Conference Expansion

I read an article today that the ACC is looking into the logistics of having Stanford and Cal play games in Dallas to cut down on travel.

Found it

https://www.si.com/college/stanford...neutral-site-for-stanford-and-other-new-teams

 

That would be terrible for their fans .

 

That is nuts. Way to put the fans first.

 

Once you shit on your fans, many will never forget it. You can’t sell tv if you don’t have fans.

 

It would hurt football the most. Let's be honest, there is not a lot of fan attendence for non revenue sports so the loss would be negligible.

 

This proposed move to a neutral/central site is more than a RED FLAG.
It it a good sign that the ACC recognizes that their recent additions is already treading red ink.

 

Football is what matters. Tv doesn’t pay for all those other sports and without football, it would have to be paid for some other way or cease to exist.

 

Apparently that info came from what a Cal Chancellor said:

With that kind of thinking, I can totally understand why the PAC imploded. Those big ACC football schools like Clemson will never give up a home game to go play in Dallas! I would say I can't believe she would throw her school's fans under the bus like that, but then my common sense kicks in and says "what fans?"

 

Conferences only seem to care about "TV Fans".

 

ACC schools like Clemson may not be losing a home game. One option (there maybe others) is to have the two coast West Cost teams and the current east of the Mississippi teams to designate their as away games and to play them in Dallas.

This arrangement sucks for the teams, because there is the possibility that the attendance may not be large.

 

You are correct about that! Nor do I see the cost savings of having BOTH teams travel to a neutral site. Seems like that would increase travel costs.

Maybe they should use the 2022 USFL model and have all the games played in Dallas.

 

I thought Stanford was OK with no revenue.

 

Yes, shrewd, but I can’t imagine a league of those remaining members being a power conference.

 

Either way, someone is losing what was a potential Home game.

 

Oregon State, Washington State file for emergency restraining order against Pac-12

 

What is a pac 12?

 

My understanding is that the "neutral" location is Dallas would be for other sports & football would still be played at home. We'll see

 

I suspect the real issue here is the Pac-12 brand. OSU and WSU want to own the brand and do what they want with it ... and I don't blame them. The Pac-12 brand still has value.

It's been assumed by most, including myself, that WSU and OSU would just quietly accept their fate and join the MWC, never to be heard from again. But what I've read recently leads me to believe that maybe WSU and OSU might prefer to try to raid the MWC and create a conference they control. Or maybe get the MWC to rebrand by purchasing the Pac-12 brand. Clearly in reality, it's likely to be that WSU and OSU end up in a conference with teams mostly from the MWC, and it would still be a third tier conference, but keeping the Pac-12 brand gives them a little more prestige, even if mostly symbolic.

Their plan may be even more extensive than that. Could a newly branded Pac-12 (or some similar variation) conference maybe look to raid other third tier conferences to get into the Southwest to increase their TV interest? Could they interest third tier schools in the SW like Memphis, Tulane, Tulsa, Rice (AAC), NMSU, UTEP, LA Tech (CUSA) to join them? I think they might be able to get a decent bump from the current MWC TV deal with a super conference covering the Pacific and Southwest. That would also weaken or maybe even implode one or two of the third tier conferences.

Good for them for thinking outside the box if this is their plan.

 

Future of Pac-12 Network a sticking point as Oregon State, Washington State seek to salvage conference