We have a test case.  The OAC just signed with Flo.  Their broadcasts have been proudly and publicly underwritten by an alumni group for a long time - it's been labeled and branded all over their stuff.

One would hope they'd be consulted on this kind of move.  If they are like many other schools we've talked to, that may not have happened.

I doubt we'll get all the financial numbers from this, but they will exist.  Marietta will know how this affects the relationship with certain alums pretty much right away.

Quote from: y_jack_lok on July 16, 2025, 05:45:30 PM

Quote from: Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan) on July 16, 2025, 04:42:26 PMI found some info from the Landmark's tax filings:

For 2023-24, the Landmark received $289,710 for media rights and distributed $242,860 of FloSports revenue to member schools.

With ten schools, Flo only needs each school to have 250 $100 subs to break even.  You might get all of those alone from just family members of football players - much more for bigger conferences.

The price point is what bothers everybody, and rightly so, but its the price point they need to stay in business.  We all resent being taken advantage of, but supply and demand are cruel, I guess.

Do you really think that? I know football rosters are big -- well over 100 in most cases, up to 200+ in a few. But it assumes literally every parent will subscribe, plus other relatives. I can maybe see getting to 250 across all sports.

I'm not sure what it is with my word choice today.  I did say "might."  I think there are some schools where a football team could sell 250 subs before you even get to family members.  That's definitely not true everywhere.  Some schools won't even get to 100 across all sports.  I'm just trying to say that the money isn't a huge risk for Flo.

Quote from: Gregory Sager on July 16, 2025, 04:38:32 PM

Quote from: Pat Coleman on July 16, 2025, 03:22:58 PM

Quote from: IC798891 on July 16, 2025, 02:41:02 PMhttps://x.com/JoeGinley/status/1945228379801735530

This is exactly the kind of thing I'd be doing if I were a college not getting on the Flo train.

You offer up the free viewing as a benefit of sending your kids to the school. I talk to a lot of athletes, and, while I doubt it alone is enough to sway anyone, they all mention parents being able to watch them as being something that matters to them.

I would be too, but the SIDs also generally have no visibility as to what the conference will do. That could backfire in the wrong conference.

I guess that that could be true of some conferences, but it's definitely not true of the CCIW. The nine CCIW SIDs generally talk to each other pretty regularly about anything and everything regarding the league, and each one appears to be pretty dialed in as to what his or her school's administration has in mind for athletics policy -- and it's the nine presidents and their cabinets who call the big-picture-policy shots in the CCIW, not the league office in Naperville.

Case in point: Last year folks from the eight other CCIW schools were in an uproar over Carthage putting two MBB games on PPV (Marquee Sports Network) long before the Carthage press release announcing it came out.

Again, though, every conference is different, so this is a YMMV situation.

I would've said the same about a number of leagues Flo signed and yet, in almost every case, almost nobody knew until it was done.

I found some info from the Landmark's tax filings:

For 2023-24, the Landmark received $289,710 for media rights and distributed $242,860 of FloSports revenue to member schools.

With ten schools, Flo only needs each school to have 250 $100 subs to break even.  You might get all of those alone from just family members of football players - much more for bigger conferences.

The price point is what bothers everybody, and rightly so, but its the price point they need to stay in business.  We all resent being taken advantage of, but supply and demand are cruel, I guess.

Likely the model is that an AD can go to administration and say, "here, we brought in $30k per year by selling broadcast rights."  The actual bottom line is of less use to them in that environment.

The reality is, most of the people watching will pay.  Basketball and football might have a lot more casuals who won't pony up, but the audience for most other sports are family, friends, and alums.

We've heard the obvious grumbling from the other schools and conferences who've done it, but it's been relatively mild an short-lived.

I'm not defending it; I just think it's not a major concern for the athletic departments.  Schools with good broadcasts are getting paid to keep doing what they're doing and schools with crappier ones are getting paid to upgrade their offerings (if only a little bit).

I do think there are unseen repercussions from this move, but those are lessened by every conference who joins up.

I also think Flo is not a long term reality - I think most schools and conferences understand this, too - there's not enough profit in it to be worth what Flo's paying.  In that respect, I think conferences are happy to take the money while it's there and they'll figure out what's next when it goes away.

Quote from: IC798891 on July 16, 2025, 09:54:14 AMWhen a significant change happens that is going to positively impact a segment of people and negatively impact another segment of people, getting the opinions of both segments of people to tell the complete story is literally Journalism 101.

Again, it's a press release.  The only intent is to shape the narrative that this is good; they do not want to give space for another opinion.  The point is to try and convince people this is good for everyone.

These aren't journalism pieces; they're press releases.

Quote from: CNU85 on May 30, 2025, 01:34:00 PMI don't recall seeing this on the boards. My apologies if I'm bringing up old news. Endowment now down to $1.9 Million.

Averett Sues former CFO

Good gosh.  That's a troubling financial picture.  Wow.

It's the ability to combine into one for sports sponsored by fewer schools that irks people.  Nobody else gets that option, they have to align as affiliates or create single sport conferences, all of which cost more money.  The MAC should be two conferences and, if they get to 20 teams, the NCAA should force them to split permanently.  I doubt that happens, but it really isn't a level playing field.

Even if they want to remain two parts of one big conference and share administration like they do now, that's fine with me, so long as they operate as two separate conferences for all sport AQs.  That's the real inequity to be addressed.

You're also going to see increased pressure to justify athletic spending at schools far more concerned with academics.  The NESCAC might be wealthy, but the money's not unlimited.  I think you're going to see more questions about whether robust intercollegiate athletics is as much an asset to the institution as it used to be.  Media coverage of D1 is certainly not helping any.

Do teams use that bye for non-conference games?  That could be why they keep it on a Saturday - much easier to schedule something.

Quote from: jmcozenlaw on May 15, 2025, 05:00:24 PM1. The MAC might very well end up, in time for the Fall of 2027, as a 20 team conference, with two, 10 team divisions. This would put an end to the "MAC should not have two automatic qualifiers" noise once and for all.

The issue with the grandfathered two AQs is not about number of teams, but that the MAC participates as one conference for some sports and two conference for others.  Nobody else gets that flexibility.

This is entirely from my impressions in conversation with Vanderwal and nothing he's specifically said, but as much as he and his family appreciated Marietta, the school and the town, and all the things they've done to welcome and appreciate him, he's still a Michigan kid at heart and if the right MIAA job came open, it always felt like he'd have a hard time saying no.

Now, couple that with the financial issues Marietta's been having and the fact that his kids are just getting to HS age - timing makes sense.  Trine is a better gig is pretty much every conceivable way, closer to home, more room for advancement, if he's still thinking about coaching at a higher level someday.

Heck, he's already had some success recruiting kids from NW Ohio down to Marietta.  Really, really tough to say no to that one - especially when it sounds like Trine went after him pretty hard.

Quote from: Greek Tragedy on May 10, 2025, 03:19:03 PMhttps://athletics.wheaton.edu/news/2025/5/9/the-thunder-mens-basketball-program-announces-seven-newcomers-for-the-2025-26-season.aspx

Wheaton announces their incoming class...all freshmen. Up to 10 now.

Maybe the AD allocated additional resources to MBB recruiting?

The reality is, though, the only way any NESCAC school is in real danger is if they try to keep pace with richer peers beyond their means.  Middlebury is still working with a huge endowment and a 14% acceptance rate.  For elite institutions, there will always be students out there who want to attend - they just need to be smart about what they can offer as the landscape changes.