I feel like it almost has to. The major conferences and their precursors were formed 100+ years ago by like-minded regional institutions. It’s really only been since the late 80s/early 90s that TV deals have played a huge role in this.
At the very beginning of this “TV contract era”, expansion was still about making the leagues better. Penn State made sense as an addition to the Big Ten. Florida State to the ACC made sense. South Carolina and Arkansas fit well into the SEC’s footprint and allowed them to have a championship game. The eastern independents playing together in the Big East made sense.
What doesn’t make sense is 14 and 16 team conferences with expansion based on TV markets. West Virginia playing Texas Tech and Baylor instead of Pitt and Syracuse doesn’t make any sense. Rutgers and Maryland in the Big Ten doesn’t make sense.
Ten years ago a lot of us still had flip phones. Streaming boxes weren’t a thing. Technology has drastically changed how we receive and interact with media.
I can’t help but think that within ten years cable television as we knew it growing up will be completely dead. That’s going to have a major impact on sports broadcasting deals. We’re already seeing that to some degree.
I don’t know how this is all going to play out but it seems to me that conference alignments will likely have to go back to being based on true value.
At the very beginning of this “TV contract era”, expansion was still about making the leagues better. Penn State made sense as an addition to the Big Ten. Florida State to the ACC made sense. South Carolina and Arkansas fit well into the SEC’s footprint and allowed them to have a championship game. The eastern independents playing together in the Big East made sense.
What doesn’t make sense is 14 and 16 team conferences with expansion based on TV markets. West Virginia playing Texas Tech and Baylor instead of Pitt and Syracuse doesn’t make any sense. Rutgers and Maryland in the Big Ten doesn’t make sense.
Ten years ago a lot of us still had flip phones. Streaming boxes weren’t a thing. Technology has drastically changed how we receive and interact with media.
I can’t help but think that within ten years cable television as we knew it growing up will be completely dead. That’s going to have a major impact on sports broadcasting deals. We’re already seeing that to some degree.
I don’t know how this is all going to play out but it seems to me that conference alignments will likely have to go back to being based on true value.