Layoffs at ESPN, cord-cutting, as every school scrambles to find a spot on a lifeboat. It sucks that we don't seem to have one, but this trend is coming for far more schools than just us and Oregon State. Vanderbilt and Mississippi State and Rutgers and Wake Forest shouldn't feel especially comfortable. Incidentally, I think Berkeley might be the school who suffers the most among The Leftovers. (Stanford could use it's endowment to buy the B1G if they wanted to, nobody is going to cry for them.) The process that started with the death of the Southwest Conference and creation of the Big East will have an ugly conclusion, perhaps as soon as 10 years from now. I don't know what it's going to look like, but the gold rush is ending, the money is going to dry up, and things are going to get far worse. These new superconferences are a ramshackle raft of athletic departments trying to stay afloat, and I'm skeptical of their longevity. 20 years from now maybe things will be better. Anybody who says they know how this is going to shake out after the crash is full of crap, but for the moment, this whole landscape is just depressing, not just as a Coug but as a lifelong fan of the sport. It's hard for me to get excited about sports in this landscape.
None of this feels sustainable
- Thread starter random soul
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It’s fascinating when you consider how outwardly progressive these institutions claim to me on issues involving “the greater good” of humanity. Then, in the blink of an eye, they sell out their student athletes by joining leagues 2-3 time zones apart.
The most transparent hypocrisy you’ll ever see outside of politics, which this is I guess.
The most transparent hypocrisy you’ll ever see outside of politics, which this is I guess.
I agree. It is not sustainable. I understand why Oregon and UW left, but I think in the long run it hurts them.
It’s absolutely politics. University presidents and boards of regents are about as close as you can get to the US congress. They want people around them who will keep them in power, and give very few F’s about anything else.
When the choices become 'athletic department is crushed under a mountain of debt' or 'walk over student athletes and traditions and fanbases to chase vanishing TV money to stave off the debt,' then you get Lord of the Flies in suits pretty quick
Fascinating but not surprising.
Remember, "progressives" at heart love change. Any change, no matter how stupid it is. Life is apparently boring to them.
But but but but but muh progress! I love watching idiot lefties argue their point. Its like watching a 5 year explain to his/her parents why they should be able to have everything they touch at the store..... Que the epic meltdown of a temper tantrum.
Gotta go with Apple. Agreed ESPN and Fox's business models may be in trouble.
I also am not convinced Fox, and ESPN, who paid a lot of money for BIg-10 and SEC are going to get their ROI. A .500 UW team vs. a .500 Illinois team isn't getting a ton of TV eyeballs on the national stage, when there is a better SEC game on ABC/ESPN.
The aforementioned "partnership" w/ the MWC, could in fact, be a play to get that conference in the mix with Apple TV too. Think about it, if you can lock virtually the entire west coast down maybe pull in Midwest markets, Apple College Sports just got viewership.
