This us from a good column Franz Beard wrote on the upcoming change in the Power 5. There had been a thread a few weeks ago about the future SEC media rights payout.
The Power 5
1. Southeastern Conference
This is easily the most powerful league in all of college sports. It has the most rabid fan bases, the best facilities, nationally prominent teams in every single sport and best of all, it has the single most powerful individual in all of college sports – maybe in all of sports period – in Greg Sankey. Sankey tries to downplay the label, but it’s senseless to argue. He is the smartest guy in any room and because of this, if and when Division I football begins the mass exodus from the NCAA, Sankey will be one of the architects of the new organization.
Texas and Oklahoma will join the SEC on July 1, 2024, so this is their last year in the Big 12. When they join the SEC, the already most powerful conference adds two schools that have won a combined 11 national championships in football (Oklahoma 7, Texas 4). They join a conference that has won 43. Texas and Oklahoma bring 88 non-football national championships to the league (SEC has won 214). In the 2022-23 year alone, the SEC won eight national titles (Georgia football, Arkansas men’s and women’s indoor track, Florida men’s golf and men’s outdoor track, LSU women’s basketball and baseball, Vanderbilt bowling). Oklahoma won NCAA titles in softball and women’s gymnastics, while Texas won for women’s outdoor track.
Football pays the freight and is the reason ESPN signed a 10-year contract that assures the current SEC schools at least $17 million a year more. That deal will be renegotiated before Texas and Oklahoma join the league and by the time the ink dries you can bet the farm every school in the SEC will be taking in anywhere from $85-100 million a year in media rights money.
For all the talk about the SEC expanding beyond 16 teams, the only potential new member that could move the television needle is Notre Dame and the Irish are perfectly content as an independent with their new NBC deal that will bring in $60 million or more. Contractually, Notre Dame can’t join any conference but the ACC until the current ACC media deal expires. Given the choice of independence or the ACC, Notre Dame will remain independent.
As for Clemson, Florida State, Miami and North Carolina, all of whom want out of the ACC, none of them move the TV needle even a fraction.
The Power 5
1. Southeastern Conference
This is easily the most powerful league in all of college sports. It has the most rabid fan bases, the best facilities, nationally prominent teams in every single sport and best of all, it has the single most powerful individual in all of college sports – maybe in all of sports period – in Greg Sankey. Sankey tries to downplay the label, but it’s senseless to argue. He is the smartest guy in any room and because of this, if and when Division I football begins the mass exodus from the NCAA, Sankey will be one of the architects of the new organization.
Texas and Oklahoma will join the SEC on July 1, 2024, so this is their last year in the Big 12. When they join the SEC, the already most powerful conference adds two schools that have won a combined 11 national championships in football (Oklahoma 7, Texas 4). They join a conference that has won 43. Texas and Oklahoma bring 88 non-football national championships to the league (SEC has won 214). In the 2022-23 year alone, the SEC won eight national titles (Georgia football, Arkansas men’s and women’s indoor track, Florida men’s golf and men’s outdoor track, LSU women’s basketball and baseball, Vanderbilt bowling). Oklahoma won NCAA titles in softball and women’s gymnastics, while Texas won for women’s outdoor track.
Football pays the freight and is the reason ESPN signed a 10-year contract that assures the current SEC schools at least $17 million a year more. That deal will be renegotiated before Texas and Oklahoma join the league and by the time the ink dries you can bet the farm every school in the SEC will be taking in anywhere from $85-100 million a year in media rights money.
For all the talk about the SEC expanding beyond 16 teams, the only potential new member that could move the television needle is Notre Dame and the Irish are perfectly content as an independent with their new NBC deal that will bring in $60 million or more. Contractually, Notre Dame can’t join any conference but the ACC until the current ACC media deal expires. Given the choice of independence or the ACC, Notre Dame will remain independent.
As for Clemson, Florida State, Miami and North Carolina, all of whom want out of the ACC, none of them move the TV needle even a fraction.
