UAB Boosters Allege Trustees Could End Football Program

[untjim1995]

Might want to check your math.

Assuming all the money is distributed straight to the schools, NIU's share of the MAC TV deal would be $666,666.67 and share of CUSA TV would be $1 million (I'm basing that on CUSA's deal being $6 million more than MAC as has been reported elsewhere).

But there is also CFP distribution to consider. Their guaranteed distribution in the MAC is $1 million. In CUSA it is $857,142.86

So the net difference is MAC annually is worth $1,666,666.67 and CUSA $1,857,142.86 a difference of $190,476.19 per year.

Now to get that money, they would forego one year of revenue from the MAC and have to pay CUSA $2 million to enter so the total cost of entry would be $3,666,666.67. They would recover the entry cost in 19 years and three months and that is presuming that the travel costs are identical.

And you haven't even counted the increased costs to get from Dekalb, Illinois to all the CUSA outposts. Yes, the MAC has a team in Massachusetts and Buffalo, but the majority of their travel is between Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. Its basically the SWC of modern times...just without the winning tradition or name recognition or the cheating scandals!!

[Arkstfan]

I wouldn't count on the Fox deal with CUSA increasing at all. I just hope it remians the same. We love CUSA because it is better than the old SBC was, but the networks know its just SBC 2.0 and that he teams that are still here (USM, Rice, UAB, Marshall, and UTEP) are here because they have no alternative choice. They'd have jumped on an AAC invite in a heartbeat if they could get one.

I lke ULL because they fit the footprint for travel, fill in an area we don't have a team (Southern Louisiana), and they have built up a nice G5 program. We want travel costs to stay low and replacing UAB with them would be a good trade, in my opinion.

The Fox deal could go up, depends on what Fox needs.

FS1 CUSA games draw audiences about like ESPNU Sun Belt and MAC games but unlike ESPN, Fox isn't sitting around with so much inventory that they don't know what to do with it.

Circumstances have changed since Fox cut its original deal with CUSA. The membership is obviiously different but what is often forgotten is that when Fox first signed CUSA, Fox did not hold the rights to telecast any regular season games nationally. They had some Big XII and Pac-10 rights but they were restricted in where they could be distributed. CUSA was their first nationally cleared college football.

On one hand the Fox deal could come in flat because the membership is different and they have other national content. On the other hand they may be willing to pay more because they are likely going to want more FS2 content and they have less regional content and CUSA would be extremely useful for that purpose.

If I were betting, I'd place my wager on CUSA getting more from Fox.

The piece of the CUSA puzzle that should be more worrisome is CBS Sports. CBS like Fox signed on to a different line-up but unlike Fox they have re-obtained that content via licensing from ESPN in the form of the AAC. Industry insiders have told me that CBS is getting AAC content (which is what they mostly signed CUSA for) from ESPN for less per game than they are paying for CUSA.

I would expect CBS will lowball their offer and wouldn't be shocked if they just walked because CBS does not seem committed to the CBS Sports Network the way Fox and NBC are to their sports channels (they don't even over-flow NCAA Tournament games to CBSS, content that is a natural for the channel) and they seem content to cheaply sublicense excess ESPN inventory because ESPN has over-purchased and has to find outlets for the excess content that by contract has to reach a certain number of households.

[MeanGreenTexan]

Might want to check your math.

Assuming all the money is distributed straight to the schools, NIU's share of the MAC TV deal would be $666,666.67 and share of CUSA TV would be $1 million (I'm basing that on CUSA's deal being $6 million more than MAC as has been reported elsewhere).

But there is also CFP distribution to consider. Their guaranteed distribution in the MAC is $1 million. In CUSA it is $857,142.86

So the net difference is MAC annually is worth $1,666,666.67 and CUSA $1,857,142.86 a difference of $190,476.19 per year.

Now to get that money, they would forego one year of revenue from the MAC and have to pay CUSA $2 million to enter so the total cost of entry would be $3,666,666.67. They would recover the entry cost in 19 years and three months and that is presuming that the travel costs are identical.

Smackdown laid.

Admittedly, I did about 5 minutes of research. Forgot about the entrance fee...

I wouldn't count on the Fox deal with CUSA increasing at all. I just hope it remians the same. We love CUSA because it is better than the old SBC was, but the networks know its just SBC 2.0 and that he teams that are still here (USM, Rice, UAB, Marshall, and UTEP) are here because they have no alternative choice. They'd have jumped on an AAC invite in a heartbeat if they could get one.

I lke ULL because they fit the footprint for travel, fill in an area we don't have a team (Southern Louisiana), and they have built up a nice G5 program. We want travel costs to stay low and replacing UAB with them would be a good trade, in my opinion.

I suppose this is when we find out if Banowsky's strategy of 'market collecting' worked or not. If Chicago could be lured, that would be nice!

Maybe it's wishful thinking, but at least it's out of the box.

[Arkstfan]

Smackdown laid.

Admittedly, I did about 5 minutes of research. Forgot about the entrance fee...

I suppose this is when we find out if Banowsky's strategy of 'market collecting' worked or not. If Chicago could be lured, that would be nice!

Maybe it's wishful thinking, but at least it's out of the box.

NIU is a good property. They draw well (down in the early numbers this year) on TV they are just too remote to be practical for CUSA. At a bare minimum you need at least one other regional MAC with them and really need three others to make it work (why I've said for some time the best solution to NIU being burned with some of the less committed MAC schools is to take six MAC and six Sun Belt form a new league so you can address the travel while aligning 12 schools more compatible).

If UAB drops (and until the CBS article I wasn't buying it) you've got a dilemma in who to add because there isn't an abundance to choose from.

Needs to be a western school as long as you aren't splitting MTSU/WKU.

The pool working west to east would be:

NMSU: UTEP is unlikely to support them.

Texas State: Does UTSA really want a league opponent that close and does Rice want another large state school so close by? Base recruiting territory overlaps basically everyone left in CUSA West.

Louisiana: Rice issue again. Recruiting base overlaps La.Tech and USM and they come into Texas as well.

ULM: dropping enrollment and La.Tech leadership would have a seizure, probably be some concerns about their admissions profile.

AState: Few CUSA bother recruiting Arkansas except for La.Tech hitting the south end of the state. AState recruits some in Texas but the biggest recruiting zone for AState outside of Arkansas is Alabama. We start only one Texan, majority are from Arkansas followed by Alabama. No starters from Louisiana, one from Tennessee, one from Mississippi, one from Georgia.

Troy: Unlikely to be supported because of admission policies and question remains whether they will return to being competitive.

USA: 200 miles from the nearest P5 school (LSU) but less than 95 miles from USM but a nice sized market with a bowl game.

After that you either have to go dramatically north or east for the other western member.

[Mean Green 93-98]

If UAB drops (and until the CBS article I wasn't buying it) you've got a dilemma in who to add because there isn't an abundance to choose from.

Needs to be a western school as long as you aren't splitting MTSU/WKU.

The pool working west to east would be:

NMSU: UTEP is unlikely to support them.

Texas State: Does UTSA really want a league opponent that close and does Rice want another large state school so close by? Base recruiting territory overlaps basically everyone left in CUSA West.

Louisiana: Rice issue again. Recruiting base overlaps La.Tech and USM and they come into Texas as well.

ULM: dropping enrollment and La.Tech leadership would have a seizure, probably be some concerns about their admissions profile.

AState: Few CUSA bother recruiting Arkansas except for La.Tech hitting the south end of the state. AState recruits some in Texas but the biggest recruiting zone for AState outside of Arkansas is Alabama. We start only one Texan, majority are from Arkansas followed by Alabama. No starters from Louisiana, one from Tennessee, one from Mississippi, one from Georgia.

Troy: Unlikely to be supported because of admission policies and question remains whether they will return to being competitive.

USA: 200 miles from the nearest P5 school (LSU) but less than 95 miles from USM but a nice sized market with a bowl game.

Of those, the only ones I would want to consider are ULL, A-State, and Texas State as a very distant third.

I do wonder if there might be possibilities of plucking from the MAC, although I don't see NIU as being too likely. But Ohio University would not be a bad addition--they are very close to Marshall, and they have a history together. They would also be reasonably close to WKY and MUTS, and all the non-Florida teams. Plus being with the Florida teams will get them the Florida inroads that Marshall claims has served them so well.

[GrayEagle]

If this should happen I think that the first phone call should go to Army. They will be the only Division I service academy not in a conference. They have a long-standing national reputation. They average around 35,000 per game themselves and they'd probably draw another thousand or two to each CUSA member's home game. They are not ridiculously distant from either Marshall or ODU.

I like ULL and Arky State and wish that we could swap them for the two Floridas (whose average attendance is in the 12-14,000 range). Those two have average attendance of 25,000+ and field competitive teams. Attendance is one of the barometers that indicate the importance of a program.

One additional comment... If you know Dan Smith (especially) and others that have served on the BOR then you'd know that they are not being staffed to keep UNT at bay...either athletically or academically.

Edited November 15, 2014 by GrayEagle

[FirefightnRick]

Relevance?

It's a Benford/basketball board thing. I've been told "No coach worth his salt would ever agree to coach for less than a 5 year contract",...referring to basketball of course.

That seemed odd to me, so I researched through every hire that listed contract agreements online dating back to about 2009(?) and found that nearly 20% of the D1 coaches hired since that time had actually agreed to a first time contract for less than 5 years, including the current UNLV coach who took a 3 year deal and won 20 something games. So in fact, a coach worth his salt can actually be found for less than 5 years.

And the fact that this guy at UAB did it in football and was successful is amazing to me. I'd say he's worth his salt, and may be a great get for someone pretty soon.

Rick

[Arkstfan]

Of those, the only ones I would want to consider are ULL, A-State, and Texas State as a very distant third.

I do wonder if there might be possibilities of plucking from the MAC, although I don't see NIU as being too likely. But Ohio University would not be a bad addition--they are very close to Marshall, and they have a history together. They would also be reasonably close to WKY and MUTS, and all the non-Florida teams. Plus being with the Florida teams will get them the Florida inroads that Marshall claims has served them so well.

I like what Ohio is doing but you add Ohio who comes west? MTSU and WKU are going to have a fit if you split them up. The only way to avoid splitting them is to send both west and ship USM to the east.

[Arkstfan]

If this should happen I think that the first phone call should go to Army. They will be the only Division I service academy not in a conference. They have a long-standing national reputation. They average around 35,000 per game themselves and they'd probably draw another thousand or two to each CUSA member's home game. They are not ridiculously distant from either Marshall or ODU.

I like ULL and Arky State and wish that we could swap them for the two Floridas (whose average attendance is in the 12-14,000 range). Those two have average attendance of 25,000+ and field competitive teams. Attendance is one of the barometers that indicate the importance of a program.

One additional comment... If you Dan Smith (especially) and others that have served on the BOR then you'd know that they are not being staffed to keep UNT at bay...either athletically or academically.

Army left because they were not competitive and they won't leave the Patriot in other sports and it means you either Mizzou them and put them in an unnatural division or ship WKY and MT west with USM east.

[outoftown]

Here's another great article--but scary--about UAB's potential shutdown: http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/writer/jon-solomon/24806444/is-the-alabama-board-of-trustees-finally-ready-to-kill-uab-football

That one is really concerning. If they are not willing to tell their own coach that theey'll be around in 2 years, not willing to prolong a comparatively successful first year coach so he'll have a fourth year and have not schedulled any non-conf beyond 2016... then it really is more than just a rumour, it looks like they really are getting ready to drop it.

[TheWestie]

You have to look at all of this from a rich Bama board member's perspective.

"Hey how much are we paying for UAB to have a football team? Hot dang, we could take that money and use it to pay some players! Roll Tide!"

[Arkstfan]

You have to look at all of this from a rich Bama board member's perspective.

"Hey how much are we paying for UAB to have a football team? Hot dang, we could take that money and use it to pay some players! Roll Tide!"

The real advantage to killing UAB football is to weaken the perception of UAB as we head into a period of financial uncertainty in higher ed.

[wardly]

We need a school in Georgia. I would take Ga. Southern over A-State or ULL.

[Mean Green 93-98]

We need a school in Georgia. I would take Ga. Southern over A-State or ULL.

I'm not sure why we need a school in Georgia. There's a void in our footprint between NC and South Florida, but Arkansas is also a void in our footprint. And geographically adding a team in the west makes more sense, as Arkstfan points out above. But more than that, the conference needs quality additions--first of all, that means schools with good athletics (especially football), and schools with a rabid fanbase and good attendance. ULL averages over 25k per game, ASU is not too far behind that, but Georgia Southern averages under 15k.

Georgia Southern wouldn't be terrible. I'm not crazy about adding recent FCS moveups, but Georgia Southern would be one of the best of the recent FCS moveups, not too far behind Old Dominion. Their attendance isn't very good, but it's better than the C-USA Florida schools.

The problem is, with Britt Banowsky's prioritization of TV markets, if he were to add a Georgia school, it would almost certainly be Georgia State. And I wouldn't want Georgia State anywhere near C-USA.

Edited November 15, 2014 by Mean Green 93-98

[wardly]

If you compare population, Georgia in a no brainer. However, if you are looking at programs, I agree that ULL and/or A-State would be the natural choice. I picked Ga. Southern because of their 1aa success,which was better than Marshall's.I would rather not expand into Georgia if Ga. State is only choice. Whoever it is needs to bring t.v.sets.

[Mean Green 93-98]

Whoever it is needs to bring t.v.sets.

Then you've ruled out Georgia Southern. They're on the outskirts of the Savannah TV market, 96th-largest market in the country.

[GrayEagle]

Army left because they were not competitive and they won't leave the Patriot in other sports and it means you either Mizzou them and put them in an unnatural division or ship WKY and MT west with USM east.

That was then; this is now. CUSA at that time was roughly what the AAC is today (the same conference that Navy joins next year). Army should compete pretty well immediately and should get better over the years as conferences tend to give the incentive to do well. They already have impending games with us, Rice and Western Kentucky in their future. They would immediately raise the attendance and reputation of CUSA. That's why I'd try to lure them first.

Should that fail, I'd like to see us go after Louisiana-Lafayette, Arkansas State, Ohio, Texas State, and Toledo in that order. If, by some miracle, we could get rid of FAU and FIU for attendance woes and add Army, Louisiana, and Arkansas State, I'd really like CUSA. I also hope that Charlotte can pick up the pace in football. They will be sub-.500 in their first year with an average attendance of around 14,000.

Personally, I want the 14 best teams with a following to be in CUSA. The divisions will shake out over time. Even the SEC has a rather awkward division alliance.

Edited November 15, 2014 by GrayEagle

[UNT90]

Just think of the schedule discombobulation it would cause in the UNT AD if Army joined CUSA.

It could take years to sort out the scheduling ramifications

[FirefightnRick]

The real advantage to killing UAB football is to weaken the perception of UAB as we head into a period of financial uncertainty in higher ed.

Yeah, I can see how keeping UAB football around is killing the Alabama perception,...especially after knocking off the No. 1 team in the nation today. I bet Alabama is breaking their necks looking around for something to cut out of their budget?

Rick

[untjim1995]

What people at a lot of places ought to fear is the big P5 giant(s) in their state making the same thing happen to the G5s in their state. How hard it is to imagine a UT BOR member with major clout in Austin pulling Lee Jackson aside and telling him that he would have funding tomorrow for anything he wanted at UNT-Dallas if UNT-Denton would drop football back down to FCS or lower? Not that I know why they would care, but its the smae thought I have about Alabama caring about UAB, too.

Edited November 17, 2014 by untjim1995

[Mean Green 93-98]

What people at a lot of places ought to fear is the big P5 giant(s) in their state making the same thing happen to the G5s in their state. How hard it is to imagine a UT BOR member with major clout in Austin pulling Lee Jackson aside and telling him that he would have funding tomorrow for anything he wanted at UNT-Dallas if UNT-Denton would drop football back down to FCS or lower? Not that I know why they would care, but its the smae thought I have about Alabama caring about UAB, too.

It's a thought, but it's a different situation since we're not in the same system. However, UTEP and UTSA could potentially see themselves similarly threatened. It's not a present threat, as the UT BOR seem to be whole-heartedly behind UTEP's and UTSA's athletics. But it's certainly possible that different people could be in those positions in the future who think like the UA BOT.

[VideoEagle]

Yeah, I can see how keeping UAB football around is killing the Alabama perception,...especially after knocking off the No. 1 team in the nation today. I bet Alabama is breaking their necks looking around for something to cut out of their budget?

Rick

I think what Arkstfan means is killing UAB football hurts the perception of UAB for ordinary students. Especially in the South, going to football games is a part of the college experience. Right now, while UAB isn't nearly as strong a program, students can get a similar experience. If the chance for a similar experience goes away, then there is increased demand to attend Alabama. In Texas, there is a active effort to push students away from the two flagship universities as there simply isn't room. In states with smaller populations of potential college students, they want to be sure there is an always increasing demand to attend the flagship school. I think that's the economic incentive based on a growing financial uncertainly. It's about a lot more than football or even just athletics!

[VideoEagle]

It's a thought, but it's a different situation since we're not in the same system. However, UTEP and UTSA could potentially see themselves similarly threatened. It's not a present threat, as the UT BOR seem to be whole-heartedly behind UTEP's and UTSA's athletics. But it's certainly possible that different people could be in those positions in the future who think like the UA BOT.

See my post above. The situation Texas with our flagship universities is very different than the situation in states with smaller potential student populations. Until this changes and there aren't any enrollment limits at UT Austin, the UT BOR wants all the mini mes to be places students will want to go!

[BillySee58]

Roddy White played at UAB from '01 to '04. Now he's trying to help save the football program » http://t.co/UbqAXrUdLM pic.twitter.com/EY2Ce8pdFv

— ESPN CollegeFootball (@ESPNCFB)

November 20, 2014

[NT03]

Pretty pathetic that good ole boy politics is a roadblock for a group of good people trying to do the right thing at UAB. Exposed tomorrow!

— Tim Brando (@TimBrando)

November 25, 2014