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So about that smaller revenue pool?
Yeah we mentioned the TV power that the NFL has on Tuesday, and it was hammered home by the eye-popping Super Bowl numbers from Sunday.
Well, here's another round of numbers that will make you think you have blurry vision.
ESPN has offered up $1.3 billion — yes, billion with a "b" — annually for the right to host the broadcasts of the expanded college football playoff moving forward.
That's $111 million per playoff game — even if it's a Tulane at Ole Miss first-round playoff game — over the next six seasons.
Yeah, but there's not enough money to pay the players, right?
Granted, the proposal, while accepted in principle, still has to be voted on by university leaders, and we know the biggest of the big boys are going to want to see the division of the proceeds before signing off.
(Yeah, here's a hunch that the SEC and the Big Ten are going to have a few extra wrinkles to add about how the pot should be divided.)
This does so many things, and a lot of them are grand for ESPN, since it will have a hand in the NFL and will become the home for college football, even if it sublets some of the playoff games to other networks, which may happen.
It really kind of guts the stance that big-time college football is on dangerous financial ground. It also will hasten — as Bearddawg and I have forecast for a while now — the separation of the power schools and programs.
Granted, the college football leaders are set to vote next week on a 5+7 proposal — five highest-ranked conference champs and the next seven highest-ranked teams to compose the 12-team field — but the message seems to be fairly clear that you are either going to run with the big dogs or have to explore falling back to the FCS, no?
Because yes, that's a ton of money, but the Sankeys and the Alabamas and the Petittis and THE Ohio States are no longer going to be willing to cut shares to the Troys and the Toledos just out of nostalgia.
It also means a 12-team field will be lucky to last the six years for which ESPN has pledged, because if the market rate is set at $111 million for each playoff game, why not add another four teams for a full 16-team field and another close to half-a-billion in revenue.
And it's going to quicken the calls for the players at major football programs and conferences to unionize and be recognized as employees.
Think of it this way: The college football powers will be doing the heavy lifting for an enterprise that is set to earn $7.8 billion for 66 games over six years. That money goes to the programs, the schools and the conferences, not the NCAA. The NCAA is primarily funded by TV money from the NCAA tournament, a deal that CBS and Turner signed an $8.8 billion extension for the next eight years and rights to the more than 500 games over that span.
LeBron deal?
So ESPN is reporting that the Warriors and Lakers almost pulled the trigger on a LeBron James-to-Golden State trade last week before the NBA deadline.
Say what?
Why? Is there going to be a basketball version of the Senior PGA Tour in coming years?
LeBron on the aging Warriors would rule the Alexian Invitational, but would that put either team closer to challenging for the chip?
I don't see it.
On a which way Wednesday, which is the biggest superstar in the last half century to be traded?
MLB offseason stunners
OK, what if I told you the All-Pro QB1 and a 28-year-old NFL comeback player of the year finalist were still unsigned on the eve of training camp?
That's the scenario for MLB as we inch ever-closer to the start of spring training.
NL Cy Young winner Blake Snell is still a free agent. As is Cubs slugger Cody Bellinger, who hit .307 with 26 homers in Chicago in '23 after hitting .210 with 19 homers the previous season in L.A.
They are not alone. Jordan Montgoemery is another lefty starter who is available, as is righty Matt Clevinger, lefty Hyun Jin Ryu and DH J.D. Martinez.
In some ways this is a ripple effect of the Alex Anthopoulos method of signing young stars for extended contracts before they have become All-Star regulars combined with the Albert Pujols backlash.
Of those free agents above, only Bellinger is younger than 31. All have had all-star-caliber stretches, but teams now are more interested in paying on the projections of what a potential star COULD do rather than what an established star has done.
And it's hard to argue with that changing logic, no?
This and that
— Was not expecting to see in this morning's fishwrapper that the vote on the Lookouts Stadium was delayed. Again. And, while I still think this will happen, with almost every delay, the projected price will continue to escalate. I blame Biden.
— Remember in the summer when Jim Harbaugh said his Michigan roster could have 20 players drafted? Yeah, well, Coach Khaki may have been pretty close since 18 Wolverines were invited to the Underwear Olympics, which starts in a couple of weeks in Indy.
— The Plays had a good Tuesday. Fight Club.
— Well, this spring football news caught my eye. The Birmingham Stallions added QB Matt Corral, who was a dude at Ole Miss. In the same transactional announcement, St. Louis waived former Baylor School and UTC QB Nick Tiano.
— A's hired a woman play-by-play announcer. Jenny Cavnar, the first woman to be the voice of an MLB team, will call Oakland baseball starting this year. Hope she is good; the team she's describing will not be.
— Did you see the 17-year-old Japanese player who signed to play baseball at Stanford. Dude weighs like 260 and hit 140 high school homers. Take that, Shohei.
— Orlando retired Shaq O'Neal's jersey this week. Why was that not done sooner? If we offered a short list of most immediate star-to-franchise connection, Shaq and the Magic are pretty high on that list, no?
Today's questions
Let's explore that star-to-franchise connection for a second on a which way Wednesday because it's not just about star power or greatness.
Sure those matter, but thinking of Shaq almost immediately when you mention the Magic is also about the lack of bona fide stars Orlando has offered over its 35 seasons.
Sure MJ and Chicago are on the short list, but the Lakers could have a half dozen depending on your age — The Logo, Kareem, Magic, Kobe, et al. — as could the Celtics.
Thoughts?
As for today, Rushmore of Valentines.
Go.