ScottyBuff

Will the Recession Lead To Pac-10 Expansion? Part V

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on 03-05-2010 at 04:46 AM (149 Views)

Summary

Major college athletic departments are facing a "perfect storm" of increased expenses and decreased revenue sources due to the effects of the financial crisis. The most conservative estimate for the impact on the Pac-10 schools is that expenses for scholarships would increase by $15-20 million in total. Additional budget deficits can be expected to match that from reduction in ticket revenues and donations to increased operating expenses.

By playing a conference championship game, the Pac-10 can reasonably increase revenues by at least $8 million per year. In order to do this, it would need to expand by two more universities. Adding the Universities of Colorado and Utah would create the prime conference alignment for continued growth and development of both academics and athletics.

This would benefit both the conference and those target universities in multiple ways. The addition of those schools would boost conference coffers with additional licensing opportunities, increased exposure, and through a better paying TV contract of at least $25-30 million more per year, easily offsetting the increased travel costs and negate a dilution effect of 12 teams sharing revenues instead of 10.

Financial solvency will dictate the next round of conference realignment in major college sports, and the Pac-10 needs to be the first domino to fall or risk being left to compete with a surging Mountain West Conference for dominance in the western United States and in the national spotlight.

Tags: cu to pac-10, pac-10 expansion

Categories: Uncategorized

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Comments

Buffnik - 03-05-2010 06:58 AM

Great blog, Scotty.

I've come to the conclusion that "if" the Pac expands, it will only do so if CU is part of it. Financially, that's the only way it seems to make sense. And I believe that CU jumps at the opportunity if it is presented.

But I believe that Pac expansion is less likely than the conference doing nothing. It's going to be extremely hard to get all 10 universities to vote the same way (Pac requires unanimous vote for this type of thing). I hope it happens, but I'm not getting my hopes up too high.
ScottyBuff - 03-05-2010 06:42 PM

Originally Posted by Buffnik

Great blog, Scotty.

I've come to the conclusion that "if" the Pac expands, it will only do so if CU is part of it. Financially, that's the only way it seems to make sense. And I believe that CU jumps at the opportunity if it is presented.

But I believe that Pac expansion is less likely than the conference doing nothing. It's going to be extremely hard to get all 10 universities to vote the same way (Pac requires unanimous vote for this type of thing). I hope it happens, but I'm not getting my hopes up too high.

Thanks Nik. I agree that getting the Pac-10 to move on the issue will be tough. Without Texas-Colorado the overall academic-financial-cultural benefits become too much of a compromise for them. Stanford is the tough cookie to crack, their AD is under some serious financial strain (as all non-LA teams in the Pac-10 are).