IMO we have a great HC and a very successful football program (long)

Jan 10, 2023, 8:33 AM

I hope many will read my post and reply. I am sincerely interested in your thoughts and options and critical analysis of this post and my options regarding the future of college football.

Did Clemson miss the Big Time $$$$$ train needed to win NC’s and recruit talent players like TL, ETN, Mike Williams, Tee Higgins, DW and great defensive stars like Vic Beasley, KJ Henry Bryan Bresee, some of the great DE’s and other very talented players we have in the last 10 to 15 years. ? I know we have a lot of talented players currently at Clemson. But will we have the money to stay Elite as long as we are in the ACC ???

81TigerS16 posted about why we did not win more than one National Championship with TL and ETN. His post was great. I decided to look at the haves and the have nots and how the love affair started between ESPN and the SEC. How much is money, NIL and The following is my opinions and quotes from various media sources. But I sincerely enjoy reading others opinions and input.

My answer to 81TigerS16 is the fact we are an ACC team, there is a lot of BS politics and to much $$$$$$ involved. I believe TV contracts now have a major influence on the CFP committee. I believe ESPN and $$$$$ influence and manipulate the 4 top teams for TV ratings. With new TV contracts the SEC is the big winner. The Big Ten will benefit by CBS $$$$$. The ACC TV contract $$$$$ is no where close to what The SEC and Big Ten receive. How will that affect Clemson Football’s future???.

Somehow the Powers at Clemson during Danny Ford’s tenure seemed to have missed cashing in on future TV contracts. ESPN is going to give the SEC a such major financial boost and competitive advantage over every other conference with the new TV contract. From my perspective, It appears the SEC and Big Ten are the big winners who may be controlling the future NC’s. I believe NIL , the TP and $$$$$$$ has had negative affects on college football. I don’t think lawmakers understood or really thought about the negative consequences when NIL laws were passed. The NCAA is now a failed out of date organization with poor leadership. I wonder if college scholarships are becoming outdated.?

IMO I do not see any other conference competing with the SEC unless major changes are made with the other 3 Power 5 conferences. The ACC, Big 12 and PAC 10 may have take their best teams form a Super Conference to stay competitive or has Clemson been locked out by the ACC contract and / or ESPN infusion of more $$$$$$ into the SEC.

IMO here are some options for Clemson would be to join the Big Ten or Take the 5 or 6 best ACC teams and do the same from another 3 Power 5 conferences to try and compete with the ESPN / SEC partnership.

Below are some quotes from articles I read that help reach this opinion about Clemson’s future. ESPN has come a long way since 1979 when Chris Berman was the headliner of the new sports only TV channel with is off color cardboard back ground set. Now they along with other networks control the future of college football.

“ For 40 years, ESPN coverage has included the Big Ten. The network offered the conference visibility and riches and helped cement the B1G as a big deal. While ESPN and fellow Disney-owned properties will become the exclusive home for the SEC in 2024, the Big Ten's relationship with the “Worldwide Leader” is sunsetting.“

“ ESPN plays no small part in shaping the American sports agenda via its television and streaming programming and also with ESPN.com and its app.“

“ But few traditions are sacred in college sports anymore, and television partnerships are only as strong as the dollars behind them. “

“ Now, the Big Ten is positioned for an NFL-like day of coverage, jumping across the dial from Fox to CBS to NBC, with the Fox-backed Big Ten Network providing an assist.

The SEC chose to go all-in on ESPN, and you can expect ESPN will fully commit to pumping up the conference. The network became a valuable partner in the conference’s rollout of the SEC Network in 2014.

The SEC's deal with ESPN provides value beyond a figure on a ledger. But even as ESPN helps ensure the SEC retains a hold on the spotlight, the conference may grow envious of the Big Ten’s media rights war chest. “

“ SEC Reaches $3 Billion Deal With Disney, Drawing CBS Ties Toward an End
The Southeastern Conference is poised to become the richest conference in college football after it struck a television deal “

This partial part of the article about the ACC basically says it all. Based on how I read it ACC teams are pretty much screwed by this latest TV contract.

“ In other words, the schools not only would lose the money they receive for media rights from the ACC, but they'd forfeit any media rights money from their new conference. The agreement applied to the league's current members and accepted members at the time. It also applies to future members, who would have to accept the agreement as part of a condition for joining the league.

The document says it was required for ESPN to "offer additional consideration to the Conference."

The latest big moves in college athletics have been tied to the end of grant of rights agreements. Big 12 members Oklahoma and Texas announced last year that they would leave for the SEC after the Big 12's grant of rights expires on June 30, 2025. The schools could negotiate an earlier exit. Pac-12 members USC and UCLA announced last week they would leave for the Big Ten after the Pac-12's grant of rights expire on June 30, 2024.

The grant of rights are tied to the expiration of television contracts in the case of the ACC, Big 12 and Pac-12.

The defections of huge brands to the SEC and Big Ten have set off a new round of conference realignment. With those two conference expected to command huge television contracts, their annual payouts to league members are expected to dwarf those to schools in the ACC, Big 12 and Pac-12. No ACC school has announced its departure.

The ACC generated a conference-record $578 million in the 2020-21 fiscal year, according to federal tax documents. The conference distributed an average of $36.1 million to its schools, including Notre Dame which was a full member of the ACC in 2020 due to the pandemic. Notre Dame shared money from its NBC contract for home football games with the league that year.

The SEC, by contrast, had a record $777.8 million in revenue and distributed $55 million per schools. Those figures will grow after a new lucrative agreement with ESPN replaces its below-market deal with CBS for an exclusive Saturday afternoon football game and, likely again, when Texas and Oklahoma join the league. Some project the Big Ten will distribute more than $100 million annually to league members when its new television contract kicks in.

The ACC is locked into its deal with ESPN for another 14 years. Unlike typical coaches' contracts which include langauge about what happens if the agreement is terminated by either side, the short document does not include any explicit instructions for how a school or schools would attempt to exit the agreement. “

How would Clemson exit from the ACC???

Thank you for your thoughts, opinions and input in regards to my post.

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Clemson will not have the money to stay elite ON A FREQUENT BASIS as long as we remain in the ACC, and as long as the ESPN business model remains as is. Dabo punches far above Clemson’s weight class, and we will get more than our money’s worth as long as he stays with us. When Dabo leaves, Clemson’s success at the highest levels will sink somewhat, but we will still ‘punch above our (monetary) weight class … ironically enough as long as we remain in the ACC.

First, the disadvantages: Money and also money. Before NIL and tampering, we could compete with the most financially blessed schools. Since NIL, we will not be able to compete against the truly wealthy programs.

The assumption here is that the NCAA (which has devolved into just another mouthpiece for ESPN) will overcome the political activities from the very large number of ‘not so sports-wealthy’ schools. These numerous ‘sports-money-poor’ schools will not be successful in exerting enough in summoning political assistance to combat the NIL funded tampering activities from the small number of sports-wealthy schools.

Second, the advantages (of being stuck in the ACC): As long as a conference winner bears meaningful weight in the expanded CFP, Clemson will win a disproportionate share of ACC titles. This means that we will have a good chance of getting into CFP, and a TCU’s chance of getting to the CFP Championship game.

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Can Clemson find a way out of the ACC? If ESPN decides that Clemson would enhance the marketing punch of their college football netwoks(s), then Clemson would be able to cut a deal to enter the SEC before we announce our exit from the ACC.

There is ALWAYS a way to exit a contract; it is unpredictable about how much it costs.

The financial aspect of a buy out is not too hard to figure out.

Clemson is informed of the final judgement. We can then choose whether or not we want to leave, or if we want to stay. (ACC’s reason to seek financial remuneration from Clemson would be because our departure would cause damage to ACC; if at the last minute we decide not to leave, then the ACC loses its standing to collect monetary damages from us.)

Clemson calculates the net present value of being in the SEC vs the NPV of staying in the ACC over X years. We then compare that NPV to what we estimate will be the costs of leaving the ACC. If the NPV is large enough to more than cover the ACC exit costs, then we have a clearly understood financial case to make to a lender.

We then borrow the money to pay off the ACC, join the SEC, and we start our new journey.

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(?). Why might ESPN want to expand the SEC further? Just look at last night. Ratings for that awful blowout portend two big problems for ESPN if adjustments aren’t made soon.

(1). National appeal for college football will diminish if there are only ~15 or so teams that can compete at the highest level. TX, TX A&M, OK, USC, UCLA, OR, MI, OH State, N.Dame, LSU, Bama, FL, Miami, Penn State, UGA, and maybe Auburn.

The hoard of college FB fans whose teams are not part of this special bunch will lose much of their interest in ESPN’s college FB playoff broadcasts; ratings suffer as the consequence to ESPN.

(2). Uncompetitive games on the ‘big stage’: For the ‘Cinderella story ‘ teams which advance a game in the expanded CFP, blow out sequels to last night’s game will lead to ratings disaster sequel to last night’s game.

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ESPN needs to find a formula to keep the entire country engaged, and they must find the formula to minimize the risk of blowouts.

If they are not too slow in figuring this out, then maybe the landscape will shift again in a way that allows Clemson to remain as being periodically competitive at the highest level.

IMO we have a great HC and a very successful football program (long)

only way you wil know if NIL is a big factor

Re: only way you wil know if NIL is a big factor

Re: only way you wil know if NIL is a big factor

i have 2 of those tuition kids

ACC leadership has been a joke for decades

^^^This^^^***

But Clemson leadership did us no favors not looking outside the

Re: ACC leadership has been a joke for decades- Swoff etc

Re: ACC leadership has been a joke for decades- Swoff etc

I am an old timer, so my perspective might be different

Re: IMO we have a great HC and a very successful football program (long)

Re: IMO we have a great HC and a very successful football program (long)

Re: IMO we have a great HC and a very successful football program (long)

Re: IMO we have a great HC and a very successful football program (long)

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