Big 10 Cancels 2020 Football Season

UNTFan23 · August 11, 2020

UNT Knowledge · August 11, 2020

https://footballscoop.com/news/report-big-ten-to-cancel-fall-season/

Moobs · August 11, 2020

#UndefeatedBIG10

wardly · August 11, 2020

Could there be a silver lining in this for UNT? With Big 10 , MWC, and MAC out with PAC 12 probably to follow. there seems to be be a void of "fall ball" games to be televised. Does this open any doors for CUSA,AAC, and SBC to fill that void? I am clueless on this issue but brought it up assuming greater minds might share their knowledge.

greenminer · August 11, 2020

What program has the longest active streak of consecutive CFB seasons played? Will they cancel and end that streak?

Other reads...

Oldest rivalries
Each state's first CFB game
Oldest programs

Salsa_Verde · August 11, 2020

9 minutes ago, wardly said:

Could there be a silver lining in this for UNT? With Big 10 , MWC, and MAC out with PAC 12 probably to follow. there seems to be be a void of "fall ball" games to be televised. Does this open any doors for CUSA,AAC, and SBC to fill that void? I am clueless on this issue but brought it up assuming greater minds might share their knowledge.

I’m hoping there isn’t some domino effect. The way things are right now it seems like everything is fine until it’s not. Who knows anymore 🤷🏽‍♂️

Wag Tag · August 11, 2020

There has to be a domino effect because of the liability issue. Organizations with in your industry are shutting down to protect students. I believe all will have to follow.

KRAM1 · August 11, 2020

Expect the PAC 12 to cancel next. So sad for all the players, coaches, fans and the universities. But, can you really blame them with all the uncertainty surrounding this virus and the uncertainty surrounding potential liability issues? Lots and lots of things to be sorted out now.

And, call me skeptical, but all these schools saying they will try to play in the spring....not so much I think. Hope so, but the challenges would be massive in my opinion. Just my opinion.

Bummer all the way around!

Salsa_Verde · August 11, 2020

Yeah I don’t blame anyone for this decision. I honestly could see merits in playing and not playing.

ScreamingEaglesFan · August 11, 2020

Just saw the coach at Nebraska say on NBC Nightly news that with or without their conference they were going to play this season. It was part of a story derailing the financial impact a loss would have citing a eighty billion dollar impact on local economies.

Could this possibly cause other universities to follow their lead?

RiseUNT · August 11, 2020

22 minutes ago, ScreamingEaglesFan said:

Just saw the coach at Nebraska say on NBC Nightly news that with or without their conference they were going to play this season. It was part of a story derailing the financial impact a loss would have citing a eighty billion dollar impact on local economies.

Could this possibly cause other universities to follow their lead?

The small towns with big football universities are already devastated. No football could cause a lot of bankruptcies, foreclosures, and overwhelming financial crisis.

wardly · August 11, 2020

Eighty Billion? That number seems very far fetched.Set aside Warren Buffet and I don't know if there is that much wealth in the whole state of Nebraska. However, the Big 10 is not going to allow Nebraska to play in the fall. If they did, then Penn St.,Iowa,Ohio State, and Michigan would demand to play as well. However, there may be a most improbable scenario where the BIG RED bolt the Big 10 and return to the BIG 12.

RiseUNT · August 11, 2020

4 minutes ago, wardly said:

Eighty Billion? That number seems very far fetched.Set aside Warren Buffet and I don't know if there is that much wealth in the whole state of Nebraska. However, the Big 10 is not going to allow Nebraska to play in the fall. If they did, then Penn St.,Iowa,Ohio State, and Michigan would demand to play as well. However, there may be a most improbable scenario where the BIG RED bolt the Big 10 and return to the BIG 12.

I’m thinking it’s for every college football city.

emmitt01 · August 11, 2020

13 minutes ago, wardly said:

Eighty Billion? That number seems very far fetched.Set aside Warren Buffet and I don't know if there is that much wealth in the whole state of Nebraska. However, the Big 10 is not going to allow Nebraska to play in the fall. If they did, then Penn St.,Iowa,Ohio State, and Michigan would demand to play as well. However, there may be a most improbable scenario where the BIG RED bolt the Big 10 and return to the BIG 12.

How would the Big 10 stop them?

southsideguy · August 11, 2020

Neb wants to play and says they will play anyone anywhere? Should we invite them to Apogee?

untjim1995 · August 11, 2020

You have It backwards—play at Nebraska now, with a return game in Denton with a $5 million buyout for next year...

Edited August 12, 2020 by untjim1995

mgsteve · August 11, 2020

Since we maybe looking for opponents this season I say give them a 2 for 1, 2 here and 1 there, all this season if the schedule so dictates.

southsideguy · August 11, 2020

if we play neb with limited tickets at apogee you might be able to sell your ticket to Neb fan and pay for your season tickets

TheTastyGreek · August 12, 2020

48 minutes ago, emmitt01 said:

How would the Big 10 stop them?

Withhold their conference money? Their share of the NCAA tournament credits and football playoff payouts? Sue the hell out of them, boot them from the conference, and keep their broadcast rights for multiple future football seasons?

If Nebraska plays some weird Frankenstein 6 or 8 game season this fall, then the Big 10 has a Spring season to satisfy their broadcast contracts... But Nebraska is not able to participate as proper conference members because the NCAA limits how many games a football program can play in one year... Best case, maybe they lose a year's worth of conference money. Worst case, maybe they get booted, get fined by the conference on the way out for breach, AND they don't own their own TV rights for however long they've signed over their grant-of-rights to the Big 10.

Extended grant-of-rights was the poison pill everyone choked down to stop the realignment carousel last time around. If you violate whatever conference membership agreement each institution signed last time around, you could take a one season problem and turn it into a 3-5 year financial catastrophe, if not worse.

This is all just noise, though... Just like the "We're playing!" "We're just playing conference-only!" "We're not playing after all!" journey we saw happen over the past 3 weeks... Nebraska and whoever else will all go round and round for the next week or three and end up in the same place sometime before the start of September.

Arkstfan · August 12, 2020

There was already a void in programming thanks to the conference networks and Fox picking up some added rights. Sun Belt had 8 Saturday games picked up mostly on U but one or two 2 as the season went on last year.

ESPN+ is going to have much less FBS content this year.

RiseUNT · August 12, 2020

48 minutes ago, Arkstfan said:

There was already a void in programming thanks to the conference networks and Fox picking up some added rights. Sun Belt had 8 Saturday games picked up mostly on U but one or two 2 as the season went on last year.

ESPN+ is going to have much less FBS content this year.

Isn’t the majority of AAC on espn+?

Salsa_Verde · August 12, 2020

4 hours ago, TheTastyGreek said:

Withhold their conference money? Their share of the NCAA tournament credits and football playoff payouts? Sue the hell out of them, boot them from the conference, and keep their broadcast rights for multiple future football seasons?

If Nebraska plays some weird Frankenstein 6 or 8 game season this fall, then the Big 10 has a Spring season to satisfy their broadcast contracts... But Nebraska is not able to participate as proper conference members because the NCAA limits how many games a football program can play in one year... Best case, maybe they lose a year's worth of conference money. Worst case, maybe they get booted, get fined by the conference on the way out for breach, AND they don't own their own TV rights for however long they've signed over their grant-of-rights to the Big 10.

Extended grant-of-rights was the poison pill everyone choked down to stop the realignment carousel last time around. If you violate whatever conference membership agreement each institution signed last time around, you could take a one season problem and turn it into a 3-5 year financial catastrophe, if not worse.

This is all just noise, though... Just like the "We're playing!" "We're just playing conference-only!" "We're not playing after all!" journey we saw happen over the past 3 weeks... Nebraska and whoever else will all go round and round for the next week or three and end up in the same place sometime before the start of September.

I thought it was interesting that they said they were postponing until the spring...as if they expect other conferences to do so. But if they and another conference (PAC-12?) are the only ones to play in the spring what would be the point? No national championship I presume...no bowl games? They’re playing for a conference championship I guess? I just don’t see it happening.

97and03 · August 12, 2020

If only college athletics had a governing body, as association if you will, that could coordinate policy on this issue.

TheTastyGreek · August 12, 2020

1 hour ago, Salsa_Verde said:

I thought it was interesting that they said they were postponing until the spring...as if they expect other conferences to do so. But if they and another conference (PAC-12?) are the only ones to play in the spring what would be the point? No national championship I presume...no bowl games? They’re playing for a conference championship I guess? I just don’t see it happening.

The Big 10 has just under half a billion dollars in annual broadcast contracts with FOX and ESPN.

If they deliver games, they get their money. Maybe slightly less if it's spring... But given the screaming desire for football on TV even in normal times, compared to where things stand now, or 6 months from now when the pipeline of episodic TV is almost totally dry... Maybe not.

For anyone asking, rhetorically or otherwise, "Why is it safe to play a conference schedule but cancel OOC games?" - that's your answer. It's not. But... Play the conference season, and you deliver enough broadcast content to secure your half a billion dollar check for the year.

The College Football Playoff only pays out a little over $65 million to each major conference. That's about 1/8th of what the Big 10 will get for delivering the contracted amount of regular season games to FOX and ESPN.

UNTLifer · August 12, 2020

8 hours ago, 97and03 said:

If only college athletics had a governing body, as association if you will, that had any balls and could coordinate policy on this issue.

Not a fan of the "fixed it for you posts," but I fixed it for you.