dollars to fund a one year deal on the latest "rent-an-athlete" when it's clear any on field success for the player is rewarded with a bigger NIL deal including a ticket straight out of town?
Interesting point. Its turning into a downhill spiral. Donations fall because relevance has fallen. Less revenue, less NIL, less success even less revenue. Not a bright outlook.
Todd what is it? why do imbiciles like yourself insist on bringing politics into these sports threads...we get it. Trump is in ylour head 24/7 but leave it outside these threads.
If you don’t like it. Then browse along sparky. And like a true Trump jackass, you had to resort to personal insults. Bravo good for you. Country crackhead.
Forgive them Grant's Dad. They live in a coastal bubble called Oregon, where most of their neighbors agree with them (or keep quiet for their own protection) and are obsessed with the President of the United States, to the point it has become an unhealthy fixation that consider or accepts any differing viewpoints. They simply can't accept that everyone in the country doesn't think like a lot of folks in the PNW. I call them the "tolerant left" . No point in arguing with them.
yeah...I consider the source. no sense in getting down & dirty with a pig...the pig loves it, and all you get out of it is getting as dirty and smelly as they are.
When I was about 10 years old, I had the entire USFL football card set, 1983 I think. Mint condition. I traded it off for one Mickey Mantle. Kinda wish I still had the set.
And yeah, the league was kinda doomed to fail, but Trump 100% accelerated it.
And his beef with the NFL today goes all the way back to the owners vetoing his attempt to purchase the Buffalo Bills in the 1980's. They did not want him in the club. I know people will want to look at this through their political lens, but facts are facts.
I think I would have went for the Mickey Mantle card too!!! 😊 Still, having the USFL card set would have been unique and fun to still have.
A buddy of mine and I attended the Portland Breakers first home game against Steve Young and the LA Express. On the games final play, Young scrambled around for what felt like 30 seconds, launched and completed the pass 50 yards downfield on about the two yard line where the receiver was tackled immediately. Portland won 14-10. One of the loudest, more festive experiences I’ve ever attended at the old Civic Stadium.
It's amazing the knots people will tie themselves in to avoid agitating the people whose job is to represent things they care about. State universities are governed by state officials.
Great article John. Pullman is a perfect example. As a season ticket holder I easily drop $100.00 + in Pullman on game day. (not counting $200.00+ for a hotel etc. in Lewiston). Using a conservative number, if 5,000 fans decide not to show up for a game that's $500,000.00 thats not spent in Pullman. Multiply that by 6 home games and you are talking serious money. College football needs to give all D1 program fan bases a sense, distant as it may be, of belonging as the ramifications are real. GO COUGS
This is why I argue OSU/WSU fans should not be shy about advocating for elected officials to act. A lot of sports economics impact stats are total fantasy, but this is very easy to quantify. It grows the tax base, which benefits schools and healthcare, as well as supporting employment, plus untold intangible goods for communities.
You are being kind to the other side. I spend that $100 just on gas getting there. I pretty much plan on $1,000 for a weekend (4 tix) and I have an RV spot. Pullman has location issues not many universities have and alumni/fans already were going the extra mile before this crap started up. Starting to feel like a greyhound chasing the rabbit that will never be caught.
Bruce, I admire your commitment, that's a pricey weekend. I was keeping my comment Pullman centric and conservative in numbers. Depending on lodging my money ends up in greater dollar amounts in Lewiston and on rare occasions Moscow. Like you I travel. I come from Puyallup which makes it about 650 miles round trip. For myself it's about a $600.00 weekend with money scattered along the route. And like many others I'm beginning to feel a disconnect from college football. In the past I had the option of watching college football from 9AM to close to midnight. It doesn't hold that draw anymore, but I don't think the commissioners of the SEC and the BIG 10 give a crap about one set of eyes in Puyallup Washington.....Safe travels to Pullman this fall.
There's absolutely no rules today that's what's incredible. The only professional sports league in the world without rules, without a commissioner, without compensation when players leave, without salary caps. The coaches could have put a stop to this. Same with basketball when they're letting professional players play collegiate now. They could have walked off the court, they could have boycotted, but they don't want to lose her big fat salaries. All these coaches like Calipari complain about all this but they never do anything about it. They're just wimps at the end of the day.
Exactly!! Not just letting pro players return to play college basketball, but granting players a 7th year of eligibility, etc. The NCAA is run by idiots and greed, from the top down to the coaches.
When they allowed guys who signed NBA contracts to play college basketball and the NCAA and college coaches did nothing, I knew nothing would change. At this point, I'd just eliminate all D1 athletics. You need rules. Ben is right, whom does it favor? The Michigans of the world in football, the Dukes of the world in basketball. Why not just have Ohtani sign for college baseball?
I think people are losing track of why college football is doomed snd why "lesser" teams are going down hill. It has nothing to do with winning a national championship. Very few teams have ever had a realistic shot at a NC.
What made college football, and basketball great was each year every team had the "opportunity" to win their conference. That wasn't far fetched. Maybe not this year, but anyone could make changes and adjust strategies that gave every fanbase HOPE. In football, win your conference and you went to the pinnacle bowl you dreamt of.
On top of that, you watched your team recruit players that played their entire careers at your school. You watched them grow and blossom. You CONNECTED with them as human beings.
Now? Unless you are in the P2 or are funded by a Cody Campbell, there is zero hope. You have no connection to any high profile bowl so winning your conference means virtually nothing if you're in a G6 conference. Even worse, any decent recruit that might accidentally slip past the P4, the minute they show any ability, the P4 signs them away. There is no connection what so ever to players on the roster now.
No chance to win anything of distinction in your conference and no chance to watch players/hidden gems develop at your school. THAT'S what's killing football Saturdays at G6 schools and causing the huge economic down turns. It has nothing to do with not being competitive for the national championship.
Rooting for laundry and paying a rapidly escalating ante to do it. The alienation of people who have been hard core CFB fans hasn't been as visible as it will become in the next couple of years because those people do not break lifelong habits immediately despite being adversely affected by rising costs, degradation of the player/fan relationship due to roster churn, and the increasing focus of national media on a narrowing, exclusive few brands. People don't need to believe the team they support are going to win a championship, but they do value the affirmation that they're part of the hoopla, at least in theory. IMHO, If these conditions aren't reversed or moderated by regulation, the alienation of those fans, which has lagged the rate of change in CFB, is going to catch up and become a much more visible trend.
The current environment is economically un-sustainable. The consumer's and institution's economic plasticity to keep up is being stressed right now, and is going to break in the next 5 years or less. Not all at once or for every school, but like a mud slide, slow at first but at an accelerating rate over time.
As for all these schools that are trying to squeeze money out of every possible source to keep up with the arms race. A lot of them are going to fail, athletically and financially, and with a lot of the economic collateral damage described by JC.
That's my, admittedly bleak, prognosis.
I can't wait for the "CFB has never been in a better place" rebuttals. Before a housing market goes into a slump, builders will always keep build houses as fast as they can because they can't see it coming. Last one out gets left holding the bag.
Well so much for Trump's meeting if the only invitees are the power players. The system is stacked and needs a total overhaul. But Congress and the NCAA are not the ones to figure it out as they are already biased and part of the problem. Tiger Woods - REALLY?
Recent history portend that whoever grovels most at the foot of, and grifts the largest amount of cash to, Orange Julius Ceasar would get the solution most beneficial to their particular interests.
Trump always invites only the “powerful/rich” to his solution gatherings. There’s a lot of intellectual wealth out there not being tapped into. Need Trump to stay out of this.
It's all talk. The smaller conferences and smaller market teams without big donors will continue to slowly circle the drain until television contracts are negotiated above the conference level and safeguards are put in place to achieve more competition. The professional leagues all do it and it is sadly needed at the college level.
And no....the SEC and Big 10 should not be driving this as just they see fit. It baffles me that the other conferences are just sitting back and letting this happen to them without a real fight. Power in numbers....use them.
The issue is there are no real conferences looking out for each other or for the greater good. These schools all have designs on being invited to the SEC and BIG18 party at some point in the future. They don’t want what is good for the game, they want what the SEC and BIG18 have. You think FSU, N. Carolina, Clemson are going to join forces with the rest of the ACC, Big12, PAC-12, and others with a strength in numbers campaign? Nope they are just waiting for an invite to the big kids table. They don’t give 2 sh*ts about the future of the game or their conference. I thinks it laughable that Ohio State and Penn State are being cited as examples of poverty..they have stacked all the rules in their favor and still can’t make it work. What a joke this has become.
One thing you can count on is greed. The SEC and Big 10 will happily destroy the rest of the supposed power conferences given the chance. Sure, there are a few teams on the brink that will whore themselves out to those two conferences. But, we do have numbers still and it's about time we start forcing ourselves to the table.
Not invited by the White House to their roundtable? Get loud and make the necessary calls to get invited. The optics of leaving especially the PAC-12 out should be forced in front of whose ever setting the guest list. I realize that in itself is just a dog and pony show, but we should not be going quietly into the night.
With state budget pressures, a push toward FBS, and rapidly increasing NIL payments, the current path does not feel sustainable.
Departments are already stretched thin. It is hard to keep talented people when compensation and resources do not align with the performance expectations placed on them.
It is clearly now like the wild, wild, west…but facing a cliff as the sheep follow each other head-long into the future. Is there anyone, including congress or the president that can stop this madness? This race to the top of playing money ball is going to leave amateur sports in the ash heap of yesterday. It seems to me that we are quickly reaching the tipping point of no return.
Maybe he can nominate Tommy Tuberville to head up the committee to fix college football’s problems? Or maybe even Kristi Noem or Pete Hegseth? What about Ben Carson? 😂😭😂😭
Habeas Corpus is something communist thinking doesn’t align with. She has no idea what it means. And wouldn’t agree with it anyway…from what I see and hear of her.
Well he inherited a mess, that's for sure. But he sealed our border and is sending folks home who don't belong here. He made sure your taxes didn't go up this year and if you work for wages exempted some of your overtime and tips from taxes. He has rooted out a lot of fraud and waste (does anyone really miss USAID except the left wing NGOs who used to park out of work Democrats?), he has encouraged able bodied to people to work, volunteer or get educated rather than living off other taxpayers, he reduced the federal work force by 300,000 folks and no one seems to miss them. He put an end to the radical islamist regime in Tehran, freeing the people there from half a century of tyranny and brutality, while at the same time removing the malign influence of Iran over Hamas Hezbollah and other terror groups. The leadership of the FBI has revealed a secret stash of "prohibited files" which were similar in nature to Hoover's personal files and were not accessible to search for FOIA or Congressional oversight - an egregious abuse of its authority. He saved countless children from being "transitioned" via puberty blocking drugs and what amounts to spay and neutering. He has ended the practice of subsidizing expensive electric vehicles for folks who are affluent enough to use their own money. And we are only getting started.
Congress last functioned at a level needed to solve this problem in ~2008, and I could argue it would have been challenging any time after 1996. There is no Bob Dole or Tip O'Neill who can come up with a solution by sheer force of will and get everyone to accept it.
We do not want to live in a world where institutions have broken down to such a degree that POTUS could actually force a solution that would overcome all of the other legal obstacles, because it looks much worse than the one we have today.
Wait a bit? Several here have said they refuse to watch Power4 on TV, and their loyalty is to "real amateur football." ALL those fans should boost Pullman and Corvallis?
Strong work, thank you. But I'm having difficulty seeing the connection described by the Boise State president between the ridiculous state of college football today and attendance at games in Boise.
Is the argument that if a team can't compete regularly for CFP spot, attendance will fall and community benefits from the team will fall off?
Boise State and myriad other teams have enjoyed rabid support for decades despite having near zero chance at winning a national title. Has that changed?
Fresno State games always were the center of rollicking community parties as their teams drew near sellouts through the 1980s--despite the team's inability to compete beyond the Mid-American conference.
Yes, college football is a mess and must be cleaned up. But how does its messy state necessarily cut into Boise fan support?
The one big lesson from FBS history seems forgotten in this analysis. An FBS school that claws its way into a better conference should beware. If they aren't competitive in the new league, attendance will fall. Better to be an equal-sized fish in a smaller conference than at the bottom of a bigger one.
When there’s no pathway for them to earn a higher status, gain resources, and increase viability... do Boise State fans show up with the same enthusiasm and buy tickets and fill hotels if the stakes are capped? Everyone wants to point to the CFP title game ratings as evidence that the sport is healthy... the real health measurements and data points should be interesting at the turnstiles in the regular season.
Great answer and thank you for replying. Wow. I agree that the metrics can't be TV ratings. But I just don't see Boise State or Oregon State or Wazzou or Fresno State fans failing to turn out because they don't have a shot at being in the Big 10 are are longshots for the CFP. Maybe fan attitudes are changing because of the CFP buzz. But Boise State fans are diehards. And I bet Oregon State has huge turnouts this year.
BSU and it's fan base moved up; OSU and WSU moved down, that's the difference. I grew up on Pac8/10/12 (12 the worst, CU and Utah not good). I've accepted the move and hope WSU can compete. In basketball they will not until a coaching change is made and NIL improves. BSU improved their lot.
I have been a fan of OSU for many decades without worrying about the remote possibility of them ever getting to a national championship game. Now living in Boise, my BSU fandom is not moved by the illusion that the Broncos may get there someday (in spite of the recent attempt). I guess it's just in one's perspective, and yes, all the noise around the CFP these days seems to have distorted many people's perspective. Ultimately resulting in disappointment for most, since only one team's fans can experience winning it all each year. I choose to enjoy each game on its own merit, and mostly ignore all the CFP b-s. I anticipate further evaluation of BSU particpation in the New PAC.
I think it will take several years and maybe never be the same. Every conference game in the old Pac12 was a big deal and you wanted to be there. Don’t feel that way at all about the new conference. Maybe over time. We’ll see.
After demise of PAC-12 and amid reconstitution of that league I saw many posts on this forum of longtime fans who said they weren’t excited about going to see the new league schools as they perceived them as lesser than previous members.I hope they have reconsidered their positions and continue to buy tickets.
And yet, I saw many many posts in this forum "to hell with the Big Guys who are going to ruin everything, I'm not gonna watch or attend their games, I'm gonna be true to the exciting nature of the Mt.West/Pac where REAL AMATUER football is played."
If OSU, etc. fans have such disdain for the "upper crust" why would they get their panties in a wad over something like this? Won't they show up anyway and support their programs and communities like Corvallis?
Nation-wide TV ratings are up, led by SEC, followed by B1G, in recent years; while attendance is down. The cost benefit ratio for attendance has fallen with the rising cost of tickets, concessions, parking, hotels, fuel.
I'm reading stats where turnstyle counts is becoming less an indicator of fan interest.
Sad to me, because the atmosphere from nearly full stadiums is an attractant. Coaches, even in the SEC, are complaining about vacant seats and fans, particularly students, leaving early.
Yet, TV ratings for the major programs are rising. People voting with their eyeballs rather than their ticket purchases?
Why do the Lakers, Dodgers, Yankees, et.al. get the eyeballs and attendance. Because in a must make choices economy the fans will spend to see the best. And, the same will be true in college football - they want to see Ohio St, Alabama, Georgia, Texas - they don't want to see BSU, SDSU, etc. no matter how much the financials are manipulated to "be fair."
This analogy is imperfect enrollment being a significant difference. But there are many DII and DIII teams in and around Portland. Go to one of their games to get a sense for where the vast majority college football programs are heading with limited coverage, funding limitations..
Games were more accessible in the past. Now tickets and concessions are much more expensive and often you don’t know the game time until the week of. Plus all of the games are on TV now so it’s easier to just stay home. I know a lot of people in that camps
Great column, John. Please stay on this topic. Encourage Wilner too. You guys are influential. Thanks for your efforts here.
thank you
"College athletics serves as a community anchor and a driver of economic activity"..... exactly, which is why what ESPN and FOX Sports are doing to college sports is such a crime. They are gutting many smaller college towns, or college adjacent cities like Boise, and killing off the lifeblood of those towns. Congress needs to act, but doesn't. What is new?
Louisville is in the ACC
Definitely.
The answer is the smaller schools breaking away from the NCAA entirely and forming their own division. Half the schools that are in the Power 4 are about to go under financially. If the G5 broke away first, half the power 4 would go with them because they themselves can't compete with the 12-15 schools the are driving this un-American Swiss-British-Venetian Oligarchical system. There are 3 types of people in the world; those who makes things happen, those who let things happen and those who wonder...what the hell just happened. Instead of waiting for the shoe to drop, the G5 needs to accept where they are, dial up some leadership and create their own entity, separate from the NCAA, which is silently controlled by the same said un-American Swiss-British-Venetian Oligarchy.
It would be great if enough of the smaller schools would simply be brave enough to do it. The NCAA made themselves up in March of 1906 to solve a problem regarding the high number of serious football injuries. I think we've got that covered now. Why bother staying involved with that organization when it clearly has outlasted its usefulness to most collegiate athletics. There used to be a bunch of blacksmiths around town in 1906 too, haven't seen them for awhile. Things change and your idea addresses that, I'd rather be part of making things happen.
NCAA was created by the Godfather of the American Oligarchy - Teddy Roosevelt, who came into office after Mckinnley was Assassinated by the Cabal. He was the last of the true patriot presidents that supported American nationalism, protective tarrifs, a national bank (not a European Central bank-humongous difference) that provided cheap credit for the American businessman looking to productive inventions to support national growth and bring its citizens out of poverty and feudal backwardness). Every president, 8 in all, nine if you include Alexander Hamilton, that supported the American National Nation Building system of American economy has been assassinated by this very cabal, the very cabal that was behind the creation of the NCAA to create Amateurism (modern day slavery). This very cabal has sent America off its founding idealism of win-win nation state economies that work together with other countries.
Having read a couple of massive biographies on Teddy R, my favorite President all-time, I completely agree with you. Teddy was an iconoclast. He did his own thing. Even though his family was wealthy, one might say, Elite, I wouldn't call him an oligarch because he didn't go along with anyone else, not even his own GOP, which he left after his term was up in 1908 and ran Independent thereafter. Teddy is who drove the Monroe Doctrine even though he gets no credit for it. He cared nothing for Europe or oligopolies like central banking (which came into existence in 1913 after, ironically, Teddy blew up the GOP and ran under his own Progressive Party (when that term was a good word) which split the GOP in half and opened the door for Woodrow Wilson, a socialist, who rammed through the central banking system.
Buy much tinfoil Ben?
Tim, the word conspiracy is in Blacks Law Book, they actually send people to prison for it (see the current NBA scandal with gambling). It is a REAL entity. The people who uncover it are detectives (they connect dots of truth into a visual picture), no different than truth seekers. I actually bet me wife that within 24 hours of putting statements like this up, there would be the same group of gatekeepers coming on here with the usual tin foil, you must be crazy bullshit we always see. You see Tim, I'm a speed reader who goes through (devours) non-fiction books (usually tied to history) and I simply read books, do my own research and connect dots, no different than detectives who actually uncover criminal conspiracies. So gatekeep away
Tim, won't stop me from uncovering these red threads of history that always lead to the same doorsteps.
Precisely. The NCAA serves no one but its own overfed leadership. No reason for the non-elite sports schools to listen to a word they say. The next 100 schools need to break off and start their own athletic association.
The “committee” that is going to “fix” college sports will do more harm than good. Not because it is being lead by the most corrupt and immoral president ever, but more so because of who is on the committee. This notion that Saban will be able to make college sports better is spooky. Hall of fame coach? Yes. However, Nick couldn’t adapt to NIL and the portal, and thus he hung it up. He, and the rest of the SEC football teams could not stack teams anymore with stars on the second strings (see Tua and Hurts). Also, Urban Meyer left football in disgrace after molesting a girl at an Ohio St pub. And Don The Con had everything handed to him in life and has never held himself accountable. This “committee” reeks of liquid diarrhea. This committee will not fix the problem; they will make it worse.
Yes, this! I came to say pretty much the same thing. And why would Tiger Woods be invited, or Adam Silver? Rich guys in other sports. This sounds more like a list of guys that the president wants to have lunch with, not a panel that could actually have viable answers for fixing or improving college football. I hope they at least get served a better lunch than the men's Olympic hockey team did.
You can tell the list was made by a staffer who doesn't know sports, with the key criteria being "who will actually show up" and "who does Cody Campbell want to meet."
So says the imbecile that has a clown face for an avatar. The idiot winds blow forcefully from your painted pie hole. What us your deal dude?
The clown isn't wrong though
Son…take a Valium and go crawl back under your rock.
Last I checked, neither Obama, Biden were mentioned in the article. But way to bring your disgusting take on politics into a sports thread.
I feel sorry for Grant
Don’t be a crybaby troll Grant’s Dad. Don’t like it? Turn the page sweetheart. Free speech ain’t dead yet.
I spent 6 years as a campus pastor a WSU. I saw the impact college sports had on the community far beyond the students. Those schools serve a broad base of Allumni, communities and businesses far beyond the city limits. It is Good American Fun…. It needs to preserved. Those teams are like a national park for generations.
Thank you for this perspective.
Why won't anyone else take the fight to the state govt like Hawaii? There are answers to be found:
https://x.com/michaellasquero/status/2028934754293432485?s=46
I have been wondering when some lawyer group takes on ESPN/FOX and the Power 2 - antitrust has been used in strange ways ....
They don't prosecute Antitrust, unless its a government alphabet agency trying to eliminate a competitor - it insulates monopoly capitalism (and the narcotics industry that props everything up along with the phony monied Federal Reserve) by buying off judges - the whole thing is crony capitalism.
Nah, there is no path, Cody Campbell looked hard before accepting he had to go to congress rather than the courts
We need new laws, not more lawyers.
Provocative column, as usual. A few comments, having been a Washington, DC antitrust attorney for decades:
1. 35-person DC meetings are for show, not substance.
2. Group of Six interests will be unheard and unreflected since not present.
3. Congressional action is very unlikely given the disparate views of both members and college/conference interests, particularly given the long list of broad asks being pushed.
4. Some type of presidential order is much more possible given how unilaterally this president likes to act, but its legality will, as usual, be in question, and its content will be dependent on agreement by the Power 2 at a minimum.
5. Proactively, a unified push to provide for a new labor law category for student athletes in defined revenue generating sports seems a simpler and perhaps more expeditious ask, either of Congress or the president, which would allow collective bargaining to deal with pressing issues such as eligibility, transfer portal, NIL payments, and the like.
On relegation, this seems a non-starter. No professional sports league globally uses the relegation model other than soccer (and a couple of small European hockey leagues), which system began in England in the 19th century and is ingrained historically in that sport. Elsewhere, pro sports franchises have never accepted the great financial instability and hit from a relegation system (and which instead benefit from immense entrance fees from expansion franchises), and there seems no economic reason that would motivate the Power 2/4 to do so.
Spot on regarding the president/congress. Additionally, on the senate side, assuming it ever made it to the floor, it would take a near impossible 60 votes unless it got shoved into an omnibus bill and passed the Senate parliamentarian's review.
The collective bargaining route you suggest, with a revenue sharing arrangement similar to the pro leagues, is a proven framework which will create some stability and durability. I'm surprised there have been no attempted unionization efforts since NIL surfaced.
Allowing student athletes to make money off their NIL is one thing. Making them employees is a whole other ballgame and may result in athletics or at least football and basketball as an entertainment business rather than a part of a nonprofit organizations tax exempt purposes. If this happens, all the money made by athletics could be considered unrelated business taxable income.
In addition to NIL, "student athletes" are now directly paid by universities. Those students are clearly employees under IRS regs and those in most states. Treating them as independent contractors is a risk universities are taking. Looking at what big time college athletics is, the question should be why isn't it being taxed as a business since that is exactly what it has become! 35 year CPA here..
You are so right. College football is now firmly established with the "haves" and "have nots". It's all about money and as you point out, the Big 10 and SEC schools will control who even has access to the bank.
Why would I donate to a NIL arms race that smaller schools like mine are destined to lose. Why would I invest my hard earned dollars to fund a one year deal on the latest "rent-an-athlete" when it's clear any on field success for the player is rewarded with a bigger NIL deal including a ticket straight out of town?
I'm done.
Interesting point. Its turning into a downhill spiral. Donations fall because relevance has fallen. Less revenue, less NIL, less success even less revenue. Not a bright outlook.
Perhaps the real answer is to get off the crazy train. Perhaps Idaho had a good idea. FCS seems to still be fun.
After he figures out his Middle East problems, I’m sure Donald Trump will save college football. Just like he saved the USFL. 😂😂😂
Todd what is it? why do imbiciles like yourself insist on bringing politics into these sports threads...we get it. Trump is in ylour head 24/7 but leave it outside these threads.
Did you EVEN READ the story?
"The President of the United States announced he’ll be holding a meeting to discuss the future of college football."
Fatso is interjecting himself into college football. He's bringing politics into it.
Reading comprehension can be hard for some.
Thank you.👍😊
If you don’t like it. Then browse along sparky. And like a true Trump jackass, you had to resort to personal insults. Bravo good for you. Country crackhead.
You gotta love it when someone calls someone an imbecile but spells the word wrong. On point, Grant's dad.
Fantastic! - lol
Forgive them Grant's Dad. They live in a coastal bubble called Oregon, where most of their neighbors agree with them (or keep quiet for their own protection) and are obsessed with the President of the United States, to the point it has become an unhealthy fixation that consider or accepts any differing viewpoints. They simply can't accept that everyone in the country doesn't think like a lot of folks in the PNW. I call them the "tolerant left" . No point in arguing with them.
yeah...I consider the source. no sense in getting down & dirty with a pig...the pig loves it, and all you get out of it is getting as dirty and smelly as they are.
Fantastic 30 for 30!
I also thought it was a great 30 for 30. Small Potatoes…Who killed the USFL.
When I was about 10 years old, I had the entire USFL football card set, 1983 I think. Mint condition. I traded it off for one Mickey Mantle. Kinda wish I still had the set.
And yeah, the league was kinda doomed to fail, but Trump 100% accelerated it.
And his beef with the NFL today goes all the way back to the owners vetoing his attempt to purchase the Buffalo Bills in the 1980's. They did not want him in the club. I know people will want to look at this through their political lens, but facts are facts.
I think I would have went for the Mickey Mantle card too!!! 😊 Still, having the USFL card set would have been unique and fun to still have.
A buddy of mine and I attended the Portland Breakers first home game against Steve Young and the LA Express. On the games final play, Young scrambled around for what felt like 30 seconds, launched and completed the pass 50 yards downfield on about the two yard line where the receiver was tackled immediately. Portland won 14-10. One of the loudest, more festive experiences I’ve ever attended at the old Civic Stadium.
Really? WTF is it with YOU dopes?
You dopes!!!
Sure, let’s get the Feds involved. What could go wrong with that? They handle everything else so well.
You are not wrong to be skeptical.
As my older brother used to say, "Past performance IS a predictor of future performance ".
Problem - Reaction - Solution, Hegelian Dialect.
It's amazing the knots people will tie themselves in to avoid agitating the people whose job is to represent things they care about. State universities are governed by state officials.
Great article John. Pullman is a perfect example. As a season ticket holder I easily drop $100.00 + in Pullman on game day. (not counting $200.00+ for a hotel etc. in Lewiston). Using a conservative number, if 5,000 fans decide not to show up for a game that's $500,000.00 thats not spent in Pullman. Multiply that by 6 home games and you are talking serious money. College football needs to give all D1 program fan bases a sense, distant as it may be, of belonging as the ramifications are real. GO COUGS
This is why I argue OSU/WSU fans should not be shy about advocating for elected officials to act. A lot of sports economics impact stats are total fantasy, but this is very easy to quantify. It grows the tax base, which benefits schools and healthcare, as well as supporting employment, plus untold intangible goods for communities.
You are being kind to the other side. I spend that $100 just on gas getting there. I pretty much plan on $1,000 for a weekend (4 tix) and I have an RV spot. Pullman has location issues not many universities have and alumni/fans already were going the extra mile before this crap started up. Starting to feel like a greyhound chasing the rabbit that will never be caught.
Bruce, I admire your commitment, that's a pricey weekend. I was keeping my comment Pullman centric and conservative in numbers. Depending on lodging my money ends up in greater dollar amounts in Lewiston and on rare occasions Moscow. Like you I travel. I come from Puyallup which makes it about 650 miles round trip. For myself it's about a $600.00 weekend with money scattered along the route. And like many others I'm beginning to feel a disconnect from college football. In the past I had the option of watching college football from 9AM to close to midnight. It doesn't hold that draw anymore, but I don't think the commissioners of the SEC and the BIG 10 give a crap about one set of eyes in Puyallup Washington.....Safe travels to Pullman this fall.
There's absolutely no rules today that's what's incredible. The only professional sports league in the world without rules, without a commissioner, without compensation when players leave, without salary caps. The coaches could have put a stop to this. Same with basketball when they're letting professional players play collegiate now. They could have walked off the court, they could have boycotted, but they don't want to lose her big fat salaries. All these coaches like Calipari complain about all this but they never do anything about it. They're just wimps at the end of the day.
Exactly!! Not just letting pro players return to play college basketball, but granting players a 7th year of eligibility, etc. The NCAA is run by idiots and greed, from the top down to the coaches.
There is no salary cap in Major League Baseball. Mind-boggling. The Dodgers just buy up every player they want.
There are no rules, it's the wild wild west. Now
think about this...who thrives in this scenario?
When they allowed guys who signed NBA contracts to play college basketball and the NCAA and college coaches did nothing, I knew nothing would change. At this point, I'd just eliminate all D1 athletics. You need rules. Ben is right, whom does it favor? The Michigans of the world in football, the Dukes of the world in basketball. Why not just have Ohtani sign for college baseball?
I think people are losing track of why college football is doomed snd why "lesser" teams are going down hill. It has nothing to do with winning a national championship. Very few teams have ever had a realistic shot at a NC.
What made college football, and basketball great was each year every team had the "opportunity" to win their conference. That wasn't far fetched. Maybe not this year, but anyone could make changes and adjust strategies that gave every fanbase HOPE. In football, win your conference and you went to the pinnacle bowl you dreamt of.
On top of that, you watched your team recruit players that played their entire careers at your school. You watched them grow and blossom. You CONNECTED with them as human beings.
Now? Unless you are in the P2 or are funded by a Cody Campbell, there is zero hope. You have no connection to any high profile bowl so winning your conference means virtually nothing if you're in a G6 conference. Even worse, any decent recruit that might accidentally slip past the P4, the minute they show any ability, the P4 signs them away. There is no connection what so ever to players on the roster now.
No chance to win anything of distinction in your conference and no chance to watch players/hidden gems develop at your school. THAT'S what's killing football Saturdays at G6 schools and causing the huge economic down turns. It has nothing to do with not being competitive for the national championship.
Rooting for laundry and paying a rapidly escalating ante to do it. The alienation of people who have been hard core CFB fans hasn't been as visible as it will become in the next couple of years because those people do not break lifelong habits immediately despite being adversely affected by rising costs, degradation of the player/fan relationship due to roster churn, and the increasing focus of national media on a narrowing, exclusive few brands. People don't need to believe the team they support are going to win a championship, but they do value the affirmation that they're part of the hoopla, at least in theory. IMHO, If these conditions aren't reversed or moderated by regulation, the alienation of those fans, which has lagged the rate of change in CFB, is going to catch up and become a much more visible trend.
The current environment is economically un-sustainable. The consumer's and institution's economic plasticity to keep up is being stressed right now, and is going to break in the next 5 years or less. Not all at once or for every school, but like a mud slide, slow at first but at an accelerating rate over time.
As for all these schools that are trying to squeeze money out of every possible source to keep up with the arms race. A lot of them are going to fail, athletically and financially, and with a lot of the economic collateral damage described by JC.
That's my, admittedly bleak, prognosis.
I can't wait for the "CFB has never been in a better place" rebuttals. Before a housing market goes into a slump, builders will always keep build houses as fast as they can because they can't see it coming. Last one out gets left holding the bag.
So true Chuck.
Well so much for Trump's meeting if the only invitees are the power players. The system is stacked and needs a total overhaul. But Congress and the NCAA are not the ones to figure it out as they are already biased and part of the problem. Tiger Woods - REALLY?
Recent history portend that whoever grovels most at the foot of, and grifts the largest amount of cash to, Orange Julius Ceasar would get the solution most beneficial to their particular interests.
Trump always invites only the “powerful/rich” to his solution gatherings. There’s a lot of intellectual wealth out there not being tapped into. Need Trump to stay out of this.
It's all talk. The smaller conferences and smaller market teams without big donors will continue to slowly circle the drain until television contracts are negotiated above the conference level and safeguards are put in place to achieve more competition. The professional leagues all do it and it is sadly needed at the college level.
And no....the SEC and Big 10 should not be driving this as just they see fit. It baffles me that the other conferences are just sitting back and letting this happen to them without a real fight. Power in numbers....use them.
The issue is there are no real conferences looking out for each other or for the greater good. These schools all have designs on being invited to the SEC and BIG18 party at some point in the future. They don’t want what is good for the game, they want what the SEC and BIG18 have. You think FSU, N. Carolina, Clemson are going to join forces with the rest of the ACC, Big12, PAC-12, and others with a strength in numbers campaign? Nope they are just waiting for an invite to the big kids table. They don’t give 2 sh*ts about the future of the game or their conference. I thinks it laughable that Ohio State and Penn State are being cited as examples of poverty..they have stacked all the rules in their favor and still can’t make it work. What a joke this has become.
One thing you can count on is greed. The SEC and Big 10 will happily destroy the rest of the supposed power conferences given the chance. Sure, there are a few teams on the brink that will whore themselves out to those two conferences. But, we do have numbers still and it's about time we start forcing ourselves to the table.
Not invited by the White House to their roundtable? Get loud and make the necessary calls to get invited. The optics of leaving especially the PAC-12 out should be forced in front of whose ever setting the guest list. I realize that in itself is just a dog and pony show, but we should not be going quietly into the night.
This hits home.
With state budget pressures, a push toward FBS, and rapidly increasing NIL payments, the current path does not feel sustainable.
Departments are already stretched thin. It is hard to keep talented people when compensation and resources do not align with the performance expectations placed on them.
Hawaii is one of the most resource-constrained programs, and they are fighting back. The solution for those who want to fight is the state govt:
https://x.com/michaellasquero/status/2028934754293432485?s=46
Public funding of student athletes NIL. Gee, what could go wrong. I don't know maybe we can get the Somali's to help administer it.
It is clearly now like the wild, wild, west…but facing a cliff as the sheep follow each other head-long into the future. Is there anyone, including congress or the president that can stop this madness? This race to the top of playing money ball is going to leave amateur sports in the ash heap of yesterday. It seems to me that we are quickly reaching the tipping point of no return.
President can’t even fix the county. How is he going to fix college athletics?
Maybe he can nominate Tommy Tuberville to head up the committee to fix college football’s problems? Or maybe even Kristi Noem or Pete Hegseth? What about Ben Carson? 😂😭😂😭
Ask Kristi Noem to define habeas corpus.
Habeas Corpus is something communist thinking doesn’t align with. She has no idea what it means. And wouldn’t agree with it anyway…from what I see and hear of her.
Egads! I'm agreeing with you! Sun rising in the West???
Zzzzzzzzzz…. Guve it up Bozo.
Presidents can't fix the county? OK, Clown.
Well he inherited a mess, that's for sure. But he sealed our border and is sending folks home who don't belong here. He made sure your taxes didn't go up this year and if you work for wages exempted some of your overtime and tips from taxes. He has rooted out a lot of fraud and waste (does anyone really miss USAID except the left wing NGOs who used to park out of work Democrats?), he has encouraged able bodied to people to work, volunteer or get educated rather than living off other taxpayers, he reduced the federal work force by 300,000 folks and no one seems to miss them. He put an end to the radical islamist regime in Tehran, freeing the people there from half a century of tyranny and brutality, while at the same time removing the malign influence of Iran over Hamas Hezbollah and other terror groups. The leadership of the FBI has revealed a secret stash of "prohibited files" which were similar in nature to Hoover's personal files and were not accessible to search for FOIA or Congressional oversight - an egregious abuse of its authority. He saved countless children from being "transitioned" via puberty blocking drugs and what amounts to spay and neutering. He has ended the practice of subsidizing expensive electric vehicles for folks who are affluent enough to use their own money. And we are only getting started.
Banning you from these threads would be a good start.
Good one Grant’s dad! Did you pull that one from your underdeveloped, pea-sized brain…Grant’s dad?
Congress last functioned at a level needed to solve this problem in ~2008, and I could argue it would have been challenging any time after 1996. There is no Bob Dole or Tip O'Neill who can come up with a solution by sheer force of will and get everyone to accept it.
We do not want to live in a world where institutions have broken down to such a degree that POTUS could actually force a solution that would overcome all of the other legal obstacles, because it looks much worse than the one we have today.
The effects of the demise of the PAC 12 has already hit Pullman (and probably Corvallis).
Wait a bit? Several here have said they refuse to watch Power4 on TV, and their loyalty is to "real amateur football." ALL those fans should boost Pullman and Corvallis?
I hope they do, but the last 2 years have been low attendance
Maybe it's time for these universities to scale back the emphasis on athletics and start working on their academic credentials.
Strong work, thank you. But I'm having difficulty seeing the connection described by the Boise State president between the ridiculous state of college football today and attendance at games in Boise.
Is the argument that if a team can't compete regularly for CFP spot, attendance will fall and community benefits from the team will fall off?
Boise State and myriad other teams have enjoyed rabid support for decades despite having near zero chance at winning a national title. Has that changed?
Fresno State games always were the center of rollicking community parties as their teams drew near sellouts through the 1980s--despite the team's inability to compete beyond the Mid-American conference.
Yes, college football is a mess and must be cleaned up. But how does its messy state necessarily cut into Boise fan support?
The one big lesson from FBS history seems forgotten in this analysis. An FBS school that claws its way into a better conference should beware. If they aren't competitive in the new league, attendance will fall. Better to be an equal-sized fish in a smaller conference than at the bottom of a bigger one.
What am I missing?
When there’s no pathway for them to earn a higher status, gain resources, and increase viability... do Boise State fans show up with the same enthusiasm and buy tickets and fill hotels if the stakes are capped? Everyone wants to point to the CFP title game ratings as evidence that the sport is healthy... the real health measurements and data points should be interesting at the turnstiles in the regular season.
Great answer and thank you for replying. Wow. I agree that the metrics can't be TV ratings. But I just don't see Boise State or Oregon State or Wazzou or Fresno State fans failing to turn out because they don't have a shot at being in the Big 10 are are longshots for the CFP. Maybe fan attitudes are changing because of the CFP buzz. But Boise State fans are diehards. And I bet Oregon State has huge turnouts this year.
BSU and it's fan base moved up; OSU and WSU moved down, that's the difference. I grew up on Pac8/10/12 (12 the worst, CU and Utah not good). I've accepted the move and hope WSU can compete. In basketball they will not until a coaching change is made and NIL improves. BSU improved their lot.
I have been a fan of OSU for many decades without worrying about the remote possibility of them ever getting to a national championship game. Now living in Boise, my BSU fandom is not moved by the illusion that the Broncos may get there someday (in spite of the recent attempt). I guess it's just in one's perspective, and yes, all the noise around the CFP these days seems to have distorted many people's perspective. Ultimately resulting in disappointment for most, since only one team's fans can experience winning it all each year. I choose to enjoy each game on its own merit, and mostly ignore all the CFP b-s. I anticipate further evaluation of BSU particpation in the New PAC.
I think it will take several years and maybe never be the same. Every conference game in the old Pac12 was a big deal and you wanted to be there. Don’t feel that way at all about the new conference. Maybe over time. We’ll see.
After demise of PAC-12 and amid reconstitution of that league I saw many posts on this forum of longtime fans who said they weren’t excited about going to see the new league schools as they perceived them as lesser than previous members.I hope they have reconsidered their positions and continue to buy tickets.
And yet, I saw many many posts in this forum "to hell with the Big Guys who are going to ruin everything, I'm not gonna watch or attend their games, I'm gonna be true to the exciting nature of the Mt.West/Pac where REAL AMATUER football is played."
If OSU, etc. fans have such disdain for the "upper crust" why would they get their panties in a wad over something like this? Won't they show up anyway and support their programs and communities like Corvallis?
Nation-wide TV ratings are up, led by SEC, followed by B1G, in recent years; while attendance is down. The cost benefit ratio for attendance has fallen with the rising cost of tickets, concessions, parking, hotels, fuel.
I'm reading stats where turnstyle counts is becoming less an indicator of fan interest.
Sad to me, because the atmosphere from nearly full stadiums is an attractant. Coaches, even in the SEC, are complaining about vacant seats and fans, particularly students, leaving early.
Yet, TV ratings for the major programs are rising. People voting with their eyeballs rather than their ticket purchases?
Why do the Lakers, Dodgers, Yankees, et.al. get the eyeballs and attendance. Because in a must make choices economy the fans will spend to see the best. And, the same will be true in college football - they want to see Ohio St, Alabama, Georgia, Texas - they don't want to see BSU, SDSU, etc. no matter how much the financials are manipulated to "be fair."
Give me the best local teams.The Big 2 have lost my interest.
This analogy is imperfect enrollment being a significant difference. But there are many DII and DIII teams in and around Portland. Go to one of their games to get a sense for where the vast majority college football programs are heading with limited coverage, funding limitations..
Games were more accessible in the past. Now tickets and concessions are much more expensive and often you don’t know the game time until the week of. Plus all of the games are on TV now so it’s easier to just stay home. I know a lot of people in that camps