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MEGA Conference Realignment and lawsuits Megathread(Its still personal)

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coffeecane said:
This is what happens when capitalism meets socialism.
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Rickd said:
Red Bird Capital (with investments in Fenway, Formula One, and pro soccer) and Weatherford Capital launched a college sports fund. Collegiate Athletic Solutions was formed to offer schools investments / loans in the ranges of $50 Million - $200 Million for a share of future revenues. They believe that there are many brands that have been under marketed with a huge upside for dramatically increased revenue with proper marketing and brand development.

Drew Weatherford is on the FSU BOT and he might have to resign once the firm commences funding activities. It is highly likely that this might be a prime source of "exit funding" from the ACC for FSU .... and maybe even other select programs that have a strong brand with upside potential. Crazy.
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Weatherford is full of ****. He slipped up in his Yahoo interview and I don't believe a word he says. He's not about promoting college sports to create more parity. He's trying to offer loans to schools that don't have the cash to fund their programs and then he'll take his cut. Either that or he's the worst PE manager ever. A PE's only reason for existence is to maximize profits. It's not a charity to help the less fortunate compete.
After all, they do have an incentive to see increases in a department’s revenue: They earn a percentage on any new annual growth. Over a 10- to 20-year period, that percentage decreases from, perhaps, 22% in the first few years to 2% by its end, as the firm meets its original principal investment. Weatherford describes this as taking a “revenue royalty.”

If there is no growth, the firm does not take a cut.

“They are not mandated to pay us back the money we give them,” Weatherford said.

These capital firms are built around investing wisely in revenue-generating entities. Why take a risk on the unstable situation in college sports if you aren’t guaranteed a profit?

“I deeply personally believe in college athletics,” Weatherford said. “As an ex-athlete, I owe a lot to it and so does my family. We believe in college athletics. I don’t like the fact that 10 to 15 teams have a chance to win a national title every year. I’d like that to be 40-50. It’s not a level playing field. Not everyone has the resources to compete.”
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rascon said:
I see a lot of comments suggesting that if we go to playoffs this year, we will definitely be in P2 - from my limited view, I think whatever moves are going to happen, are going to happen way before next football season takes place.

Seems to me that state of NC is going to do work to keep ACC intact, but still eventually settle with FSU and Clemson so they can leave.
But does that temporary unlocking of the door for those 2 schools apply to all members who haven’t filed before that point? I don’t see ACC imploding anymore. And I think they will make leaving even harder than it is right now once they regroup. And I don’t think we will have enough couch change to come up with exit fees.

Fwiw, I think staying in the ACC is the worst option possible. Especially with it dirty past revealed and with state of NC working to give more to UNC to keep them in ACC, that is going to create a gap within conference. UNC might be good with staying in ACC while being compensated at near P2 levels..
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I am staunchly against even thinking about going to the Big 12, at this point in time it is P2 or bust. Having said that if we dont make the cut this time around and the ACC tries to force us into an even more egregious agreement, then I think we turn to the Big 12 as a stopgap until we can work our way into the P2. In no world should we agree to being stuck long term in a conference that is on the outside looking in.
 
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Imukat said:
Weatherford is full of ****. He slipped up in his Yahoo interview and I don't believe a word he says. He's not about promoting college sports to create more parity. He's trying to offer loans to schools that don't have the cash to fund their programs and then he'll take his cut. Either that or he's the worst PE manager ever. A PE's only reason for existence is to maximize profits. It's not a charity to help the less fortunate compete.
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Nobody said or inferred that the venture is a charity .... it's a freaking business and the ONLY reason to launch a business venture is to make money. It is even stated ... SHARE OF FUTURE REVENUES. I would imagine there is a base annual debt service AND some participation.
 
reggie85 said:
I am staunchly against even thinking about going to the Big 12, at this point in time it is P2 or bust. Having said that if we dont make the cut this time around and the ACC tries to force us into an even more egregious agreement, then I think we turn to the Big 12 as a stopgap until we can work our way into the P2. In no world should we agree to being stuck long term in a conference that is on the outside looking in.
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It is going to be interesting to see what the next action is in the FSU / ACC case. Swofford has been getting paid since his departure ... received $2.5 million in 2023. The State of Florida is apparently even considering some criminal charges ... possibly directed at conference management for taking major actions without member approval and for misrepresentation regarding the ESPN media agreement and the GOR to try and trap members in the conference. Need to get out of the ACC and not get caught in any "ACC conservation effort" that locks members in past the current ESPN media agreement termination date of June 30, 2027.
 
Rickd said:
Nobody said or inferred that the venture is a charity .... it's a freaking business and the ONLY reason to launch a business venture is to make money. It is even stated ... SHARE OF FUTURE REVENUES. I would imagine there is a base annual debt service AND some participation.
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I'm saying Weatherford is trying to make himself as a white knight to help struggling programs and create parity which can't be farther from the truth. Especially his line about not being mandatory to pay back if there's no growth. He's talking about revenue growth, but for the schools, revenues will grow but they may still be operating in the red.

If he really cared about the state of the schools and college athletics, he'd flip the royalties the other way. 2% at the start and growing up to 22% as the programs increase revenue and generate profit. He's saying they take 22% at the beginning that scales down to 2%. I know it's bad business to do the former, but what he's saying "wanting to help college athletics" is not what he's offering "big revenue royalties up front that gradually scale down." He's no different than the Saudis that are wanting to jump in because they see professional sports $$$ in college football.
 
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3FW said:
They are right. They can afford to lead the fight, hopefully they do it.
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Smells more of fearing the future loss of their independence to me rather than being good stewards of the game. In fact, one could argue they have done more to get college sports to this point than any other institution or conference between leaving the CFA in the early '90's, brokering the sweetheart deal with the Big East, and when the Big East fell apart, getting a slightly less sweetheart of a deal with the ACC.

Don't get me wrong, ND did what was best for them in each of those situations and found TV networks or athletics conferences who kowtowed to their demands. Good for them. Just don't come around after 35 years of doing what's best for ND and suddenly play the part of the cowboy in the white hat saving college football from the selfish greed of its member institutions, when they were the poster boys for doing what's right for their institution and not for the good of the sport as a whole from the get go.

They know they are a couple of conferences deciding to go to 9 or 10 conference games away from finding enough opponents to put together a playoff worthy schedule or another Bob Davies - Ty Willingham - Charlie Weis era away from a less impressive TV deal in the next go around. Add in the fact NCAA football players will officially be paid employees and the additional expense of it all and I'm sure they are not too happy at ND with the current situation.
 
Imukat said:
I'm saying Weatherford is trying to make himself as a white knight to help struggling programs and create parity which can't be farther from the truth. Especially his line about not being mandatory to pay back if there's no growth. He's talking about revenue growth, but for the schools, revenues will grow but they may still be operating in the red.

If he really cared about the state of the schools and college athletics, he'd flip the royalties the other way. 2% at the start and growing up to 22% as the programs increase revenue and generate profit. He's saying they take 22% at the beginning that scales down to 2%. I know it's bad business to do the former, but what he's saying "wanting to help college athletics" is not what he's offering "big revenue royalties up front that gradually scale down." He's no different than the Saudis that are wanting to jump in because they see professional sports $$$ in college football.
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Yes, Weatherford is full of crap. People with the $$$ to invest in private equity firms are looking for those private equity firms to get a sizable return on their investment. They don't care about the excuses for not making a better return or God forbid, a loss as long as it helps "college football".

It's fairly obvious it is a pretty risky investment as schools would first go to banks to get financing at a much lower rate than from PE.
 
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Will ESPN offer the ACC a revised contract? The guy on Warchant that began the now 2000 page realignment thread about two years ago stated today "The ACC, ESPN, FSU and others are on the verge of a new contract that will permit FSU to leave and will keep the conference in tact and also keep both the SEC and Big 10 happy. If parties cannot agree the ACC will dissolve".

Lot to digest in that comment. A revised contract might include unequal funds distribution, based on performance, to get the top couple of teams into a $$$ area closer to the P2. Probably would include adding a couple more teams to back fill once FSU and ?? leave. If Miami isn't included in the couple of teams that leave in this next realignment phase you would want to ensure that any NEW CONTRACT includes an option to leave for the P2 if invited in the future. The guy who posted this today is the one individual on Warchant who is deemed to have actual information from the media side of what has been going on ... as he is a retired media guy. At least Summer is upon us and a lot should be clarified soon.
 
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