Memphis is so desperate.
- Thread starter Gunnerclone
- Start date
Kelvin Sampson is their sole AD staff asset. And Tilman Fertitta is the only reason they're in the conference.
The rest of their AD is not good at all. And attending the ISU FB game there last fall was a sorry sight for the ISU fans in attendance and to the conference.
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It was the right move given the circumstances, but I’ll be a little more charitable to UCF and say they are a solid growth addition.
State university with a large enrollment in a high population, high growth state. Good TV markets and FB games seem to be well attended. I’ve also worked with a couple UCF alums and their fan base is all in now that they’re in a power conference.
It may not work but I give Memphis credit for doing this rather than sitting back and watching the game of musical chairs.
It’s a strong offer to the B12 with little draw back if it doesn’t work.
It’s a strong offer to the B12 with little draw back if it doesn’t work.
I am not trying to trash Houston and UCF. They have their virtues.
You lay out the ones for UCF well. Having a foothold in Florida isn't a bad thing.
Houston nearly won the past two national titles in basketball (even if I am not sure they can keep it up once Sampson retires, though they're historically a good program). Their football team has been up and down but has been very competitive at times. The Houston region produces oodles of football and basketball talent, and taking Houston off the board to weaken any foothold a competing conference might have in Texas (e.g., the ACC ending up with $MU and the Pac with Texas St. [LOL!]) has some merits playing offense.
I just have a thought exercise in my head...
The Irate Eight are going to add teams to reconstitute the league. They have eight candidates. More teams gives you "mass" but at the same time divides up the pie. Which ones make the cut?
Arizona
Arizona St.
BYU
Colorado
Cincinnati
Houston
UCF
Utah
I think the Pac schools are an obvious "yes" and so is BYU -- then one more to get to 14. I am not sure any one of UC, UH, and UCF have a self-evident case over the other two, so I plugged Cincinnati in there with the idea WVU would want them and we've been flirting with the Bearcats forever.
Comes down to if you think 16 makes more sense at that point.
They hired Willie Fritz. He'll turn it just like he's turned everywhere else he's been.
They've got a good AD and I think the future is bright there.
Whatever positive progress he makes in FB in W-L is not going to move the needle much on their awful attendance and TV ratings.
It was in the form of FedEx sponsorships for the conference and championship game. Which already have sponsors in place, so this is not as big of a deal that they are trying to make it, because the $250M would just be replacing those deals, albeit at a higher number, but not the full amount that is being reported, as it is not entirely new money.
So it is (mostly) FedEx and the net new dollars would be far less than $250 MM?
Isn't Memphis offering to forgo any TV money during its probationary period, though?
Where is the AD going to get the money to operate in the meantime?
Or is the TV check from the American so small they'll hardly even miss it?
Kansas City is almost on the same page as Memphis is crime stats, should the Big 12 move the BB tournament or donate money earned during the tourney to the city to combat crime?
The problem with Houston is they bring almost no value in anything but Basketball, and with that basketball value is extremely limited in the overall picture. Houston in my opinion was a bad addition. They are all but nobodies in the state of Texas, and not really any better in the rest of the country. When people think of Texas Colleges and sports, Houston is not even close to being one of the schools people think of. I could argue they arent even in the first 10 Texas schools thought of.
I get we all hate Utah, but they were a much more valuable add, at least at this point, than Cinci, Houston, UCF.
My order of the value of the additions:
- Arizona St
- BYU
- Arizona
- Utah
- Colorado
- UCF
- Cinci
8. Houston
The Top 5 are all very close, and all could be swapped around a bit. Then 6-7 are probably close. Houston is far far behind.
Yes from what I have read.
Maybe, I cant remember if that was part of it for sure, but sounds right.
They wont forgo all money, from the conference, just the TV money. I believe that is what SMU did too.
Yes the AAC contract is pathetic, which means they can take just the other conference money and still be ahead of where they are now.
Without looking it up, I believe the MTW had the largest non-P5 contract and it was about $4M per year per team. The AAC was below that, so even with not taking the TV money, they still would make significantly more money from the rest of the conference payout. The Non TV contract money from the B12 is in the range of $20M +/-, no way Memphis is getting close to half that much from the AAC. They would probably quadruple their income even without the TV contract money.
Edit: from a quick search it appears the AAC did increase their revenue to $7M in their latest deal, so they appear to be the highest Non P5 now. Although I am not sure what has happened to that contract with some of the realignments. It was below $2M each, before this current contract.
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