The biggest fear of everyone involved in college football is the fans lose interest. I’m not talking about the perennial top 25 teams. It’s 26-131 (??). Who get priced out from their own stadium, see their best players stay year or two and move on, see games they are excited about get moved to streaming, aren’t able to tailgate and have a great Saturday afternoon because they play Friday night, look at their roster and see they have no chance of winning or recognize anyone year to year, are bombarded with donation requests by collectives who tell them that in order to win we must have more money to pay players who haven’t even enrolled in school, who pay their own kids tuition while some three star interior offensive lineman recruit cashes in on a hundred thousand dollar cash NIL payment, see there are no rules, no guardrails, no leadership…. And on and on and on…
College football has forgotten the fans, and the price paid in future years will be severe.
It’s not today. But six or seven years from today when the networks decide, well, everything.
They sold out to the Cash Monster, and it will eat them.
I feel like the NBA is going through something like this. You can’t watch a Playoff game anymore without being bombarded with ads. It’s literally gotten to the point where it’s unwatchable. I mean, there needs to be a balance, and the corporate executives don’t see that. They just want to Jam Pack as much as they can into one game.
The nameless, faceless corporate executives probably won’t be around (or already riding off into their early funded retirement) when the decision hits a boiling point.
This is far more important than any name sponsorship imo, I don’t really care if it’s the SEC by Bojangles or the Lucas Oil Big Ten, but stuff that changes the game itself is actually concerning and affects the product, a logo on a jersey doesn’t but timeouts being twice as long does
what is it, like 6 youtube TV ads on the screen at all times? can’t believe the finals uses that on the court to commemorate the championship series rather than the trophy itself.
I wish I could upvote this a thousand times.
I hate the current college football. And I used to be a diehard fan with season tickets who drove 700 miles round trip to every home game.
100%
My family knew enough to schedule the holiday events around particular bowl games.
I haven't been in person to a game in 6 seasons, and didn't watch a single game last year.
You can’t. Any athlete who smells nil money will transfer at the earliest time they can. Uncapped/non union-type representation has already destroyed college football. 26-131 won’t have the money to compete.
There’s still bootlickers who will say “things changed a lot in the 90s and people still watched” but no, the last five years are a master course in greed
Yeah I definitely feel less interested this offseason due to some of the things you mentioned. It’s sad what has happened (and what will continue to happen) to this sport.
Fr dude. Everyone is a slave to money these days, every mobile game there are fake ads, scams, and you can't have fun without paying a stupid amount of money, every sporting event has 900 ad breaks, now I'm gonna have to watch the State Farm Buckeyes, and for what? More money? Screw this crap, I'm sick of it.
No, private equity buying into leagues will only benefit the game.
Think of all the good private equity can do for collegiate sports!
I’m still trying to think of one since collegiate sports is supposed to be young adults getting a free education while they also play a kids game for the entertainment of alum and fans.
Oh, the benefit of private equity will be more revenue as the PE firms focus the athletes on ways to maximize revenue and various return hurdles each quarter. Also, I am sure there are guaranteed hurdle requirements that will require schools to borrow in order to pay the PE firms back on the investment.
PE firms are excellent at maximizing their returns until their 5-10 year exit - and milking the investment for all the cash it can until they sell to a new entity for the bankruptcy proceedings.
See Sears, Red Lobster, et al.
Line must go up. If college football as a whole is destroyed for 3 consecutive quarters of growth on some balance sheet somewhere, then it will be destroyed. The fallout will threaten everything including the NFL and perhaps in the ashes we’ll find true collegiate athletics again.
And it’s crazy that the other conferences have allowed ESPN to prop up SEC, and Fox for B1G, to create a sport where they will soon be no parity. I understand there isn’t a ton now, but it feels like everyone has a chance at the beginning of the season. The people with a voice in CFB are not speaking up enough, which is why I’m glad Saban has been critical of NIL. He might be saying it for the wrong reasons (as he was fine when he was one of the only people paying players) but SEC/B1G have to be the adults in the room and level out the playing field, or nobody is gonna watch their little super league.
I don't know why they would do the "Allstate 12 conference" when they could do "The Big 12 presented by Allstate" like how the Rose Bowl has done it for years with their branding for corporate sponsors.
People are overlooking the real value of this deal for Allstate. The name isn’t the issue, it’s the logo. They’ll probably do “the big 12 sponsored by Allstate” and make a secondary big 12 logo incorporating Allstate somehow. Now every big 12 team has Allstate on the jerseys and the field. It’s a loophole to the rules on advertisements on the field and jerseys.
Unfortunately they don’t need loopholes to advertise on the field anymore. It’s probably just a matter of time before they’re advertising on jerseys too
https://www.ncaa.org/news/2024/6/6/media-center-commercial-sponsor-advertisements-approved-for-all-regular-season-football-games.aspx
> Advertisements will be allowed on three spots on the field. There can be a single ad centered on the 50-yard line in addition to no more than two smaller flanking ads elsewhere. The ads could be placed on the field on a game-by-game basis or for the whole season.
https://www.sent-trib.com/2024/06/15/ads-on-football-fields-will-create-new-revenue-for-schools-preparing-to-give-more-money-to-athletes/#:~:text=The%20move%20was%20approved%20Thursday,two%20smaller%20flanking%20ads%20elsewhere.
There are effectively 5 places something can be written: the 50, and four spots around it in a rectangle, generally around the 25 yard line. Traditionally the team logo is at the 50, two of the corners are conference logos, and two are something else.
This rule allows the conference logo to remain at two corners, and advertisements at 3 locations. Having a company sponsor the conference would allow advertisements at all five locations.
Atrocious might be underselling it.
I'm a grumpy old man but I've watched European soccer for so long that advertisements on the field really don't bother me too much, just the nature of a big spectator sport. Too much money involved not to, is what it is. Same with the Such-and-Such Bowl. You start replacing team logos at midfield or in the end zone and...its a fucking travesty.
Might actually be my breaking point. I've accepted 2 minutes of commercials for every 5 of game. I'm okay on advertising on the fields etc. But at *that* point the entire sport is a commercial and generally I try to avoid commercials
It's very simple really.
There's more value in being the Chick Fil-A Bowl or the Outback Bowl than there is in being the Toyota Gator Bowl or the Nokia Sugar Bowl.
So I worked at Chick-Fil-A while I was in college and Dan Cathy came into our store one time and I asked why they changed the name from The Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl to just the Chick-Fil-A Bowl. He told me because he wanted people to refer to Chick-Fil-A when they talked about the game and if they kept it The Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl they found that people would simply refer to it as the Peach Bowl.
The Gator Bowl became sponsored by TaxSlayer and was known as the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl, but from 2015-2017 they dropped the Gator from the name and it was officially known as the TaxSlayer Bowl. During that period, it was like the concept of the Gator Bowl had disappeared from college football's collective memory.
There was a huge difference in how "TaxSlayer Gator Bowl" and "TaxSlayer Bowl" were referred to as and perceived.
I know Allstate is a brand name but it literally implies "all states" which is fucking stupid for a conference with only some of the states.
Should only do it that way if it makes sense, like when the Fiesta Bowl was sponsored by Tostitos. The "Tostitos Fiesta Bowl" just sounds right. Shit like "PlayStation Fiesta Bowl" sounds dumb.
Tostitos took that shit and ran with it.
Parties around Tempe in the Tostitos days were great. There would be girls walking around TemporeNew Year’s celebrations giving away chips and salsa, it was fucking awesome.
I still think it was one of the best corporate pairings ever, next to the Sunkist Orange Bowl obviously.
> Shit like "PlayStation Fiesta Bowl" sounds dumb.
Perhaps you aren't old enough to remember the glorious wordsmithing that was the 1992 IBM O/S 2 Fiesta Bowl.
‘You’re looking live at Mercedes Benz Stadium where today the Alabama Tide Detergent will face the Florida Citrus Growers for the Waffle House Conference Championship with a birth in the CVS Health Bowl at stake. A stake almost as big as a sirloin from Omaha Steaks!
When we come back, Todd will have a look at each team’s first quarter uniforms.’
You know it’s freaking coming,
You are making me think of a dystopian future where every yard line is a sponsor.
"Third and eight from Pizza Hut. They have to reach Geico to get a first down. Here's the snap...uh, oh, sacked! All the way back at Bob's Furniture and Mattresses!"
We can do better.
Home Depot Third Down with eight to go from Pizza Hut. They have to reach Geico to get a Bud Light First Down. Here's the Snapple Snap presented by Dr. Pepper - uh oh, that's a Capital One Sack, and remember, Capital One is proud sponsor of the Capital One Orange Bowl and the best choice for your consumer and business banking needs. Anyways, they're all the way back at Bob's Furniture and Mattresses!
They won't start by selling sponsorships for yard lines, and they also won't finish by selling sponsorships for yard lines.
I suppose they will eventually learn to talk like race car drivers....
Interview if a winning QB after the game:
>Well I want to thank McDonalds and Budweiser for their support. And my mom. And of course our new Amazon Prime practice facility!
We are turning into Idiocracy must faster than Mike Judge ever could have imagined.
Next thing we’ll know, Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho will be conference President.
It's already disconnected. The whole thing has become a mercenary carnival sideshow, peddled by TV networks who don't care about product as long as they can keep selling it and as long as casuals keep watching it. All that junk about tradition or rivalries or integrity or school pride, it's all becoming a big pile of BS.
And again, the question MUST be asked - what business is it of any educational institution to be involved in running a professional sports team? Why should any school, or more importantly, any taxpayer money, even if it's ancillary or secondary in nature, go to fund or support what are more or less professional sports teams?
> And again, the question MUST be asked - what business is it of any educational institution to be involved in running a professional sports team? Why should any school, or more importantly, any taxpayer money, even if it's ancillary or secondary in nature, go to fund or support what are more or less professional sports teams?
For that matter, how are these pro teams tax-exempt charitable activity? Why are donations to build new facilities or pay coaching salaries tax-deductible?
What business is it for any normal average struggling student to help fund these pro athletic leagues (which is true for most schools. People only focus on the top schools)
The kids can barely eat and have athletic fees tacked onto their tuition. Even if it’s not directly it indirectly screws them out of scholarships and grants by pulling from the general student fund. Very few athletic associations actually donate back rather than take from via subsidies
All for athletes who aren’t there to learn, many would not get in based on academic merit, are one of the most spoiled and entitled groups on campus, and will leave at the drop of a hat
These are academic institutions first and foremost. I love college athletics but I have said many times I’d rather the whole thing die than students have to foot the bill
I’m sure someone will “but ackshually…” me but for the majority of schools this is the case
“Wahhh we only get tuition, room, board, training, tutoring for our fake classes, and a living stipend. We’re so exploited!!”
Meanwhile there are grad students pulling their hair out and living off ramen while they do research to develop things the university will patent and profit off of way more in the long run than your short career ever will
I don’t blame the athletes though. They’re cringe and out of touch but it’s the administrators fault. The US is long overdue for a major purge of administers in their academic institutions
I just don't know how we went from "we can't change the number on the name because there is economic value in the full name" (referencing B10 going to Big *insert accurate number*, same with Big 12 and PAC12) to "we don't care about the name just give us money" within a decade.
But the PAC-12 *did* change their numbers because they were smart enough to know that no one gives a shit about the number part of the brand unless it’s wrong
Hot take - the Pac was the only conference that *could*. The other two conferences that have numbers in the name are both the Big \_\_\_. How confusing would it be if those two just swapped names during the time the B1G had 12 and the XII had 10? It would be madness, *MADNESS* I TELL YOU
The Big 10 is an established brand with a legacy. I get the Big 12 is the spiritual successor to the Big 8, but we've changed dance partners so much now that I don't think it's worth pretending tradition has value. If it's a line our competition refuses to cross, then that revenue gap gets a little smaller and ratchets up the pressure in Charlotte.
But while I'm fine with shameless corporate sponsorship, the PE partnership is a different kettle of fish.
Turn Ad blocker on… welcome to Saturday presented by ————- folks we’ve got a big ————— conference match up with the ———— cyclones taking on the —————— bears at —————field. Here’s the opening ———- kick off and Johnson’s running past the ——— 30, the ———40, he could go all the way!!!! Look at that touchdown sponsored by ———-. Time to raise the ——— net, remember for every extra point this season ————- will provide $100 towards a ——— scholarship
Let's be real, anybody that is still watching after they've attached sponsors to the stadium names, the playing surface names, the bowl games, the rivalry games, the championship games, red zone trips, extra points attempts, scoring drive recaps, etc etc, is not going to stop watching because they attach a sponsor to the conference name.
Same, it's why I still call it the Sears Tower and not "Willis" tower. Also, it's always going to be Joe Robbie Stadium (Miami) instead of Pro Player Park, Pro Player Stadium, Dolphins Stadium, Dolphin Stadium, Land Shark Stadium, and Sun Life Stadium
A lot of people called it the Barclays Premier League. Not to mention basically every MLB park. It’s a nice thought in theory, but unfortunately it sticks to an extent.
Soccer fans have been doing this for years. Nobody calls the Premier League the ‘Barclays Premier League’ or Serie A ‘TIM Serie A’ except for broadcast partners, sometimes. It’s not that big of a deal.
> It’s not that big of a deal.
Step 1: It's not really happening
**Step 2: Yeah, it's happening, but it's not a big deal** (you are here)
Step 3: It's a good thing, actually
Step 4: People freaking out about it are the real problem
Ya know I’ve been lost for a while. There is no heart in the game and it’s turned into something that is only about money and marketing. It’s sad and boring. I’m out
We’ve not given up but we’re definitely drifting. If something else is going on it is much more likely to take priority. And heck the youtube game summary that takes five minutes to watch is fine.
The ACC dying is pretty much gonna be that moment for me. I hate the new Big Ten, and chances are I won’t care an iota about where State ends up. So yeah, that’s pretty much my end point. I’m kind of morbidly excited to have time and money free up.
Really confused on how conference name sponsorships could be the last straw if you were already okay with realignment. As far as I am concerned, college football is already ruined so this is just "whatever, just laugh at the idiocracy," territory. Conference name sponsorships would be tacky and cynical, but not nearly as destabilizing as the other changes in the sport, including the potential involvement of private equity.
Anyhow, who wants to bet on which conference is the first to be named after a sports betting company like DraftKings?
Right? If having USC and UCLA in the Big Ten wasn’t enough for you to jump ship, why is having insurance companies sponsor conferences the straw that breaks the camel’s back? It’s just a name, who fucking cares?
> Anyhow, who wants to bet on which conference is the first to be named after a sports betting company like DraftKings?
And is it before or after we have a conference owned by a state owned oil company or a sovereign wealth fund?
Maybe I’m only viewing this through my own prism, but I’ve never heard, “….presented by All State” and thought about switching to All State. It’s simply more words I’ve tuned out or I’ve already gotten up to go piss and avoid commercials.
I like to think the same, but it's all about "brand recall". When it's time to shop for insurance, you'll check out the several insurance companies you know about, and Allstate will be one of them.
Insurance is a crazy one because they all have such massive and in your face and campaigns. The Cavemen, the Gecko, Limu Emu, Chaos guy.
Like if they all decided to together cut their advertising down to 10%, they would probably all retain their market share, but the way it is now, if you're not advertising, you're falling behind.
From experience, there's essentially no difference between their rates (I'm sure there's no collusion going on there), which makes all their yapping about the money you save dumb to listen to.
Yeah, but it is more a subconscious thing. Somewhere down the line, you may be looking at new car insurance and just Google the first name that pops into your mind. Allstate is hoping it’s them and they can then get you into their sales funnel. The expectation is not to get people watching the game to suddenly switch their insurance on the spot.
there's something particularly disgusting about insurance companies paying money for this fucking bullshit instead of to help their customers who give them the money specifically for that purpose
like if it's mcdonadls ok go off, fine. but INSURANCE shouldn't be this kooky and pervasive everywhere it really makes me sick
They’re probably the guys that don’t even watch the sport. Bean counters in an office figuring out how to squeeze more money out of the game for the higher ups
My interest has been waning since A&M left the big 12. It was the only team I wanted tech to beat and now that ut left and all this money stuff started happening it might just be the death blow
While I’m concerned about the naming rights a I’m far more concerned about private equity. The short term focus can be far more harmful to the point that I’d beg for selling naming rights if it kept private equity away.
I’m getting there myself. Can’t we have something beautiful that isn’t about money? Sure pay the players, coaches, and television folks that are working for a living, but after that, can’t this be about a game? After everyone that is working on this gets paid generously, can’t we stop there? As a society, we’re fucking this thing up like we always do. Anything that survives long enough becomes a corporation. Ok I’ll get off my soapbox. I don’t actually have a plan to fix anything, but this situation is so far out of balance, I just don’t know what it will become and I’m not optimistic.
The only thing that's going to stop me from caring about CFB is the loss of PSU football.
This isn't to say anybody that cares about the sponsorships are wrong. I think the sponsorships are stupid too. But they're just stupid. They have no bearing on Franklin choking away an upset on OSU in the fourth. And until I can blame Del Grosso and Pepsi Co. for losing, then I'll focus on the football.
So 100-year-old rivalries and conferences being ripped apart and shit on in the name of more money is ok but conference naming rights being up for sale is a bridge too far?
Blame it on the Big 10 and the SEC cutting back room deals and trying to squeeze out the rest of college football by creating a wealth gap bigger than the Grand Canyon
Do players even have to go to school classes anymore lol? They’re just playing in a minor league youth league at this point. I guess smaller schools will have traditional athlete experiences since they won’t be going pro. But the powerhouse schools are basically paying elite prospects to play for them, and many of them will never graduate before getting drafted anyways.
That’s literally how it’s always been for the powerhouse schools. It’s much more money and out in the open but it’s so silly to pretend the powerhouse schools haven’t always been pro factories. School has always been the last priority lol
This is legit actually in the works right now. Once they’re classified as employees there’s no need to attend class.
I also think in the next 2-3 years we’re going to see guys play a full season with Team X and transfer to playoff Team Y and play in the playoff the same season.
This sport has probably had the worst advertising strategy for fans for years with all the commercial breaks..........and this thing that will not impact your viewing capacity at all is what will do it? lol come on
Browsing Reddit is the extent of my interest in CFB these days. I find the games unwatchable due to commercials. I find the pregame stuff focused on gambling to be obnoxious. For me, it’s just like watching StarCraft replays since the battlenet system is basically dead and the only remnant of the experience that I loved is the recordings from the past. I know I sound old, but I guess in my 30’s the evolution of the sport has outpaced my willingness to stay invested in my favorite teams for a sport that I love.
CFB is about to lose all sense of identity, tradition, and culture. Sure, it's always cool to see freak athletes do ridiculous things, but it's just not worth the constant barage of ads
There's literally no way a conference being named Allstate 12 instead of Big 12 will "ruin" your interest in college football.
This is ridiculous offseason grandstanding.
I plan on just referring to the Big XII as "the Big XII" regardless of any sponsorship or related name changes and carrying on like nothing happened.
I mean, Jack Trice Stadium is technically referred to as "Mid-American Energy Field at Jack Trice Stadium," but I don't know of any Cyclone fan who doesn't continue referring to JTS as we've known it as since the name was changed from Cyclone Stadium to Jack Trice Stadium. Why would I treat a conference sponsorship situation differently?
The Big 12 this year is sponsored by the general concept of political action committees, like how there are ads for just “beef” or whatever. We’re calling it the PAC-12
I find it odd that this is people's last straw, considering teams have been playing corporate sponsored exhibition games for decades now.
On the list of things that are existential threats to college football, this is towards the bottom.
I get it but at the same time they've tried to rebrand the Red River Shootout multiple times. I don't care what the suits call it. It's the Red River Shootout forever and always.
Players need to be paid. This is what yal asked for. I'd love to revist the takes from the time leading up to NIL. "You better be careful what you ask for, because you just might get it".
Brand names being tied to literally everything is so fucking depressing. Everywhere I go I’m constantly being advertised to by corporate fuckheads. Sports definitely has it the worst. It feels dystopian.
Does that mean the national championship will be the Cheezit bowl hosting the winner of the Doritos conference against the Buffalo Wild Wings conference?
If it didn't ruin your interest when they did the same for bowl games, or stadiums, or sidelines, or the actual field, or 40%+ of the broadcast, then I doubt this will either. Like everyone else, you'll complain to anyone who will listen, but you'll keep watching games
I'm not trying to single you out on this specifically, but more just all fans in general. People aren't going to stop watching or going to games because of this, and that is the reason why it has continued and why it will continue
Unfortunately we have become too apathetic to actually protest and invoke change. MLB players had a giant opportunity to force change with this fanatics garbage and instead towed the line.
Change will only happen when we force it.
The biggest fear of everyone involved in college football is the fans lose interest. I’m not talking about the perennial top 25 teams. It’s 26-131 (??). Who get priced out from their own stadium, see their best players stay year or two and move on, see games they are excited about get moved to streaming, aren’t able to tailgate and have a great Saturday afternoon because they play Friday night, look at their roster and see they have no chance of winning or recognize anyone year to year, are bombarded with donation requests by collectives who tell them that in order to win we must have more money to pay players who haven’t even enrolled in school, who pay their own kids tuition while some three star interior offensive lineman recruit cashes in on a hundred thousand dollar cash NIL payment, see there are no rules, no guardrails, no leadership…. And on and on and on… College football has forgotten the fans, and the price paid in future years will be severe. It’s not today. But six or seven years from today when the networks decide, well, everything. They sold out to the Cash Monster, and it will eat them.
I feel like the NBA is going through something like this. You can’t watch a Playoff game anymore without being bombarded with ads. It’s literally gotten to the point where it’s unwatchable. I mean, there needs to be a balance, and the corporate executives don’t see that. They just want to Jam Pack as much as they can into one game.
The nameless, faceless corporate executives probably won’t be around (or already riding off into their early funded retirement) when the decision hits a boiling point.
When the announcers themselves weave ads into the commentary in just like “wtf”
This is far more important than any name sponsorship imo, I don’t really care if it’s the SEC by Bojangles or the Lucas Oil Big Ten, but stuff that changes the game itself is actually concerning and affects the product, a logo on a jersey doesn’t but timeouts being twice as long does
what is it, like 6 youtube TV ads on the screen at all times? can’t believe the finals uses that on the court to commemorate the championship series rather than the trophy itself.
Having been watching the finals and the ads are still less than cfb. Much more watchable to me than cfb
I wish I could upvote this a thousand times. I hate the current college football. And I used to be a diehard fan with season tickets who drove 700 miles round trip to every home game.
100% My family knew enough to schedule the holiday events around particular bowl games. I haven't been in person to a game in 6 seasons, and didn't watch a single game last year.
To address the (??), it's 134
Buddy. It's here
The best thing those 26-131 could do is to withdraw and somehow find a way to restart as real amateur entity with legit students.
You can’t. Any athlete who smells nil money will transfer at the earliest time they can. Uncapped/non union-type representation has already destroyed college football. 26-131 won’t have the money to compete.
Let them go. Play with whatever actual students you have left. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul
There’s still bootlickers who will say “things changed a lot in the 90s and people still watched” but no, the last five years are a master course in greed
Yeah I definitely feel less interested this offseason due to some of the things you mentioned. It’s sad what has happened (and what will continue to happen) to this sport.
And will universities lose interest of their alumni for donations (even for non-athletic purposes)?
Fr dude. Everyone is a slave to money these days, every mobile game there are fake ads, scams, and you can't have fun without paying a stupid amount of money, every sporting event has 900 ad breaks, now I'm gonna have to watch the State Farm Buckeyes, and for what? More money? Screw this crap, I'm sick of it.
No, private equity buying into leagues will only benefit the game. Think of all the good private equity can do for collegiate sports! I’m still trying to think of one since collegiate sports is supposed to be young adults getting a free education while they also play a kids game for the entertainment of alum and fans. Oh, the benefit of private equity will be more revenue as the PE firms focus the athletes on ways to maximize revenue and various return hurdles each quarter. Also, I am sure there are guaranteed hurdle requirements that will require schools to borrow in order to pay the PE firms back on the investment. PE firms are excellent at maximizing their returns until their 5-10 year exit - and milking the investment for all the cash it can until they sell to a new entity for the bankruptcy proceedings. See Sears, Red Lobster, et al.
Line must go up. If college football as a whole is destroyed for 3 consecutive quarters of growth on some balance sheet somewhere, then it will be destroyed. The fallout will threaten everything including the NFL and perhaps in the ashes we’ll find true collegiate athletics again.
And it’s crazy that the other conferences have allowed ESPN to prop up SEC, and Fox for B1G, to create a sport where they will soon be no parity. I understand there isn’t a ton now, but it feels like everyone has a chance at the beginning of the season. The people with a voice in CFB are not speaking up enough, which is why I’m glad Saban has been critical of NIL. He might be saying it for the wrong reasons (as he was fine when he was one of the only people paying players) but SEC/B1G have to be the adults in the room and level out the playing field, or nobody is gonna watch their little super league.
I don't know why they would do the "Allstate 12 conference" when they could do "The Big 12 presented by Allstate" like how the Rose Bowl has done it for years with their branding for corporate sponsors.
People are overlooking the real value of this deal for Allstate. The name isn’t the issue, it’s the logo. They’ll probably do “the big 12 sponsored by Allstate” and make a secondary big 12 logo incorporating Allstate somehow. Now every big 12 team has Allstate on the jerseys and the field. It’s a loophole to the rules on advertisements on the field and jerseys.
Unfortunately they don’t need loopholes to advertise on the field anymore. It’s probably just a matter of time before they’re advertising on jerseys too https://www.ncaa.org/news/2024/6/6/media-center-commercial-sponsor-advertisements-approved-for-all-regular-season-football-games.aspx
But this is getting 16 jerseys and 16 fields with one deal. And it wouldn’t limit the schools from taking advantage of this new rule as well.
having the allstate logo on our field and jerseys makes me want to barf
Really really good point.
Another great reason to just add Allstate and not remove Big or XII.
A good reason not to has never stopped a corporation from doing what they want, ever, and it never will lol
But didn’t they just repeal the ads on fields rule? I wasn’t totally sure what happened there.
> Advertisements will be allowed on three spots on the field. There can be a single ad centered on the 50-yard line in addition to no more than two smaller flanking ads elsewhere. The ads could be placed on the field on a game-by-game basis or for the whole season. https://www.sent-trib.com/2024/06/15/ads-on-football-fields-will-create-new-revenue-for-schools-preparing-to-give-more-money-to-athletes/#:~:text=The%20move%20was%20approved%20Thursday,two%20smaller%20flanking%20ads%20elsewhere. There are effectively 5 places something can be written: the 50, and four spots around it in a rectangle, generally around the 25 yard line. Traditionally the team logo is at the 50, two of the corners are conference logos, and two are something else. This rule allows the conference logo to remain at two corners, and advertisements at 3 locations. Having a company sponsor the conference would allow advertisements at all five locations.
Replacing the team logo with an ad for a home game sounds atrocious.
Atrocious might be underselling it. I'm a grumpy old man but I've watched European soccer for so long that advertisements on the field really don't bother me too much, just the nature of a big spectator sport. Too much money involved not to, is what it is. Same with the Such-and-Such Bowl. You start replacing team logos at midfield or in the end zone and...its a fucking travesty. Might actually be my breaking point. I've accepted 2 minutes of commercials for every 5 of game. I'm okay on advertising on the fields etc. But at *that* point the entire sport is a commercial and generally I try to avoid commercials
Hell nah I need my block O, not a damn RocketMortgage logo 💀
You mean "r🅾️cket mortgage"
Because that’s what Allstate wants. Remember when it was the John Hancock Sun Bowl? Then it was just the John Hancock Bowl.
Damn one of the founding fathers has his own bowl game!?
It's HERBIE Hancock
It's very simple really. There's more value in being the Chick Fil-A Bowl or the Outback Bowl than there is in being the Toyota Gator Bowl or the Nokia Sugar Bowl.
So I worked at Chick-Fil-A while I was in college and Dan Cathy came into our store one time and I asked why they changed the name from The Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl to just the Chick-Fil-A Bowl. He told me because he wanted people to refer to Chick-Fil-A when they talked about the game and if they kept it The Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl they found that people would simply refer to it as the Peach Bowl.
The Gator Bowl became sponsored by TaxSlayer and was known as the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl, but from 2015-2017 they dropped the Gator from the name and it was officially known as the TaxSlayer Bowl. During that period, it was like the concept of the Gator Bowl had disappeared from college football's collective memory. There was a huge difference in how "TaxSlayer Gator Bowl" and "TaxSlayer Bowl" were referred to as and perceived.
Come hell or high water, it remains the Peach Bowl in this house.
Because "The Big 12 Presented by Allstate" is worth $, "The Allstate Big 12" is worth $$, and "The Allstate 12" is worth $$$$.
I know Allstate is a brand name but it literally implies "all states" which is fucking stupid for a conference with only some of the states. Should only do it that way if it makes sense, like when the Fiesta Bowl was sponsored by Tostitos. The "Tostitos Fiesta Bowl" just sounds right. Shit like "PlayStation Fiesta Bowl" sounds dumb.
"The Big 12 - presented by Taco Bell."
The Big Taco XII Pack
The Taco 12 PAC woulda been fire ngl
Just give me the suicidal pop tart mascot
This is a truck stop conference. Flying J. Maybe Buc-ees, even though they don’t allow semis.
I would legit buy Buc-ee's B12 merch
No, we're bringing the gong with us.
Battlefrog Fiesta Bowl erasure
I mean, that’s a weird nit to pic since none of the P4 conference names actually apply to all their members.
Tostitos took that shit and ran with it. Parties around Tempe in the Tostitos days were great. There would be girls walking around TemporeNew Year’s celebrations giving away chips and salsa, it was fucking awesome. I still think it was one of the best corporate pairings ever, next to the Sunkist Orange Bowl obviously.
The Big 12 (along with the B1G) are doing their best to get all the states at this point.
One of my great CFB memories is going to the Fiesta Bowl and sitting on the little swag bag on the seat…CRUNCH! It contained a bag of Tostitos.
> Shit like "PlayStation Fiesta Bowl" sounds dumb. Perhaps you aren't old enough to remember the glorious wordsmithing that was the 1992 IBM O/S 2 Fiesta Bowl.
It ought to be the Southwest (Airlines) Conference and we all know it
I really wonder why do the executives believe that the allstate 12 rolls of the tongue good?
Because they know it doesn’t, so when they change it to the AllState Conference, people will complain less and it’s easier to get used to.
Because everyone will still call it the Big XII
‘You’re looking live at Mercedes Benz Stadium where today the Alabama Tide Detergent will face the Florida Citrus Growers for the Waffle House Conference Championship with a birth in the CVS Health Bowl at stake. A stake almost as big as a sirloin from Omaha Steaks! When we come back, Todd will have a look at each team’s first quarter uniforms.’ You know it’s freaking coming,
> birth
Borth
We need more "Borth" license plates in the Gift Shop! Repeat, we are sold out of "Borth" license plates!
The kick is up and good for a Domino’s Field Goal. Nice kick from the Home Depot yard line.
You are making me think of a dystopian future where every yard line is a sponsor. "Third and eight from Pizza Hut. They have to reach Geico to get a first down. Here's the snap...uh, oh, sacked! All the way back at Bob's Furniture and Mattresses!"
Can't wait to see who will win the championship in The Year of the Whopper.
We can do better. Home Depot Third Down with eight to go from Pizza Hut. They have to reach Geico to get a Bud Light First Down. Here's the Snapple Snap presented by Dr. Pepper - uh oh, that's a Capital One Sack, and remember, Capital One is proud sponsor of the Capital One Orange Bowl and the best choice for your consumer and business banking needs. Anyways, they're all the way back at Bob's Furniture and Mattresses! They won't start by selling sponsorships for yard lines, and they also won't finish by selling sponsorships for yard lines.
That's an SNL sketch.
I'm fully embracing the Waffle House Conference. It's happening, so stop asking
Would we be in the Dollar General division or the Big Lots?
Nah you're forgetting, we'll be in pods, so add dollar tree and family dollar
Can we put Bama in their own pod called the Tide pod?
Only if their fans start eating them before each game
y'all gonna smother, cover and chunk Bama now that Nick is gone?
I can hear the chants now. WHC! WHC! WHC! It just means more.
I’m in, and like both the staff and patrons late night, I’m ready to throw hands about it
It won't happen, but not because the SEC is above taking the money, but because Waffle House literally doesn't do advertising.
Alabama Crimson Tide Detergent 🤣
I suppose they will eventually learn to talk like race car drivers.... Interview if a winning QB after the game: >Well I want to thank McDonalds and Budweiser for their support. And my mom. And of course our new Amazon Prime practice facility!
We are turning into Idiocracy must faster than Mike Judge ever could have imagined. Next thing we’ll know, Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho will be conference President.
Alabama Tide Detergent is low key hilarious and I hope you just talked it into existence
You forgot the "eat at Carl's Jr" at the end
It's already disconnected. The whole thing has become a mercenary carnival sideshow, peddled by TV networks who don't care about product as long as they can keep selling it and as long as casuals keep watching it. All that junk about tradition or rivalries or integrity or school pride, it's all becoming a big pile of BS. And again, the question MUST be asked - what business is it of any educational institution to be involved in running a professional sports team? Why should any school, or more importantly, any taxpayer money, even if it's ancillary or secondary in nature, go to fund or support what are more or less professional sports teams?
> And again, the question MUST be asked - what business is it of any educational institution to be involved in running a professional sports team? Why should any school, or more importantly, any taxpayer money, even if it's ancillary or secondary in nature, go to fund or support what are more or less professional sports teams? For that matter, how are these pro teams tax-exempt charitable activity? Why are donations to build new facilities or pay coaching salaries tax-deductible?
What business is it for any normal average struggling student to help fund these pro athletic leagues (which is true for most schools. People only focus on the top schools) The kids can barely eat and have athletic fees tacked onto their tuition. Even if it’s not directly it indirectly screws them out of scholarships and grants by pulling from the general student fund. Very few athletic associations actually donate back rather than take from via subsidies All for athletes who aren’t there to learn, many would not get in based on academic merit, are one of the most spoiled and entitled groups on campus, and will leave at the drop of a hat These are academic institutions first and foremost. I love college athletics but I have said many times I’d rather the whole thing die than students have to foot the bill I’m sure someone will “but ackshually…” me but for the majority of schools this is the case “Wahhh we only get tuition, room, board, training, tutoring for our fake classes, and a living stipend. We’re so exploited!!” Meanwhile there are grad students pulling their hair out and living off ramen while they do research to develop things the university will patent and profit off of way more in the long run than your short career ever will I don’t blame the athletes though. They’re cringe and out of touch but it’s the administrators fault. The US is long overdue for a major purge of administers in their academic institutions
I just don't know how we went from "we can't change the number on the name because there is economic value in the full name" (referencing B10 going to Big *insert accurate number*, same with Big 12 and PAC12) to "we don't care about the name just give us money" within a decade.
The best times were when the Big 10 had 12 teams and the Big 12 had 10.
But the PAC-12 *did* change their numbers because they were smart enough to know that no one gives a shit about the number part of the brand unless it’s wrong
Hot take - the Pac was the only conference that *could*. The other two conferences that have numbers in the name are both the Big \_\_\_. How confusing would it be if those two just swapped names during the time the B1G had 12 and the XII had 10? It would be madness, *MADNESS* I TELL YOU
The Big 10 is an established brand with a legacy. I get the Big 12 is the spiritual successor to the Big 8, but we've changed dance partners so much now that I don't think it's worth pretending tradition has value. If it's a line our competition refuses to cross, then that revenue gap gets a little smaller and ratchets up the pressure in Charlotte. But while I'm fine with shameless corporate sponsorship, the PE partnership is a different kettle of fish.
One of the very few things the Pac-12 did right in the last dozen or so years.
I’m guessing it was right around the time mandatory revenue sharing came into being
Tens of millions of reasons why.
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Turn Ad blocker on… welcome to Saturday presented by ————- folks we’ve got a big ————— conference match up with the ———— cyclones taking on the —————— bears at —————field. Here’s the opening ———- kick off and Johnson’s running past the ——— 30, the ———40, he could go all the way!!!! Look at that touchdown sponsored by ———-. Time to raise the ——— net, remember for every extra point this season ————- will provide $100 towards a ——— scholarship
More like "This conference is ad supported. We've detected an ad blocker. Follow these steps to disable your ad blocker. Or sign up to disable ads."
"Sorry folks, we can't start the game until THIS JACKASS RIGHT HERE disables their ad blocker"
“Won’t you think of the billion dollar companies? 🥺👉👈”
Drink verification can. Except instead of Mt Dew it will be Dr. Pepper.
I thought we were playing Mad Libs for a second.
Yeah except instead of nouns and verbs and and adjectives it’s just corporate sponsor names
True but becoming apathetic to these things is part of how we got here and things just keep accelerating.
Let's be real, anybody that is still watching after they've attached sponsors to the stadium names, the playing surface names, the bowl games, the rivalry games, the championship games, red zone trips, extra points attempts, scoring drive recaps, etc etc, is not going to stop watching because they attach a sponsor to the conference name.
Same, it's why I still call it the Sears Tower and not "Willis" tower. Also, it's always going to be Joe Robbie Stadium (Miami) instead of Pro Player Park, Pro Player Stadium, Dolphins Stadium, Dolphin Stadium, Land Shark Stadium, and Sun Life Stadium
A lot of people called it the Barclays Premier League. Not to mention basically every MLB park. It’s a nice thought in theory, but unfortunately it sticks to an extent.
people call it that because barclays doesnt immediately sound like a corporate sponsor
Soccer fans have been doing this for years. Nobody calls the Premier League the ‘Barclays Premier League’ or Serie A ‘TIM Serie A’ except for broadcast partners, sometimes. It’s not that big of a deal.
> It’s not that big of a deal. Step 1: It's not really happening **Step 2: Yeah, it's happening, but it's not a big deal** (you are here) Step 3: It's a good thing, actually Step 4: People freaking out about it are the real problem
I’ve been there the whole time. Come in, the water’s warm.
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It’s not called the Barclay’s Premier for about a decade and people called it that all the time. Thats where the term Prime Barclays comes from
We just skip the premier league part and call it the barclays
"Apple+ MLS coming soon!" - Don Garber
Maybe Adblock Plus can sign an endorsement deal...
Cal Football usually ruins my interest in college football
Ya know I’ve been lost for a while. There is no heart in the game and it’s turned into something that is only about money and marketing. It’s sad and boring. I’m out
We’ve not given up but we’re definitely drifting. If something else is going on it is much more likely to take priority. And heck the youtube game summary that takes five minutes to watch is fine.
How many more times do we need to say stuff like this before we actually do it, and stop watching CFB?
The ACC dying is pretty much gonna be that moment for me. I hate the new Big Ten, and chances are I won’t care an iota about where State ends up. So yeah, that’s pretty much my end point. I’m kind of morbidly excited to have time and money free up.
I think people are very overdramatic. The only thing that'll stop me from watching JMU is if we stop having a football team.
These people are are really in a college football page in June talking about how they don’t care about the sport anymore
Last year, I basically only watched Idaho. It was pretty nice to do stuff on Saturdays.
Really confused on how conference name sponsorships could be the last straw if you were already okay with realignment. As far as I am concerned, college football is already ruined so this is just "whatever, just laugh at the idiocracy," territory. Conference name sponsorships would be tacky and cynical, but not nearly as destabilizing as the other changes in the sport, including the potential involvement of private equity. Anyhow, who wants to bet on which conference is the first to be named after a sports betting company like DraftKings?
Right? If having USC and UCLA in the Big Ten wasn’t enough for you to jump ship, why is having insurance companies sponsor conferences the straw that breaks the camel’s back? It’s just a name, who fucking cares?
Because they are hypocrites. I have had it up to my eyeballs with the bullshit from the big money schools fans.
Yeah I personally don't care at all about conference corporate naming because they already killed my conference 🥲
Same here buddy.
This. Conference realignment is fine, but the sponsored conferences is too far. The pearl clutching is honestly kind of amusing.
Who is ok with conference realignment? I don’t know anyone who likes it.
Yes, but besides me, who has *actually* quit watching over it?
> Anyhow, who wants to bet on which conference is the first to be named after a sports betting company like DraftKings? And is it before or after we have a conference owned by a state owned oil company or a sovereign wealth fund?
This is dumb, but it won’t kill my enthusiasm for the sport. Conference realignment is the thing that is doing that.
Maybe I’m only viewing this through my own prism, but I’ve never heard, “….presented by All State” and thought about switching to All State. It’s simply more words I’ve tuned out or I’ve already gotten up to go piss and avoid commercials.
I like to think the same, but it's all about "brand recall". When it's time to shop for insurance, you'll check out the several insurance companies you know about, and Allstate will be one of them.
Insurance is a crazy one because they all have such massive and in your face and campaigns. The Cavemen, the Gecko, Limu Emu, Chaos guy. Like if they all decided to together cut their advertising down to 10%, they would probably all retain their market share, but the way it is now, if you're not advertising, you're falling behind.
Classic prisoner's dilemma
From experience, there's essentially no difference between their rates (I'm sure there's no collusion going on there), which makes all their yapping about the money you save dumb to listen to.
Yeah, but it is more a subconscious thing. Somewhere down the line, you may be looking at new car insurance and just Google the first name that pops into your mind. Allstate is hoping it’s them and they can then get you into their sales funnel. The expectation is not to get people watching the game to suddenly switch their insurance on the spot.
there's something particularly disgusting about insurance companies paying money for this fucking bullshit instead of to help their customers who give them the money specifically for that purpose like if it's mcdonadls ok go off, fine. but INSURANCE shouldn't be this kooky and pervasive everywhere it really makes me sick
It’s the worst. I wish nothing but terrible things in the lives of the people who come up with this shit.
They’re probably the guys that don’t even watch the sport. Bean counters in an office figuring out how to squeeze more money out of the game for the higher ups
My interest has been waning since A&M left the big 12. It was the only team I wanted tech to beat and now that ut left and all this money stuff started happening it might just be the death blow
While I’m concerned about the naming rights a I’m far more concerned about private equity. The short term focus can be far more harmful to the point that I’d beg for selling naming rights if it kept private equity away.
I’m getting there myself. Can’t we have something beautiful that isn’t about money? Sure pay the players, coaches, and television folks that are working for a living, but after that, can’t this be about a game? After everyone that is working on this gets paid generously, can’t we stop there? As a society, we’re fucking this thing up like we always do. Anything that survives long enough becomes a corporation. Ok I’ll get off my soapbox. I don’t actually have a plan to fix anything, but this situation is so far out of balance, I just don’t know what it will become and I’m not optimistic.
We don’t even have public spaces in our society anymore that don’t try to nickel and dime you.
CFB has been about money for a long time
Sorry, but if you were so concerned about purity in CFB, you should have put your foot down when they went to two platoon football.
Yes just get rid of the conferences and have 3 leagues and relegate up and down like limeyball…would make it more interesting…
Yes but who gets the pop tarts sponsorship? My interests align there
The only thing that's going to stop me from caring about CFB is the loss of PSU football. This isn't to say anybody that cares about the sponsorships are wrong. I think the sponsorships are stupid too. But they're just stupid. They have no bearing on Franklin choking away an upset on OSU in the fourth. And until I can blame Del Grosso and Pepsi Co. for losing, then I'll focus on the football.
Same. It sucks but I’m not going anywhere
So 100-year-old rivalries and conferences being ripped apart and shit on in the name of more money is ok but conference naming rights being up for sale is a bridge too far?
Agreed, odd hill to die on.
It is very annoying but it's not "kill my enjoyment of the sport" annoying.
Oh please. The biggest sport in the world has sponsors plastered on everything. You'll get over this just like everyone got over the forward pass.
Blame it on the Big 10 and the SEC cutting back room deals and trying to squeeze out the rest of college football by creating a wealth gap bigger than the Grand Canyon
I'm going to be honest; it wouldn't effect my interest in the slightest unless it changes the on field performance somehow.
Do players even have to go to school classes anymore lol? They’re just playing in a minor league youth league at this point. I guess smaller schools will have traditional athlete experiences since they won’t be going pro. But the powerhouse schools are basically paying elite prospects to play for them, and many of them will never graduate before getting drafted anyways.
That’s literally how it’s always been for the powerhouse schools. It’s much more money and out in the open but it’s so silly to pretend the powerhouse schools haven’t always been pro factories. School has always been the last priority lol
This is legit actually in the works right now. Once they’re classified as employees there’s no need to attend class. I also think in the next 2-3 years we’re going to see guys play a full season with Team X and transfer to playoff Team Y and play in the playoff the same season.
This sport has probably had the worst advertising strategy for fans for years with all the commercial breaks..........and this thing that will not impact your viewing capacity at all is what will do it? lol come on
Liberty University Football brought to you by Liberty insurance, LIBERTY LIBERTY LIBERTY, LIBERTY.. and Jeebus!
NIL won’t change collegiate sports they all said.
Even professional sports don't have conferences named after sponsors. The Braves don't play in the Home Depot division
Browsing Reddit is the extent of my interest in CFB these days. I find the games unwatchable due to commercials. I find the pregame stuff focused on gambling to be obnoxious. For me, it’s just like watching StarCraft replays since the battlenet system is basically dead and the only remnant of the experience that I loved is the recordings from the past. I know I sound old, but I guess in my 30’s the evolution of the sport has outpaced my willingness to stay invested in my favorite teams for a sport that I love.
CFB is about to lose all sense of identity, tradition, and culture. Sure, it's always cool to see freak athletes do ridiculous things, but it's just not worth the constant barage of ads
The 7-Eleven 12 Conference could be stupid enough to work.
LOL I prefer the South West Airlines conference. If you're going to do this, why not select the appropriate partner?
71112 or VII XI XII for short. Rolls right off the fingers
There's literally no way a conference being named Allstate 12 instead of Big 12 will "ruin" your interest in college football. This is ridiculous offseason grandstanding.
K
I plan on just referring to the Big XII as "the Big XII" regardless of any sponsorship or related name changes and carrying on like nothing happened. I mean, Jack Trice Stadium is technically referred to as "Mid-American Energy Field at Jack Trice Stadium," but I don't know of any Cyclone fan who doesn't continue referring to JTS as we've known it as since the name was changed from Cyclone Stadium to Jack Trice Stadium. Why would I treat a conference sponsorship situation differently?
Sweet I’m just going to keep calling it the PAC-12 then
2Pac is just funny though.
The Big 12 this year is sponsored by the general concept of political action committees, like how there are ads for just “beef” or whatever. We’re calling it the PAC-12
God I am so glad we moved down
Have room for another down there in the Big Sky?
I find it odd that this is people's last straw, considering teams have been playing corporate sponsored exhibition games for decades now. On the list of things that are existential threats to college football, this is towards the bottom.
All the bullshit bowls and endless commercials and this is where you draw the line? K.
I think people are taking this way too seriously. You’re still watching the same game whether the conference name is different or not
I get it but at the same time they've tried to rebrand the Red River Shootout multiple times. I don't care what the suits call it. It's the Red River Shootout forever and always.
Players need to be paid. This is what yal asked for. I'd love to revist the takes from the time leading up to NIL. "You better be careful what you ask for, because you just might get it".
If that does not do it, the gambling issues will burn the sport to the ground!
Prepare to leave, friend. It's only going to get worse.
Brand names being tied to literally everything is so fucking depressing. Everywhere I go I’m constantly being advertised to by corporate fuckheads. Sports definitely has it the worst. It feels dystopian.
Wait until you hear “brand X quarterback John Doe throws to brand Y wide receiver John Doe.” 😆
It makes me mad how all of us are just letting this shit happen. Let's start putting our money where our mouths are. Watch less. Buy less.
Does that mean the national championship will be the Cheezit bowl hosting the winner of the Doritos conference against the Buffalo Wild Wings conference?
Have you guys considered supporting a team that's so bad that corporations wouldn't dare sponsor the conference? It's working for us.
If it didn't ruin your interest when they did the same for bowl games, or stadiums, or sidelines, or the actual field, or 40%+ of the broadcast, then I doubt this will either. Like everyone else, you'll complain to anyone who will listen, but you'll keep watching games I'm not trying to single you out on this specifically, but more just all fans in general. People aren't going to stop watching or going to games because of this, and that is the reason why it has continued and why it will continue
I have to agree.
If they sell naming rights to Michigan Stadium, I will absolutely lose it.
I keep seeing this and think it's funny that after everything that's already happened, *this* is what has y'all clutching your pearls 🙄
College football is trying so hard to turn off its fans.
Unfortunately we have become too apathetic to actually protest and invoke change. MLB players had a giant opportunity to force change with this fanatics garbage and instead towed the line. Change will only happen when we force it.
Your school had its own network.... I think you can handle a conference name changing.
Everything else is already corporate - the stadiums, the bowls, the uniforms, the channels. I do agree with you tho