I tried, I really tried. You can’t even take the time to read other posts than yours.
Good day.
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And if you are asking which leagues in America other than the big four (NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL) rank ahead of the MLS, in terms of TV ratings, even the WNBA beats it out.
The WNBA finals averaged 1.6 million viewers, more than three times the MLS finals.
But that’s beside the point.
The point is this.
MLS is sufficiently far enough behind the big four in popularity and revenues that it should NOT be considered a “major” league on par with the big four, and as such, having a MLS franchise is not evidence of a city being a major league city, as 1927 suggested.
Not sure which part of that is hard to comprehend.
Still he is still fixated on the MLS… lol
I don’t know how many ways i can explain to LAW that Columbus and Tuscaloosa are NOWHERE comparable. The NHL + MLS were just two data points of what the market can support, in addition to OSU…and he just fixated on MLS completely ignoring the huge corporate presence (of which they drew NIL funds for the 2024 season) + the 2.2 million people in the metro.
His logic is whack sometimes
Of course they aren’t, but that’s not the point. Say that doesn’t prove anything, but less what you are offering it up for. It’s a nonsequitur.
OSU doesn’t get support from those local businesses merely because they happen to be in that metro area, any more than Temple or GaTech would or might from their own local businesses in their LARGER metro areas (and for the record, they don’t get much support in that regard).
OSU gets it because the owners of those businesses…like most Columbus residents and a large percentage of Ohio residents in general…are FANS. Trust me. I lived in Ohio for four years; OSU’s local fan base is SUPER HUGE, and they get plenty of money from INTERESTED FANS.
And OSU has more fans than nearly anyone (check out their attendance), including a huge number of fans WITH MONEY (those local business owners); fans that care enough to fill the honeypot, which is the key to NIL.
That’s where you are not “getting it.” Merely being located in a metro area with businesses won’t make you a NIL powerhouse, and for that matter, that’s not what makes Ohio State an NIL powerhouse over, let’s say, Bama.
It’s all about having large numbers of fans with money that care…whether nearby (as in your article’s case with Ohio State)…OR not (as in the case of aTm and Tech which aren’t located in big metro areas, but which are still NIL powerhouses because they have huge legions of non-local fans with money, willing to contribute). It’s about your brand size, which is all dependent upon the size and interest level of your fan base. And even if it is large (as in Bama’s case), a lack of fans with money can still hold you up.
Again…PERIOD…FULL STOP.
Dude, I literally provided you will proof of a big corporate NIL deal for the 2024 season, the season in which they used their NIL to win a National Championship.
And AGAIN OSU is a top 3-5 program that can fill BOTH bucket #1 and bucket #2 but to act like they don’t sit in a metro wirh plentiful corporate NIL opportunities is pure delusion.
The NHL would NOT be there if they didn’t have a huge corporate presence.
Tuscaloosa CANNOT compete with Columbus Ohio, in that regard.
Stop bringing up brands we are talking about Bucket #2…Corporate donations
And that corporate deal exists undoubtedly because of FAN INTEREST.
That’s why there’s no similar deal for GaTech, despite their being a P4 in an even bigger metro area. It’s all about FAN BASE…NOT location in a metro area with businesses.
As for the NHL, unlike the MLS, it is a major league, so Columbus might arguably be a major league city for having one of those franchises.
But the MLS…no, because it’s not a major league in the sense that the big four are. Having one of those franchises does NOT make a city a major league city on that basis.
And…if/when the GA Techs/ Houstons/UCFs/ Cincinnatis/etc…find a way to tap into their corporate NIL goldmine…they will move up the P4 hiearchy.
Why?
Because small market, medium size P4 brands can only squeeze their fans for so much…they still are squeezing them but its not sustainable
It doesn’t matter what market you are in if your fan base is large enough, wealthy enough, and interested enough.
Tech proves that. So does aTm.
GaTech, Houston, Cal, UCF, and Cincy prove that merely being in a big metro area does NOT make you an NIL powerhouse if you don’t have a big enough, rich enough, and interested enough fan base.
OSU is in a smaller metro area than Houston or GaTech; but they have a way better NIL situation because their fan base (which includes fans that run local corporations) is so huge, financially able, and interested.
Bama has a large enough and interested enough fan base, but NOT a rich enough one, apparently.
Stanford has a rich alumni base, but their fan base is small and largely uninterested.
As for markets…
Markets don’t matter like they used to in the age of cord cutting and streaming.
Brand size matters more.
Of course, it does.
UH basketball currenly has the #2 recruiting class in 2025, fueled by Houston area corporate NIL deals.
Jamal Shead had one with Exxon Mobil, Chevron signed one for the complete UH Athletics program.
Get our football program up to top 10 level, H-Town Takeover level excitement, and you will finally understand that OUR corporate Bucket #2 is one of the tops in the nation…even has a far higher ceiling than the corporate NIL donations in Columbus Ohio
Basketball’s a different animal.
Of course we can come up with enough NIL money to pay A FEW basketball recruits each year.
Signing a football class of 25+ is a whole different game.
We are NOT considered a football NIL powerhouse. Far from it. Or at least, not yet.
Could that change? I hope so.
But it won’t be about location in a big market.
If it were, then aTm and Tech wouldn’t be two of the biggest NIL players.
Basketball is NOT a different animal…if anything it is way harder to maintain a team.
Look at Miami
We’ve done a good job of keeping our key players here and adding select NIL free agents…and they were NOT CHEAP!
Way more competition in basketball for fewer impact level players
TAMU and TT are NOT big NIL players in terms of results
In the NIL era, texas schools located in Ft. WORTH, AUSTIN & DALLAS have made it to the Playoff.
Schools in LUBBOCK and COLLEGE STATION have yet to sniff the playoffs
The team from COLUMBUS won it this year and the schools from SEATTLE and outskirts of DETROIT made it last year
Is the light going off in your head yet???
UT-Austin isn’t an NIL powerhouse because of its location in Austin.
It’s an NIL powerhouse because of its SUPER-MASSIVE brand and fan base; a fan base which is not only large, but which is also interested and has lots of money. Just like Ohio State! And for that matter, just like aTm and Tech, which AREN’T located in big cities. Point: it ain’t about where you are located. It’s about having a large, interested fan base with money, REGARDLESS of location.
SMU is located in Dallas, but that’s not why they are an NIL powerhouse. They are an NIL powerhouse because of a small number of rich oil barrons who serve as “sugar daddies.” If only WE could also have a few of those.
TCU did make a playoff, but actually is not considered a big NIL player; or at least, not in the last few seasons.
So…sorry. Those examples don’t prove what you think they prove, or what you are offering them up to prove.
They aren’t NIL powerhouses, to the extent that some of them are (not sure about TCU) for the reasons YOU are saying (being in a big market). Their location is coincidental to their NIL powerhouse status, and there’s no “cause and effect” relationship there.
Man…you have no clue how NIL works.
Those SMU barrons own Dallas area Corporations and they funnel corporate money into SMU
He does know how NIL works.
The city of Houston could be an NIL supermarket, but that doesn’t mean it will directly benefit UH.
Just to give you some context, UT and A&M has more NIL potential in the city of Houston than UH does
TAMU isn’t going to depend on College Station for their NIL needs, and neither will UTxAustin
No, they are just RICH FAT CATS…that serve as “sugar daddies” for SMU.
Has nothing to do with the market or location.
No…but the corporate environment created in those huge markets + the corporate tax benefits of filtering NIL money to the local P4 gives them a distinct advantage over the Alabama’s of the world that ONLY has bucket #1 to work with
Just like Tilman that makes his money from HOUSTON AREA BUSINESSES that he then donates back to UH?
Who owns the NBA franchise in Tuscaloosa?
Has EVERYTHING to do with market.
Look up the definition of Capitalistic Markets…Supply and Demand…Economics.
You are 100% clueless on NIL
If only Tilman could be as big of an NIL sugar daddy for UH as a buildings, facilities, and other monies sugar daddy.
Not sure he has shown much interest in that.
And where does he make the majority of his money,?