So would Rice if you want to use that reasoning. Granted the once exception Stanford can get about 30k-40k at home games. Rice not so much. both school’s nobody in there hometown pays much attention to them sports wise or on T.V.
Stanford is actually a great brand. But in the Tic-Toc generation if you don’t have Ariana Grande’s endorsement then you didn’t exist before last week.
Signed,
John Elway, Andrew Luck, Jim Plunkett, John Brodie, James Lofton, and about 100 others.
2 Likes
Guessing you did not even look at the stats or past of Stanford.
All time winning percent of .578 which is 37th among all FBS schools. Rice is at .432 (119th place). Not exactly a similar situation.
I find it amazing how many people here don’t like how people in other parts of the country dismiss UH as a nobody (because they do not know true facts about UH), then they turn around and do it to others.
3 Likes
I don’t mind doing it to Stanford because they do it to just about every school now in the B12. Admittedly they had a good run. But it’s over, just like the days people in 50’s use to fill Rice Stadium 70k strong, SEC type attendance, before the SEC had that type of attendance.
1 Like
I was in Rice Stadium while in junior high in the mid-50s for a game against Clemson and it wasn’t 1/4 full.
Gang,
No one disputes that Stanford is a great academic school with a beautiful campus, and an above average football history. Obviously their Olympic sport history is second to none.
But many of us are skeptical that in a conference re-alignment universe where adding value and money is the key, Stanford would add much value.
They aren’t a top brand when it comes to viewership, attendance, revenues, etc.
And while they are located in a big market (the Bay Area), it does not seem to me that they actually DELIVER that market very well. I would have the same reluctance to add Stanford that I would have to adding SMU: mediocre following in a market that they likely won’t deliver.
I was skeptical of Rutgers, too. I know a lot of people from Jersey. I’ve only met one that’s seen a Rutgers football game.
Rutgers made sense AT THE TIME they were admitted to the B1G, simply because, at that time, it was thought that having a presence in markets with a lot of TV sets automatically translated into better TV money and media deals. That was probably true at the time, but not so much today.
In today’s era of streaming media, markets still matter, but not as much as BRAND VALUE, and that’s determined by viewership, attendance, fan following, etc.
Stanford does not appear to be a super big brand in that regard, or at least, not big enough to attract the B1G or other major conferences.
OK, I can’t disagree with the first sentence.
But a .578 winning percentage over more than 120 years is not just a good run. 4 10+ win seasons in just the last 10 years.
Not saying they are my first choice for teams, but they are not a bad choice out of the options. I still think they have value to the B1G when tied to ND and bridging the distance to LA.
1 Like
For a Big 10 person, you sure are missing the main point on Rutgers. Flat wrong on Rutgers. They were added because the Big 10 network would become in-market with Rutgers. That immediately changed the rate the cable companies paid for the channel by about 4-5X the out-of-market rates. IT wasn’t just guys in suits thinking it might be a good idea to have a presence. It was flat out millions of dollars in revenue.
This same concept will apply to the Bay Area until cable no longer exists.
Now the difference in value comes with the Big 12 since there is not a cable channel for direct rate increases. For the Big 12, then it has an effect on market presence and brand to a greater degree.
Please post the link to your numbers for your “era of streaming media” that shows how much college football is watched on streaming only sources.
As I said, it was the right choice at the time because it put them in the market they wanted (NY/NJ) with lots of TV sets.
Markets still matter today, but BRAND VALUE matters more.
That’s why you’ll likely see the SEC add Clemson at some point, despite its lack of location in a big market.
It’s all about BRAND VALUE.
The B1G has different motivations than other Conferences…to most athletics conferences academics is little more than a boasting issue with TV contract money as the driving factor, but the B1G wants AAU, top tier research endowments because they control and share well over a BILLION DOLLARS in research money…academics is driving massive income for those universities that is grotesque…Stanford would definitely be their “culture”. Now perhaps you’ll remember ive said tbat the B1G wants ND, but they are also waiting on UNC, UVA, and Duke…those Universities have HUGH JASS research endowments.
And actually, I’m more a Big 12 guy than a B1G guy.
I’m MUCH LESS of an Illinois fan than a UH fan.
Houston is my home, my UH law degree was much more challenging than my Illinois Master’s, and also…my Illinois degree, unlike my UH degree, hasn’t really made me any money.
3 Likes
I think research spending for UNC, UVA, and Duke is in the top 50 in the nation, compared to Oregon that ranked 156th…according to those rankings WVU has more research spending than Oregon.
Oregon is a VERY MARGINAL AAU school.
UH’s research budget is far larger.
2 Likes
For UH board, you get the title of B1G guy. Of course being on the UH board, that automatically shows UH priorities.
Let’s please keep all California schools out of Texas, they have gone off the deep end and bring little to athletic forum. Academically the state shares their “PUF” funds between all schools, and all have done well.
2 Likes
Going forward nobody joins the B1G without bringing a chitload of $$$ in football and hoops value. Every money move they make means more money. Money!!! You can form research consortiums with the Joe’s Driving School. No conference affiliation needed.
ND isn’t a big research university comparted to Michigan, for example, but they’d bring the TV money with them. Not AAU, not a research superstar. We’ve already got an outlier. ND would never be added just on research dollars. We will see.
2 Likes
Syracuse would have been a much better add to the BigTen than Rutgers. Cuse would have delivered more NYC TV eyeballs
1 Like
NYC doesn’t care about college football
NYC cares about 2 things
- The Yankees
- Finance industry
2 Likes