Williams & Blum Pod: ISU raises prices, bowl win, foul play in the CFP?

[FinalFourCy]

We’re not allowed to have a vacation with our kids? Good grief.

Well, Disney does own ESPN….trips to CyTown USA are not yet available though

 

[brentblum]

Well, Disney does own ESPN….

Dammit. Didn’t even think about that!

 

[FarmerCy1]

Exhorting fans to give more $ to NIL and the Cyclone Club while talking about taking your families to Disney is certainly a take.

Plenty of people extend work trips and take families with when they go to warm places/destinations- and some employers encourage it. Blum and CW have that right the same as anyone else.

 

[Dgilbertson]

Of course you are. Just not the greatest timing given the theme of the podcast.

This deserves a lot more dumbs tbh

 

[Mr Janny]

Brent is not the problem. He’s trying to help keep ISU sports competitive. Unfortunately in the near term, this is a pretty black and white scenario. We either go along with the increases and support the team/school…or we fold and become less competitive.

Between Jamie and Brent, we probably have two of the most fiscally responsible people in charge of their respective operations in all of college sports. There should be next to zero concerns about waste or abuse.

I’m not saying any individual person should be put down for not getting on board and sending dollars, but that’s the reality of the situation.

I do strongly believe we have a cultural issue of encouraging these athletes to go get whatever they can though. I’ve touched on this in the thread about Brock. If you’re hoping for Brock to get everything he can, you’re supporting this situation. Dak Prescott is making more more each game he sits out due to injury than some here will make in a lifetime…and yet fans struggle to afford to pay for a family of four to attend.

The college situation obviously isn’t there, but it would get there if it were up to ESPN. Better regulation (including max salaries/NIL payouts) should absolutely be a thing. And we should 100% get behind our ISU athletes who are taking less because they appreciate good culture/fans. And candidly, I think that includes getting behind Jamie and Brent…TJ and CMC too…who understand that culture, and are doing their best to find the best path forward (and at least with Jamie, barking at people he thinks are trying to ruin college athletics).

With respect, it's disingenuous to talk about this "issue" and only refer to athletes. Maximizing your earning and potential is celebrated in this country, and all around the world, for that matter. It's not a coincidence that the people seen as the most "successful" in our society are the ones who have amassed huge fortunes, and made careers out of going after every crumb they can get.

Now, we can argue about whether or not that's a good or bad thing all day, and that's a totally valid discussion to have, but the upshot here is that we shouldn't hold college athletes to a standard that we don't hold the rest of society to. And the attempts to do just that, by universities and the NCAA, are the exact reason why the current landscape is what it is. It's the reason why the courts have consistently ruled against them.

 

[RedlineSi]

Exhorting fans to give more $ to NIL and the Cyclone Club while talking about taking your families to Disney is certainly a take.

Who the heck do you think you are? Seriously? Do you think Blum is trying to profit off fans?

You’re the type of fan that holds ISU back. We’re simply trying to stay competitive, and frankly, we owe people like Blum A LOT for punching above our weight.

Either get with the program, or become a Hawk….chump.

 

[CycloneSpinning]

With respect, it's disingenuous to talk about this "issue" and only refer to athletes. Maximizing your earning and potential is celebrated in this country, and all around the world, for that matter. It's not a coincidence that the people seen as the most "successful" in our society are the ones who have amassed huge fortunes, and made careers out of going after every crumb they can get.

Now, we can argue about whether or not that's a good or bad thing all day, and that's a totally valid discussion to have, but the upshot here is that we shouldn't hold college athletes to a standard that we don't hold the rest of society to. And the attempts to do just that, by universities and the NCAA, are the exact reason why the current landscape is what it is. It's the reason why the courts have consistently ruled against them.

I totally agree that this is a very complex situation…which is why I had a difficult time weaving between advocating for supporting these increases and at the same time for a general cap. I ultimately think people should be somewhat respectfully clapping back on all of the football players asking for more and more…and essentially say these players who are torpedoing the team for a bigger paycheck aren’t going to be players I support anymore.

Even if you measure athletes against something of a sliding scale or bell curve where perhaps a LeBron James or Patrick Mahomes are the the greatest/most marketable players in their sport…how do you justify giving someone like Dak Prescott anywhere near that kind of money? It’s a slap in the face to his fans. Frankly he should be somewhat ashamed of himself for taking that kind of money.

But beyond that, it’s in some ways not fair to him either. You just bought him a personal prison…because he can’t go out in public. He could if he still made an absurd amount of $25 million though (again if you say the best of the best are making 45).

 

[jsb]

I totally agree that this is a very complex situation…which is why I had a difficult time weaving between advocating for supporting these increases and at the same time for a general cap. I ultimately think people should be somewhat respectfully clapping back on all of the football players asking for more and more…and essentially say these players who are torpedoing the team for a bigger paycheck aren’t going to be players I support anymore.

Even if you measure athletes against something of a sliding scale or bell curve where perhaps a LeBron James or Patrick Mahomes are the the greatest/most marketable players in their sport…how do you justify giving someone like Dak Prescott anywhere near that kind of money? It’s a slap in the face to his fans. Frankly he should be somewhat ashamed of himself for taking that kind of money.

But beyond that, it’s in some ways not fair to him either. You just bought him a personal prison…because he can’t go out in public. He could if he still made an absurd amount of $25 million though (again if you say the best of the best are making 45).

I think there's the macro level stuff that you are kind of talking about. And I agree the whole thing is getting crazy with Duke paying $8 million for a QB for 2 years. Or Iowa paying McNamara over a million for a year.

And then there are our players who obviously aren't asking for more and have taken less (and in some cases probably a lot less) to play for Iowa State.

The overall system may be bad, but I just don't see what Iowa State is doing as bad. And frankly I WANT to help us get players. I don't want a Beau Fryler or Jaylin Noel or Jeremiah Cooper to have to take so much less to stay.

The overall system may be garbage. But it sure seems as though Iowa State is trying to do it right and I think we all should want to support that.

 

[Mr Janny]

I totally agree that this is a very complex situation…which is why I had a difficult time weaving between advocating for supporting these increases and at the same time for a general cap. I ultimately think people should be somewhat respectfully clapping back on all of the football players asking for more and more…and essentially say these players who are torpedoing the team for a bigger paycheck aren’t going to be players I support anymore.

Even if you measure athletes against something of a sliding scale or bell curve where perhaps a LeBron James or Patrick Mahomes are the the greatest/most marketable players in their sport…how do you justify giving someone like Dak Prescott anywhere near that kind of money? It’s a slap in the face to his fans. Frankly he should be somewhat ashamed of himself for taking that kind of money.

But beyond that, it’s in some ways not fair to him either. You just bought him a personal prison…because he can’t go out in public. He could if he still made an absurd amount of $25 million though (again if you say the best of the best are making 45).

Our country is built on the idea that your worth is whatever someone is willing to pay you. Supply and demand. There's a scarcity of competent quarterbacks in the NFL, and teams are willing to shell out big money, and take big risks in order to secure one. That's not Dak's fault. He doesn't have anything to apologize for.

At my company, we have been trying to hire a Service Now engineer for over a year, and every candidate that's even remotely qualified wants nearly double what our HR team has decided the job is worth. I can't blame the candidates for asking for the going rate in the industry. The market made that call.

 

[NWICY]

I totally agree that this is a very complex situation…which is why I had a difficult time weaving between advocating for supporting these increases and at the same time for a general cap. I ultimately think people should be somewhat respectfully clapping back on all of the football players asking for more and more…and essentially say these players who are torpedoing the team for a bigger paycheck aren’t going to be players I support anymore.

Even if you measure athletes against something of a sliding scale or bell curve where perhaps a LeBron James or Patrick Mahomes are the the greatest/most marketable players in their sport…how do you justify giving someone like Dak Prescott anywhere near that kind of money? It’s a slap in the face to his fans. Frankly he should be somewhat ashamed of himself for taking that kind of money.

But beyond that, it’s in some ways not fair to him either. You just bought him a personal prison…because he can’t go out in public. He could if he still made an absurd amount of $25 million though (again if you say the best of the best are making 45).

At Dak money I think I could suffer a personal prison. Sports is all kind of messed up but we all support it by buying tickets and watching.
To me there is no answer, I'll play along until I'm priced out of the game or get tired of it.

 

[Mr Janny]

At Dak money I think I could suffer a personal prison. Sports is all kind of messed up but we all support it by buying tickets and watching.
To me there is no answer, I'll play along until I'm priced out of the game or get tired of it.

Exactly. That's our recourse as fans. Nobody is forcing anyone to watch, or donate, or participate. We can choose to not consume the product.

 

[iowastatefan1929]

Job requirements for next WeWill CEO:
-Homeless
-Eats only saltines and ramen noodles, allowed hot dogs on select holidays

 

[FinalFourCy]

With respect, it's disingenuous to talk about this "issue" and only refer to athletes. Maximizing your earning and potential is celebrated in this country, and all around the world, for that matter. It's not a coincidence that the people seen as the most "successful" in our society are the ones who have amassed huge fortunes, and made careers out of going after every crumb they can get.

Now, we can argue about whether or not that's a good or bad thing all day, and that's a totally valid discussion to have, but the upshot here is that we shouldn't hold college athletes to a standard that we don't hold the rest of society to. And the attempts to do just that, by universities and the NCAA, are the exact reason why the current landscape is what it is. It's the reason why the courts have consistently ruled against them.

Decades of adults that get paid (generally quite well) to steer and lead college athletics are the ones that should receive scorn.

I wouldn’t say they’re extorting, but given the very rapid increases in revenue these departments have experienced, it is a bit rich to want fans and donors to further finance paying the most important cost in terms of remaining at this level.

An unpredictable cost? I’d disagree, but regardless, athletes are not the issue behind $110+ million in athletic department revenues being too little to give $20 million to athletes

Let’s hope the old money see that uncapped spending is not the moat that tradition, brand, and location are, and we’re closer to a sustainable future than it seems

 

[Cyched]

This deserves a lot more dumbs tbh

I got you

 

[JY07]

We've been SEZ season ticket holders for a while, and if they started selling alcohol in all areas (especially if it was in a limited option capacity), I don't think that would be the primary reason people would drop their tickets: in 2025 I'm guessing drops will be driven by whatever the price increases end up being.

Like the prior comments said the big draw is the indoor area (I think our kids would prefer just to hang out in there), along with the 4x concession stands / bars.

 

[CycloneSpinning]

Our country is built on the idea that your worth is whatever someone is willing to pay you. Supply and demand. There's a scarcity of competent quarterbacks in the NFL, and teams are willing to shell out big money, and take big risks in order to secure one. That's not Dak's fault. He doesn't have anything to apologize for.

At my company, we have been trying to hire a Service Now engineer for over a year, and every candidate that's even remotely qualified wants nearly double what our HR team has decided the job is worth. I can't blame the candidates for asking for the going rate in the industry. The market made that call.

I get what you’re saying with supply and demand, and I don’t have a probleM at all with the Service Now engineer example. That makes complete sense to me.

With Dak or other similarly paid players; though, I do take issue. At a certain point I feel like you’ve forgotten the point of why you play…or at least why people like the game you play. At $60 million a year, Dak Prescott is an impediment to his team’s winning chances…and in my opinion, as a fan, you can very reasonably go from liking the player to no longer wanting him on your team, because he no longer lines up with the goals of the fanbase.

 

[CycloneSpinning]

Exactly. That's our recourse as fans. Nobody is forcing anyone to watch, or donate, or participate. We can choose to not consume the product.

This is a logical end point, but it should be the least desirable resolution for both parties. It’s basically the cable tv model - ever increasing prices and worse product/service until all the customers leave and cable dies.

 

[BCClone]

We’re not allowed to have a vacation with our kids? Good grief.

You are allowed Sunday from 2-3 to go to the park with your kids. Any more is just goofing off. No goofing off!!

 

[FinalFourCy]

With Dak or other similarly paid players; though, I do take issue. At a certain point I feel like you’ve forgotten the point of why you play…or at least why people like the game you play.

Why do they play?

The NFL is a job. It’s reasonable that they play for several reasons, including getting as much wealth as possible.

For many college athletes, playing is also a means to an end, and that’s been true for a long time

The amount Dak gets isn’t an issue. It’s what you get in return that makes it suboptimal to the fan’s hopes, which don’t really matter anyway

The Cowboys goal is to make money. Winning generally helps in that, but Jerry is a master of keeping Dallas as a draw and helping the league make money regardless. The league, and thus the Cowboys, will make money even if Dallas spends too much on its QB

 

[Mr Janny]

I get what you’re saying with supply and demand, and I don’t have a probleM at all with the Service Now engineer example. That makes complete sense to me.

With Dak or other similarly paid players; though, I do take issue. At a certain point I feel like you’ve forgotten the point of why you play…or at least why people like the game you play. At $60 million a year, Dak Prescott is an impediment to his team’s winning chances…and in my opinion, as a fan, you can very reasonably go from liking the player to no longer wanting him on your team, because he no longer lines up with the goals of the fanbase.

But why is it the employee's fault for taking the best salary they can negotiate? If paying that much for an employee is going to hamstring the organization, then the organization shouldn't make the offer.

Is it the butcher's fault if a restaurateur buys Filet Mignon, and then can't afford any side dishes? Not at all. The restaurant is responsible for putting together the menu, and if they fail because they blew all of their budget on a single item, they have nobody to blame but themselves. They were free to purchase ground chuck, but chose not to.