All Yellow Jackets
  • 8 months ago
Business of Football
Transcript
00:00 When it comes to sports returning, we know that money is a motivating factor, but the business of sports was not enough to keep the Big Ten and Pac-12 from postponing their college football seasons this fall.
00:12 For more on that, I'm joined by the MMQB's Andrew Brandt and Brendan Gulick of Buckeyes Now.
00:18 Andrew, let's start with you. Why do you think that the Big Ten and Pac-12 made this decision despite the enormous economic ramifications?
00:26 Yeah, Robin, you know what I always say, the business of sports always wins, and it didn't win here, it lost to health and safety, and that's really the reason.
00:34 Whatever information from the scientists, from the doctors, and let's be honest, the lawyers, gave to Big Ten and Pac-12 officials was enough to convince them to cancel fall college football.
00:46 A major stroke in these major conferences, the economic impact we'll talk about having lived in Green Bay, Wisconsin, a place just like some of these Big Ten towns, I know what an extraordinary impact that is.
00:59 I think whatever they heard, and let's be honest, there was some information about myocarditis with one of the Indian offensive linemen that led to their decision as well, they were not comfortable playing.
01:10 It's a massive hit for these cities, these regions, these towns, and we wait for the other Power Five college football conferences to see what they'll do.
01:20 Now, Brendan, Andrew just referenced the major hit. Can you speak towards some of the economic ramifications in the Ohio State region?
01:28 Yeah, I mean the Big Ten is the oldest and wealthiest conference in the country, over $780 million in revenue as a league, and those are the latest public figures that were put out for the 2018-2019 academic year.
01:42 What I can tell you is that Ohio State and Michigan, not surprisingly, are third and fifth nationally in terms of football revenue.
01:50 Ohio State, $115 million of their revenue comes directly from football, Michigan just over $120 million, and while they're certainly the two biggest football brands in the league, it does not stop there.
02:04 I mean, I have to agree with Andrew, I was stunned from that perspective that it's not going to be played this fall,
02:26 and I have to think that a lot of these schools are scrambling now trying to figure out what realistic options are there to play in the spring or in the wintertime because they need this money or else their athletic departments are in a world of hurt.
02:40 Yeah, Andrew, I should have spun that first question differently because obviously we know why this happened, but we didn't know if it would be enough to overcome the business aspect of it.
02:48 You referenced the other schools in the Power Five. Do you think they'll be able to continue going forward with their business?
02:55 They're saying full speed ahead, and I think it's going to be really hard, as was referenced there, to play in the spring.
03:01 Obviously the stress on the body to have spring football and then later fall football, but top players aren't going to wait around, Robin, let's be real.
03:09 The top players in the Big Ten and Pac-12 are not going to wait around. They're going to sign with agents, they're going to be off to the programs like IMG and Athletes Performance that get them ready for the NFL draft.
03:22 So yeah, there may be college football in those two conferences in the spring, but it won't include the top players. They're simply not going to wait around.
03:31 Andrew, Brendan, appreciate your time. Thank you.
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