Realignment Carousel Spins Up again (USC and UCLA to Big 10)

[Dan]

SMU viewership will go up just by having better competition. Not sure whey this is even being debated. I'd bet the Navy/Notre Dame game draws a lot of viewers but it's not because of Navy.

[1972Shocker]

The numbers do

Don't confuse us with the facts.

[BostonWu]

Well the numbers are there. Take Navy as an example of a service academy in a conference. Average 976k for 12 games is 11.7 million total viewers. Subtract 6.94M viewers for the Army-Navy game that SHOULD still could but you don't want to count it. That leaves 4.77M viewers for the remaining 11 games. So 433k viewers for the non-Army/Navy games. So 40% higher viewers than SMU.

Army-Navy game is worth it alone but even for the sake of your moving the goal post argument, a service academy in the AAC is still more valuable than SMU from a viewership standpoint. Army is a little harder to do an apple to apples comparison because their schedule is so bad as an independent.

Well done. You made your case. I'll admit when I'm wrong. Not someone who will die on a hill arguing a lost cause like a scorned teenage girl. Guess I didn't realize how weak SMU numbers are.

Still waiting for anyone to display their service academy football knowledge.

[Stickboy46]

Again, would like to know the viewership on an individual game basis outside of Army-Navy game. Reality is no one, not even avid college sports fans can tell you anything about the current service academy teams. Name one player and what you know about them.

Well the numbers are there. Take Navy as an example of a service academy in a conference. Average 976k for 12 games is 11.7 million total viewers. Subtract 6.94M viewers for the Army-Navy game that SHOULD still could but you don't want to count it. That leaves 4.77M viewers for the remaining 11 games. So 433k viewers for the non-Army/Navy games. So 40% higher viewers than SMU.

Army-Navy game is worth it alone but even for the sake of your moving the goal post argument, a service academy in the AAC is still more valuable than SMU from a viewership standpoint. Army is a little harder to do an apple to apples comparison because their schedule is so bad as an independent.

[BostonWu]

The numbers are in the tweets.

Average viewers, Navy and Army are the 2nd and 3rd most watched non-p5 football teams (behind Boise who is now in the B12). Army draws a little over double the number of viewers as SMU.

Again, would like to know the viewership on an individual game basis outside of Army-Navy game. Reality is no one, not even avid college sports fans can tell you anything about the current service academy teams. Name one player and what you know about them.

[Stickboy46]

Would like to know outside the Army-Navy game how many eyeballs are watching those teams. And I say this in all due respect as a veteran and AF season ticket holder, I just don't see it. AF puts a great product on the field, churning out 10 win seasons, with a current 3 win bowl streak against the P5... it's down right disrespectful the little support they receive in home attendance and overall national media reputation/coverage. Even the service academy matchups are not particularly well attended.

Does anyone on this board know anything about service academy football? What's your level of knowledge? Name the sunflower state product who was 1000 yard rusher a few seasons ago without googling it. Name the local product who just signed without googling it.

The numbers are in the tweets.

Average viewers, Navy and Army are the 2nd and 3rd most watched non-p5 football teams (behind Boise who is now in the B12). Army draws a little over double the number of viewers as SMU.

Home attendance is not going to be a great measure of a service academy. Considering the majority of your recent graduates are going to be stationed all over the world and will likely make homes farther away from the school than your normal college. TV viewers will matter more.

[BostonWu]

Would like to know outside the Army-Navy game how many eyeballs are watching those teams. And I say this in all due respect as a veteran and AF season ticket holder, I just don't see it. AF puts a great product on the field, churning out 10 win seasons, with a current 3 win bowl streak against the P5... it's down right disrespectful the little support they receive in home attendance and overall national media reputation/coverage. Even the service academy matchups are not particularly well attended.

Does anyone on this board know anything about service academy football? What's your level of knowledge? Name the sunflower state product who was 1000 yard rusher a few seasons ago without googling it. Name the local product who just signed without googling it.

[Dan]

SMU boosters are buying a pro level sports team, that's the bottom line. The only way this will backfire is if the ACC dissolves when the next round of TV deals expire and the SEC swoops in to poach the best teams. You gotta have billionaires on your booster roster to compete in todays college sports environment.

[Stickboy46]

Says who?

The numbers do

[BostonWu]

Army is a significantly more valuable football member than SMU, in terms of eyeballs, for what it's worth.

Says who?

[BostonWu]

I'm not sure about the national TV part, but the rest is more true than not. The Service Academies will still draw more eyes to a product simply because of who they are and what they represent.

Not true. I'm AF season ticket holder and there is absolutely no validity to this claim.

[ShockBand]

The insanity behind the SMU push to buy their way into a conference ...

If the deep pockets that support WSU wanted to have football, we would have it. For whatever reason, they must be choosing to not pour hundreds of millions into restarting football. Yes, some other schools have done it, but I'm sure they all had wealthy donors willing to back it to the hilt.

[1972Shocker]

As was quoted, "It's just business."

“It’s a couple hundred million dollars. I’m not losing sleep over it.” Besides the U.S.tax code will subsidize at least $70 million of that through taxes I save with my charitable deductions, plus the net cost to me is $130 million that will be out of my estate saving me $52 million at current estate tax rates down the line. So costing me a net of $78 million. So really the Federal government deserves most of the credit here.

[1972Shocker]

Army is a significantly more valuable football member than SMU, in terms of eyeballs, for what it's worth.

And that is absolutely what is driving all this realignment stuff. Still it would be nice fo find a non-football school with a solid basketball program to pair up with Army, although that is probably a secondary consideration.

[Kung Wu]

Army is a significantly more valuable football member than SMU, in terms of eyeballs, for what it's worth.

True.