MEGA Conference Realignment and lawsuits Megathread: Stories, Tales, Lies, and Exaggerations

[CaneinBroward]

With the 3 biggest schools (Bama, UGA, and OSU) getting beaten this past week, it will be interesting to see how the TV ratings will look for the rest of the playoff.

 

[Handsome Squidbum]

The TV media deals for the Big Ten and big 12 are like $50 million apart by 2030 and Miami and Notre Dame & Florida State alone wood not bridge that gap

No one has made deals with Netflix and/or Amazon yet. It's 2026 and everything is moving towards streaming. P2 are still tied to bloated tv networks for several more years. Amazon paid 11 BILLION DOLLARS for the right to stream Thursday night NFL games through 2033. That comes out to around $65-70 million PER GAME. If the ACC and B12 merged, it would be a coast to coast conference in a lot of big tv markets.

Fun fact- if Miami went on a historic run and made it just to the semi-finals for the next 4 seasons (through 2030), because we get to keep all the playoff money, our take home total with the existing ACC tv contract would come out to $435 million (average $84 million per year). Buyout from ACC in 2030 will probably be around 75 million.

I actually expect Miami will announce in 2028 it will be formally joining the B1G in 2030. I suppose there is a chance we accept a SEC offer with full shares if they get scared about letting the B1G into Florida (which they are). ESPN will be very happy to see Miami in the SEC.

 

[caneworld]

Alabama/Indiana.. everyone likes watching a train wreck in slow motion..

 

[SpikeUM]

ACC just had to go wake up this beast with unlimited resources. SMU has rich hungry alumni.

Its not the ACC, many schools have at least one billionaire - look at TT. I would be more worried if say Stanford or Vanderbilt decided to be REALLY good.

 

[Hold My Beer]

I actually expect Miami will announce in 2028 it will be formally joining the B1G in 2030.

I'm sticking with an exit announcement by June 1, 2026 or June 1, 2027 — and we'll be gone to our new conference home by the Fall 2027 or Fall 2028 (with the caveat there may need to be some sort of roadmap in place for NIL, transfer portal, the College Football calendar and so on)

I suppose there is a chance we accept a SEC offer with full shares if they get scared about letting the B1G into Florida (which they are).

Sankey made it clear back in 2023 through ESPN mouthpiece Pete Thamel: "They (the SEC) don't want the Big Ten to come into their region."

Miami is in a Top 6 media market and easily a Top 5 metro for football talent,

BFD if UF and FSU have larger fanbases. SoFla is a must-have. Why on earth let UM go to the B1G when the Canes are finally back rolling?

ESPN will be very happy to see Miami in the SEC.

For $ure!

Comes down to if Sankey can convince his school presidents that bringing in Miami is a move that needs to happen.

How much will ESPN kick in to further sweeten the pot for existing partners?

IMO, they'll be willing to spend a whole lot a dollars — with the option to sublicense content to some or all of Netflix, Prime or Apple.

CFB is easily America's second-favorite sport and March Madness is ratings gold, too. No way those streaming giants stay on the sidelines much longer

 

[FL Cane]

We are in the best position we have been in realignment in a long time, and I was already of the opinion we had a spot in the B10 come 2030.

The SEC path is interesting. I have been told repeatedly that there are roadblocks there, in the form of Florida, Auburn, and UGA primarily. However, with Miami returning to relevance and being built like an SEC program, one has to wonder. Does Sankey really want the B10 to have Carter Blanche with us, Clemson (who’s on the downtrend), and FSU?

It would be a coup if he brought FSU and UM into the conference, locking down Florida. However, I doubt SEC teams would be for it. It may be a contingency if the B10 gets Clemson, FSU, and UNC. At that point they’d be desperate I think.