SEC muscles get bigger… not the Wall Street SEC
This week, in Hoover, Alabama, the Southeastern Conference is in the midst of its annual football media days. Over 1000 media credentials were issued. SEC commissioner, Mike Slive, in his presentation of the state of the SEC, reminded everyone of the overseas bank accounts loaded with conference cash.
Last summer the Southeastern conference stuck an historic deal with TV sports specialist ESPN - $2.25 Billion over 15 years. For the 12-school league, that is $15 million per year for each institution. Throw in the CBS / SEC deal of $800 million, and almost lowly Vanderbilt and lowly Mississippi State will each get about $17 million annually just from television. Both contracts will net the SEC and its member schools an average of $200 million a year.
In contrast the ACC has two years left on its television contracts at about $37 million yearly. Notre Dame, who years ago negotiated its own contract with NBC, receives $9 million a year. It is reported that Big Ten schools receive $7 million per school from the Big Ten Network and another $9 million from their ABC contract. Oh, by the way, Georgia just signed a marketing rights deal with IPS Sports worth $92.8 million
The playing field just got very unlevel. Fair or not, the SEC has a competitive advantage over everyone else.
More money means newer and better facilities and heftier recruiting budgets to lure better athletes. More money means more million dollar head coaches and the highest assistant coaches’ salaries in the country. The tables have somewhat turned as SEC head coaches can now command a bigger financial package than the NFL guys.
The big payouts mean that the SEC should dominate the national championship landscape year in and year out, and not only in the sport of football. There are already some millionaire basketball coaches in the conference as well.
The combined CBS and ESPN contracts also mean far more media coverage than anyone else. The SEC will control the amount of press conferences and sports talk we view daily. Could the SEC turn into the MLCF, Major League College Football, and everyone else the minor leagues? Big Ten, Pac-10 and Big 12 fans will certainly be offended by such a notion, but well spent cash can separate one from the crowd.
Have we lost our whole perspective about amateur sports? Sure, the professional sports leagues have (and should have) a whole different philosophy about sport. In the pros, it is a business. The use of a kid’s game to support a vast array of professions - players, coaches, general mangers, ticket sellers, concessionaires, agents and on and on. The name of the game is WINNING. The name of the game is make money. Should this be the same philosophy of collegiate sport schools and leagues?
Heck, the SEC may be better off financially than the NFL, because a college football program doesn’t pay the major performers – those weekend gladiators who are at college to learn about calculus, English literature, and physics.
Yeah, Man. It’s all about the money and has nothing to do with education. We are screwed up in this country when it comes to sports, rock stars, Facebook, and texting.
Hoover, Alabama? All the hotels in the Bahamas must have been booked up.
July 23, 2009
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
Men Are Like...
For all those men who say, Why buy a cow when you can get milk for free. Here's an update for you: Nowadays, 80% of women are against marriage, WHY? Because women realize it's not worth buying an entire pig just to get a little sausage.
Men are like....
Men are like Laxatives. They irritate the crap out of you.
Men are like. Bananas. The older they get, the less firm they are.
Men are like Weather. Nothing can be done to change them.
Men are like Blenders. You need One, but you're not quite sure why.
Men are like Commercials. You can't believe a word they say.
Men are like .. Government Bonds ..... They take soooooooo long to mature.
Men are like .. Mascara . They usually run at the first sign of emotion.
Men are like Lava Lamps. Fun to look at, but not very bright.
Men are like Parking Spots. All the good ones are taken, the rest are handicapped.
Men are like....
Men are like Laxatives. They irritate the crap out of you.
Men are like. Bananas. The older they get, the less firm they are.
Men are like Weather. Nothing can be done to change them.
Men are like Blenders. You need One, but you're not quite sure why.
Men are like Commercials. You can't believe a word they say.
Men are like .. Government Bonds ..... They take soooooooo long to mature.
Men are like .. Mascara . They usually run at the first sign of emotion.
Men are like Lava Lamps. Fun to look at, but not very bright.
Men are like Parking Spots. All the good ones are taken, the rest are handicapped.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Should the government tax college sports
Posted by:
Economist.com NEW YORK
Categories:
Sports and games
UNIVERSITY sports are a big business in America. The NCAA men's basketball tournament added $143m in revenue for athletic departments, and football typically brings in even more. It is one of the more curious aspects of American universities that many run successful sports franchises in addition to providing education.
The government has taken notice. As it scours the economy for new sources of revenue, the CBO is exploring options to tax university sports franchises. University activities tend to be tax-free, yet college sports provide a non-trivial amount of revenue. The report offers three ways to tax sports: limiting deductions on charitable contributions to athletic programmes, limiting the use of tax-exempt bonds, and limiting the exemption from income taxation for these activities.
The first idea has some merit. Donors to college athletic programmes get priority to purchase season tickets. Bigger or frequent contributions entitle donors to better tickets. Many fans bcome donors for this reason alone, so the donation is effectively part of the purchase price. But because it counts as a charitable contribution it is also 80% tax exempt. The demand for tickets for die-hard fans is probably fairly inelastic, so this may be good source of tax revenue.
The other two options are more problematic. First, Jonathan and Peter Orszag (the latter now a former director of the CBO and now head of the OMB) with Bob Litan found most athletic programmes lose money for the university. But according to the CBO report, 101 out of 164 Division I teams turn a profit. Still, the profits average just $1.6m per school—not a huge source of revenue. Teams with successful basketball and football teams tend to do better, but athletic success can be unpredictable year to year. The CBO report also cautions that having some university activities non-tax-exempt may just incentivise accounting practices to circumvent the new tax treatment.
Further, we’ve written before that these franchises can have positive externalities for the university. Winning a championship increases interest in a university which can bring in donors and applicants. It can act as an advertisement for the university, improving academics. With lower endowments and less financial support from state governments, universities need all the help they can get these days.
Economist.com NEW YORK
Categories:
Sports and games
UNIVERSITY sports are a big business in America. The NCAA men's basketball tournament added $143m in revenue for athletic departments, and football typically brings in even more. It is one of the more curious aspects of American universities that many run successful sports franchises in addition to providing education.
The government has taken notice. As it scours the economy for new sources of revenue, the CBO is exploring options to tax university sports franchises. University activities tend to be tax-free, yet college sports provide a non-trivial amount of revenue. The report offers three ways to tax sports: limiting deductions on charitable contributions to athletic programmes, limiting the use of tax-exempt bonds, and limiting the exemption from income taxation for these activities.
The first idea has some merit. Donors to college athletic programmes get priority to purchase season tickets. Bigger or frequent contributions entitle donors to better tickets. Many fans bcome donors for this reason alone, so the donation is effectively part of the purchase price. But because it counts as a charitable contribution it is also 80% tax exempt. The demand for tickets for die-hard fans is probably fairly inelastic, so this may be good source of tax revenue.
The other two options are more problematic. First, Jonathan and Peter Orszag (the latter now a former director of the CBO and now head of the OMB) with Bob Litan found most athletic programmes lose money for the university. But according to the CBO report, 101 out of 164 Division I teams turn a profit. Still, the profits average just $1.6m per school—not a huge source of revenue. Teams with successful basketball and football teams tend to do better, but athletic success can be unpredictable year to year. The CBO report also cautions that having some university activities non-tax-exempt may just incentivise accounting practices to circumvent the new tax treatment.
Further, we’ve written before that these franchises can have positive externalities for the university. Winning a championship increases interest in a university which can bring in donors and applicants. It can act as an advertisement for the university, improving academics. With lower endowments and less financial support from state governments, universities need all the help they can get these days.
Thanks, Atlanta
Hooray for the Falcons in sending Michael Vick on his merry way. Athletes at every level have to be accountable for their actions. With the gift of talent comes reponsibility - too many athletes take their talent for granted or worse, take full credit for it.
Monday, June 15, 2009
The F-word and other crap
Corporate America has been shaken recently by lawsuits and criminal charges of fraud by Enron, Martha Stewart, AIG and the whole subprime loan scam. Huge companies who lied to stockholders, the SEC and the government. They all took stockholders’ money and then violated their trust by mishandling it for the profit of top officers. Good old common greed at work at its best. But isn’t that what’s becoming of America? It’s all about the money.
For instance, the movie classic Gone With The Wind almost didn’t make it to theaters because of the last line spoken by Rhett Butler. In answer to Scarlet’s question, “What will I do?” Rhett’s answer of, “ Frankly, My Dear, I don’t give a damn” almost got it axed by the movie censors. How far have we come from that? How much garbage has our kids and their kids heard and seen since Gone With the Wind? But garbage sells.
The F-word is everywhere. Some folks cannot utter a complete sentence without it containing the F-word. Sex, violence, filthy language, bombards each of us daily. In entertainment, in advertising, in schools, in sports and on the street, the degradation of morality and goodness is commonplace.
Child sexual molestation and child pornography are killing children physically and psychologically. Parents are robbing their own kids’ of their childhood by dragging them at age five or younger to soccer and baseball fields or gymnastics and ballet. And in most cases the children observe their parents exhibit the worse in sportsmanship. The best uniforms, equipment, and trophies for everyone by age five feeds parents’ egos at the expense of damaging tender youth and innocence.
The government is no better. A president having sex with a young page and then lying about it stays in office. A Congress that begins each session with prayer while the Supreme Court is working furiously to band God from everything. The Ten Commandments treated with less respect than the Communist Manifesto. A virus that kills people by the thousands spread by the practice of homosexuality while such a lifestyle is being celebrated in television shows, movies, on the streets and even in Congress, state legislatures, and federal courts.
The very institutions that are supposed to uphold and protect the integrity and dignity of our society are waging vicious attacks on the moral fiber of this country. John F. Kennedy’s famous statement, “Don’t ask what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country” has been perverted into the direct opposite philosophy. We are teaching Americans that it is just and right to take from those who work for it and give it to those who refuse to work.
For instance, the movie classic Gone With The Wind almost didn’t make it to theaters because of the last line spoken by Rhett Butler. In answer to Scarlet’s question, “What will I do?” Rhett’s answer of, “ Frankly, My Dear, I don’t give a damn” almost got it axed by the movie censors. How far have we come from that? How much garbage has our kids and their kids heard and seen since Gone With the Wind? But garbage sells.
The F-word is everywhere. Some folks cannot utter a complete sentence without it containing the F-word. Sex, violence, filthy language, bombards each of us daily. In entertainment, in advertising, in schools, in sports and on the street, the degradation of morality and goodness is commonplace.
Child sexual molestation and child pornography are killing children physically and psychologically. Parents are robbing their own kids’ of their childhood by dragging them at age five or younger to soccer and baseball fields or gymnastics and ballet. And in most cases the children observe their parents exhibit the worse in sportsmanship. The best uniforms, equipment, and trophies for everyone by age five feeds parents’ egos at the expense of damaging tender youth and innocence.
The government is no better. A president having sex with a young page and then lying about it stays in office. A Congress that begins each session with prayer while the Supreme Court is working furiously to band God from everything. The Ten Commandments treated with less respect than the Communist Manifesto. A virus that kills people by the thousands spread by the practice of homosexuality while such a lifestyle is being celebrated in television shows, movies, on the streets and even in Congress, state legislatures, and federal courts.
The very institutions that are supposed to uphold and protect the integrity and dignity of our society are waging vicious attacks on the moral fiber of this country. John F. Kennedy’s famous statement, “Don’t ask what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country” has been perverted into the direct opposite philosophy. We are teaching Americans that it is just and right to take from those who work for it and give it to those who refuse to work.
Unreal?
Hey, Gang. Just another day in unreal (fantacy) land. $2 million+ coaches at educational institutions? Medical school professors at about $90,000. The emphasis is quite clear. It's more important to display the athletic skills of nonstudent-athletes than to train people to save lives.
I love Saturday's in the fall as much as anyone. If I do not personnaly attend a game, then I am glued to the TV for the day like all good, red-blooded Southerners. But with an eye for the hypocracy of it all.
I love Saturday's in the fall as much as anyone. If I do not personnaly attend a game, then I am glued to the TV for the day like all good, red-blooded Southerners. But with an eye for the hypocracy of it all.
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