Money may or may not be the root of all evil, but it sure seems to hang out a lot with some of evil's lesser kin. You know, like greed, self-interest and market forces largely driven by greed and self-interest.
Which brings us to big-time college athletics, in particular football.
Where the other day Florida State voted to sue its own conference, the ACC, claiming the conference has mishandled its multimedia agreements and thereby messed up its member schools' ability to make money.
Also, the conference's lame reputation KEPT US OUT OF THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF. Also, the ACC is EXTORTING US FOR $130 MILLION TO LEAVE THE CONFERENCE.
Sorry. Didn't mean to yell. I was just articulating what Florida State is no doubt thinking, even if the school didn't phrase it exactly that way.
What FSU wants, see, is out, and they don't want to have to pay $130 million as an exit fee. Either that, or they want more money from the ACC's various media deals. So this really is all about greed and self-interest, even if FSU tried to cover itself by pretending to speak for all the ACC schools.
Don't be fooled. This is about Florida State and no one else but Florida State. Think the board in Tallahassee gives a tinker's damn about getting, say, Wake Forest a bigger slice of the ACC pie?
Nah. And you know what?
This is about money for the ACC, too, which explains the horse-choker exit fee. It's about money for the Big Ten and SEC as they go about raiding other conferences for bigger revenue streams. And it's about money for the Big Ten in particular as it puts a chunk of its basketball games on Peacock, forcing fans to pay for yet another streaming service if they want to watch all their teams' games.
But ... but ... it's only five bucks or so a month!, the Big Ten says.
But ... but ... you're already making them pay for the Big Ten Network!, the Blob would reply. How much is enough for you guys?
How much, indeed?
Folks around the country get all wound up about the transfer portal and NIL that have college athletes shopping themselves to the highest bidder, and it has become quite the mess. But, gee, where do you think they learned it from?
Couldn't possibly be their coaches doing the same thing, could it? Or the major conferences shaking down fans for every last dollar they can possibly squeeze out of them?
Why, of course not.
(He said, with all due sarcasm)
Look. This is all about greed and self-interest, from everybody, and no use pretending otherwise. The day when a stud hoss chose a school, played there four years and got a college degree out of it is as dead as disco. Now the degree's at best an afterthought, for both the kid and the school.
It's about the money the school can make if its NIL pile is big enough to deliver a national title or two. And it's about the extra couple million or so that will mean for Coach Slobberknocker.
Who, if the extra couple million or so isn't forthcoming, will take off for, I don't know, LSU or someplace. Where, if he wins enough, they might start calling him the General.
The Dollar General, that is.
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