Some things seem obvious to me:
– Decision to go to ESPN and play second fiddle to the SEC was a poor one.
– ESPN/ABC is over paying, so that SEC money is bound to come down. It also means that renegotiating with ESPN/ABC probably isn’t going to “find” more money.
– Nice find on ND. If they’re indeed “down” on the revenue side because of their deal, then that might create an incentive for them to join the ACC as a full member.
– It would stand to reason that if the ACC added ND and another school, then that would effectively render the current deal with ESPN as invalid and open up another round of negotiation. Of course that crazy future viewing rights thing may cover ESPN, but I doubt that would stand up in court.
– If the ACC break with ESPN/ABC were to happen, it would seem to make sense to pursue NBC (Comcast) to be their “only” college league. Given they’ve not got a NFL division or a real presence in major college sports, one would think NBC would pay a premium.
– The key for the ACC would be to get the per member payout up. I’m not convinced these mega-leagues have been great for per school revenue. That would have to be the focus.
– I am not convinced that a 15 team league is that appealing. It seems like 16 by adding another team (S. Florida / Texas, as I doubt it is UConn due to the bad blood and Navy due to a general mismatch). That per member payout has to cover both new teams.
– If we go to 16, does that mean 2 divisions of 8, or 4 divisions of 4? Seems like it is 2 x 8 with home and home per side, a double round robin on one’s side in basketball, etc.. If one only plays 1/2 the league, is it really a league?
– Time for Swoff to earn that $3M………… I’ll sort it all out for 1/3rd.
