Now now. I agree with you, but to attack us older people as naive about what's transpiring is insulting. I've been in technology my whole life and have successfully predicted Cisco, Google, Apple, and Amazon's success. BUT, have always been a tad early. I've come to the conclusion that once a company reaches a certain size, the pressure of 'improving margins', always forces different policies; most of which suck. Consequently, OTA will be around a little while longer. Look no further than Amazon Prime's recent digression into the gazillion channel cluster F&%c show that cable and satellite have been for decades.
New wrestling facility put on hold - Jamie Pollard statement
- Thread starter jcordova8
- Start date
There is no cut of the pie for wrestling. Adding MO is what’s best for wrestling and Big 12. Plain and simple. Wrestling has and will have more obstacles to stay relevant. MO wrestling makes Big 12 wrestling and ISU more relevant. You think the SEC care less what happens to MO wrestling? This is why we are keeping OK, too.
They already are? Most of the teams in the listed states get 80k plus in their stadium every week and draw 2mil + every week on tv. The ratings might drop slightly from the left behind fans, and I truly believe it will not make a big dent in their ratings, the casual fan in New York City or wherever will always watch Texas vs Bama/OSU vs Michigan.
Not saying you’re wrong, but how would wrestling be diminished if those two were in the MAC or wherever else? The people at those institutions rejected our conference and chose be associated with other institutions. If they want to collaborate in research or some other real life endeavor, then fine. But in athletics, I hope the two institutions suck in every way going forward - especially OU. If that means our conference has two fewer wrestling powers, then I am fine with that.
One of the things having them
In the conference helps us with is more allocations to Nationals which in turn gives us more chances to have our athletes qualify. Also most likely increases our wrestlers RPI with wins over quality opponents which is a criteria for allocations to Nationals. Also puts more butts in our seats , the Missouri dual this year was packed .
Those are good points - thanks. It is more palatable to me still having them in the conference if/when the Clones are a stronger program or team. It seems like we’re about on the level with MU at the moment and a notch above OU.
How many rivalries have been destroyed or will be (Nebraska/OU, Nebraska/Colorado, ISU/Mizzou, Oregon/OSU, Washington/WSU, OU/Okie St,etc.) from all the realignment that has happened? Don't you think that (negatively) impacts the tradition, pageantry, and spectacle of college football? Do you think Mizzou/Vandy gets as many eyeballs as a Mizzou/ISU game would?
What happens when you have fans of teams that are used to winning 9+ games a year going through stretches of 6-6 to 7-5 seasons because they now play 10 games a year against programs used to winning 9+ games a year and not everyone can win? Do their fans start losing interest? USC and UCLA "fans" hardly care when their team is 9-3 let alone 6-6.
You shouldn’t be watching them now if you care about ISU athletics.
This is the play. Let them try to be "College Football" without the rest of college football. And the rest of the conferences can be "College Basketball" and our version of college football. It would take several years, but I think that might force the BIG and the SEC back into the fold with a more equitable revenue sharing arrangement. It might not work, but this path we're currently taking leads to a permanent disadvantage.
In reality, the taj mahal facilities were a distortion BECAUSE athletes couldn't be paid. So compensation took the form of sweet facilities. What a waste...
Who is funding this other version of college football when all the value still belongs to the P2?
A couple of thoughts and follow up questions from the @brentblum and @ChrisMWilliams Sunday pod re' JP's CFP/B10/SEC comments:
1) Was there a gun being held to the heads of Brett Yormark and Jim Phillips regarding CFP payout allocation and auto berths for the extended CFP contract? If so, what exactly was the threat from the CFP/B10/SEC to not signing on to such a ridiculous CFP payout and qualification structure? I think I know what the answer is but that threat is what needs to be made public by JP or others IMO in order to possibly stop this nonsense sooner than later. JP also needs to be asked how in the hell ESPN was the only bidder for extension of CFP rights at below market value which was another factor for reducing CFP payouts to ISU. And why was ESPN granted an option to sublicense those rights to Fox, also at below market value? And this was all done only a few months after Fox made it known that they were going all in on CFP bidding and then they didn't even submit a bid? Sublicensing of rights for a premium package like that is unheard of.
2) As noted above, ESPN and Fox are running CFB and Sankey and Petitti are their puppets. Everything going on relative to realignment and CFP is being orchestrated by them. ESPN being the only bidder for the extension of CFP rights was orchestrated by both ESPN and Fox to their mutual benefit. Fox destroyed the PAC by first manipulating USC/UCLA to the B10 and then followed that up with their final kill shot of funding the additions of Oregon and Washington as well. As you suggested during the pod, the damage to Oregon ST and Washington St is real and they are already incurring the destruction. The damage done to those schools along with the destruction of the PAC has not yet received enough attention and maybe won't in the near term but the looming destruction in 2027 of the ACC should when ESPN likely doesn't pick up their TV contract option. The fallout from destroying the ACC will result in additional manipulation by ESPN and Fox to consolidate inventory to their mutual benefit and further rid themselves of schools (e.g. Wake Forest, Syracuse) receiving premium payouts. And the damage done to those schools will be similar to what has happened to Oregon St and Wazzu.
1) Was there a gun being held to the heads of Brett Yormark and Jim Phillips regarding CFP payout allocation and auto berths for the extended CFP contract? If so, what exactly was the threat from the CFP/B10/SEC to not signing on to such a ridiculous CFP payout and qualification structure? I think I know what the answer is but that threat is what needs to be made public by JP or others IMO in order to possibly stop this nonsense sooner than later. JP also needs to be asked how in the hell ESPN was the only bidder for extension of CFP rights at below market value which was another factor for reducing CFP payouts to ISU. And why was ESPN granted an option to sublicense those rights to Fox, also at below market value? And this was all done only a few months after Fox made it known that they were going all in on CFP bidding and then they didn't even submit a bid? Sublicensing of rights for a premium package like that is unheard of.
2) As noted above, ESPN and Fox are running CFB and Sankey and Petitti are their puppets. Everything going on relative to realignment and CFP is being orchestrated by them. ESPN being the only bidder for the extension of CFP rights was orchestrated by both ESPN and Fox to their mutual benefit. Fox destroyed the PAC by first manipulating USC/UCLA to the B10 and then followed that up with their final kill shot of funding the additions of Oregon and Washington as well. As you suggested during the pod, the damage to Oregon ST and Washington St is real and they are already incurring the destruction. The damage done to those schools along with the destruction of the PAC has not yet received enough attention and maybe won't in the near term but the looming destruction in 2027 of the ACC should when ESPN likely doesn't pick up their TV contract option. The fallout from destroying the ACC will result in additional manipulation by ESPN and Fox to consolidate inventory to their mutual benefit and further rid themselves of schools (e.g. Wake Forest, Syracuse) receiving premium payouts. And the damage done to those schools will be similar to what has happened to Oregon St and Wazzu.
It makes the product our conference produces more attractive. Their wrestling program is a victim of this like all the wresting programs outside the B1G.
The funding will continue to come from ESPN and Fox at greatly reduced payouts.
Or in a best case scenario, B12/ACC will convince a streamer (Apple or Amazon) along with an OTA provider (that they create or buy out) and potentially private equity to make a competitive bid for their combined inventory to where payouts are somewhat competitive with those of the B10/SEC. But that streamer needs access to the CFP as well and ESPN and Fox will attempt to block that access and that's where intervention by P3/P4 Presidents or the Feds is needed to stop the ESPN/Fox stranglehold they currently have on the sport.
I am probably being naive, but was there another option for scaling back the amenities upfront on the new wrestling facility to reduce the initial investment? It seems that keeping the momentum from recent success is important, and how far would half the $20 million have gone? Perhaps delay some of the comfort creatures to a later phase? Scrapping the entire project seems shortsighted.
I think it's entirely possible that there is no ISU wrestling in a decade. Or maybe it's a club sport. But if the future of the sport as whole is in doubt longplaying the upgrades doesn't make a lot of sense either.
I hate this.
I feel like the pause to to gain clarity of what the future looks like. Changes might be subtle or changes could be drastic. Not only from a financial perspective (aka student-athletes become employees) but also from a governance perspective (football & hoops not part of NCAA or Athletic Departments).
Unless the money for facilities is funded by donors up front, borrowing the funds is probably a 10-20 year budget impact.
I didn't see anything in the new facility that was a need. The Russians train in dungeons with a mat, some weights, pull up bar, and a climbing rope. Our first world problems are what they are.
