CFB CONFERENCE REALIGNMENT DRIVER
CFB CONFERENCE REALIGNMENT FULL

In a world of college enrollment declining 1%-2% per year according to various reports, schools are competing not only for growth and prosperity but for their very existence.

CFB CONFERENCE REALIGNMENT DRIVER

Media is a key driver of revenue and exposure, which in turn drives recruiting and enrollment. They have been a clear winner by adding five new schools in part driven by a forward-thinking media ecosystem balancing the best across linear and streaming media options. One league that has been on the offensive due to its robust media package is the Colonial Athletic Association. State and Sam Houston State, with more to come). Conference USA has also countered its membership losses by securing previous FBS independents and FCS members (e.g., Liberty, N.M. The American has then countered by adding six schools from Conference USA effective 2023-24.Ĭonference USA’s response was to return to the ESPN family and enhancing the current portfolio of midweek college football broadcasts on linear television. Those acquisitions will enhance what is already the elite men’s basketball product nationally while adding bigger television markets to the conference. The Big 12 has countered its pending loss of Oklahoma and Texas by adding BYU, and three schools from the American (Central Florida, Cincinnati, Houston). The Endeavor team will now lead the NCAA negotiations for rights beyond the men’s basketball tournament. Recently, the Big 12 also signed an unprecedented media deal under the leadership of new Commissioner Brett Yormark who was advised by the powerful and experienced team at Endeavor. That deal coincides with the addition of both Texas and Oklahoma as conference members.

ESPN will remain atop the perch of college athletics with the SEC all-in agreement with them that will go into effect starting in 2024. As a result, college properties do not drive incremental customers and incremental engagement to the extent that MLB and NFL does. Perhaps the calculus by both sides is that these “digital-first” media companies already are embedded across the more educated, younger fan base that is prevalent across college athletics. These deals have helped those leagues attract a younger demographic. This absence is conspicuous as those companies have made significant inroads to live sports (MLB, NFL, and MLS). Noteworthy is not just that ESPN and ESPN+ were eliminated from this deal, but that the Big Ten did not select Amazon or Apple to be a part of their ecosystem.

CFB CONFERENCE REALIGNMENT FULL

The major jump in annual revenue will commence with the 2025-26 academic year, where by then, USC and UCLA will be full members, with rumblings of potential expansion still ongoing. The deal, which begins July 1, will run through the end of the 2029-30 athletic year. There has been much conversation regarding the Big Ten’s recent completion of a new seven-year media rights agreement with Fox, CBS and NBC inclusive of its streaming service, Peacock, that will accrue more than $7 billion in total rights fees to one of the nation's most powerful athletic conferences. As a result, it is important to start with the college athletics media landscape in understanding and prognosticating the outcome of the increasing pace of realignment across Division I athletics. Media has always been at the forefront of change in sports, especially since the inception of television and radio. Realignment across all college athletics, but specifically Division I, has accelerated, and it is not a coincidence that this is happening alongside the increasingly rapid changes in the media ecosystem.

Cfb conference realignment