RIP Pac-12

I think you are still living in the 20th century. Young people today have quite a different perspective. Of course, many fans today are in their 50s and above. And they have more money to spend than younger people. So you only hear their voices. But things are already changing quite significantly beneath the surface.

Add Oklahoma State, Iowa, Penn State and Minnesota to a lesser extent Wrestling is Huge (Since Cael Sanderson Became Coach) (Oklahoma and Iowa State) used to be.

I don't get your point here. Beaver Stadium gets over 100,000 fans to a Penn State football game and students are heavily represented in those crowds. And there probably are a million or so more watching on TV. Wrestling draws very well there, more so than at most schools. But it doesn't attract anywhere near the crowds football does and if matches are televised it's only on the Big Ten Network. No sport at PSU gets anything close to the attention football gets and none brings in anywhere near the money football does. That was true in the 20th Century at almost any university that sponsors football and it's true now. So what things do you see changing quite significantly beneath the surface?

As a long suffering Cal fan, I suppose this was inevitable. They are one of the odd men out in the league's abandonment. Who wants a school with a world class awful revenue sports record? The Bears last visit to the Rose Bowl was before 1960.

They could well be one of the odd men out. But really, I couldn't believe the Big Ten wanted Rutgers whose revenue sports record is even worse than Cal's. Almost everything in college sports these days is about TV revenue. If the Big Ten wants to be in the Bay Area market Cal or Stanford or maybe even both might get an invite. I think Oregon State and Washington State are in even worse positions than Cal.

Cal's institutional admins needed this win. They've been trying to cut sports, cut budgets, end the suffering for years but the athletic boosters and PAC12 were always stepping in to save the day or cause a fight. This is the end of Cal Athletics as we know it... but it's not like we're putting down a puppy full of energy, no the aged dog lived a long life..... it's time

I’ll Piggy pack on that and from what I’ve read- Cal’s media money loss will be catastrophic. In 2021 they received about $37 million. so what happens next? There’s going to be MASSIVE loss.

best case: Big 10 picks them up. They would do this at a drastic partial share. Why? Because they can and the other members won’t want to give an equitable piece of the pie to an under performing media market and athletics program. Likely 20-30million for first few years. This would be a 7-17 million dollar loss.

Next best case: they merge with Mountain West. Makes more sense for team travel and it’s more of a proper conference that reflects their competitiveness in sports. Bad news: current media deal is $4M. Sure the deal would increase if they added the 4 remaining pac12 schools- let’s guess $10m?? That’s generous but now $27 million loss.

Worst case. They go independent and try to make Their own money. They can hardly run a football and basketball team and if you think they can run a media solo deal you’re kidding me. Losses would be massive.

im sure there are other scenarios but no matter how you slice this it’s going to be a massive loss financially while the power schools make more money than ever.

Your reading comprehension is lacking. I didn't write another college sport was as popular as football. I commented on your outdated observation that only people with "personal connection" care about "other sports." If you have BTN, check the next volleyball match either at Nebraska or Wisconsin. Those two schools do not have more friends and family members of players than other schools. They have figured out how to market volleyball to wider audiences. If Penn State cannot find any sport other than wrestling (another declining sport) to market, that's their problem.

Football participation rate has been down at high school level, and the decline at the youth level is even steeper. You won't see the immediate impact at the college level, but it will eventually catch up. Of course, most people on this board will probably be gone for good before that happens.

It had to be my reading comprehension that was the problem rather than a lack of clarity in your writing. Obviously it's a bit of an exaggeration to say that "nobody" pays attention to non revenue sports unless they have some personal connection. But it's not a huge exaggeration.Go to a track meet and see how many spectators you find who don't have some personal connection to the sport. I have watched Big Ten volleyball at times. Yes, there are good sized, enthusiastic crowds there. The same is often true for wrestling matches at some schools. But the crowd size and TV ratings for volleyball at Nebraska or Wisconsin or wrestling at Iowa or Penn State are nothing compared to what they are for football or even basketball at any of these schools.

I was a cross country and track guy in college as were my sons. I love schools that take their non revenue teams seriously and have always admired Stanford for the commitment they show to those sports. It's great that they're so good at so many of them. But just as Penn State's success at wrestling had nothing to do with getting an invite from the Big Ten, Stanford's success at non revenue sports or winning Director's Cups will have no bearing at all on whether or not the Big Ten wants them.

In Pennsylvania, it's pronounced "wrasslin"

I know. I really know.

Exact my point. The end result is a massive loss, which will mean major major cuts across the board, cut positions, programs etc etc... and the future will be bleak as the rich will get richer and they will be left on the outside

Stanford is one of the best schools academically and athletically and DOES have that $30 billion endowment. (And I have to say that the Stanford alums I know seem much more grounded than those I know from the Ivy League!) What I would say is that alumni care about the sports they competed it and often donate to the school based on their team's - whether it's track, volleyball, softball - performance. I attended Notre Dame undergraduate and the track and cross country coach position is endowed by a former runner. Same with many of the other sports to the tune of $3-4 million each. Now, is this $30 million a year from TV - no. But it's not peanuts. Personally, I think the college football major powers are going to turn into an NFL-type league with about 60 teams and 4-5 conferences. As for Notre Dame, they made $26 million from NBC last year and the new Athletic Director... was an NBC executive. They want to stay independent as long as they can still get their rivals scheduled and be part of a playoff system.

The question is, will schools continue to sponsor sports after football (and eventually basketball) break away into their own leagues.

On one hand I can see it being a benefit because football is the title ix monster that eats up all the men's scholarship (there's no women's sport that compares to the numbers of football.)

The other side of that is that if football is just a sport associated with the university, there will be revenue generated, but is it enough to fund all these sports? Is there even a will to fund these sports?

Keep in mind that when the Big Ten added Rutgers and Maryland eyeballs were measured in TV audiences because rampant sports streaming wasn't a thing. These days they don't really have an incentive to go into a market just for local eyeballs. They need to focus on teams that give them matchups that attract eyeballs in as many places as possible.

Really? Average home attendance in 2022-23.

Nebraska. Men's basketball - 13,221. (88% of capacity.) Women's volleyball - 8,190 (104% of capacity)

Wisconsin. Men's basketball - 14,151. (82% of capacity.) Women's volleyball - 7,761. (103% of capacity.)

Those numbers would be much closer if women's volleyball were played in the bigger arena. One of Wisconsin's home matches was played in the basketball arena with 16,833 spectators. That's 2682 more than the average attendance for men's basketball. This year, Nebraska will play one of their home matches in the football stadium. Let's see if that will still be "nothing compared to basketball."

Oh Pu-LEASE! Tiny little violins are being bowed right now for entitled student athletes everywhere...not.

I've known and worked with a number of former D1 athletes and to a person they were odd, not particularly well prepared for the industry they worked in, and weirdly focused on their college glory days, many years later.

There are PLENTY of college Al Bundy types out there. The entire American college sports world can fall off a cliff and we'd all be better off.

Hmmm. Perhaps a little hyperbolic don’t you think?