With kickoff still over a month away, we are still stuck in the college football offseason. And while the transfer portal has helped kill time, nothing has made bigger headlines over the years than conference realignment.
It seems like every year for the last five years, that is all anyone wants to talk about during the offseason.
Whether it’s on social media or your favorite website, someone out there is spreading a rumor about what they heard from their mother’s second cousin’s uncle’s nephew said about conference realignment. To put it simply, some people love grasping at straws or throwing shit against a wall and hoping that something sticks.
But on Monday, that was not the case. Instead, Memphis tried to buy its way into the Big 12. Now it’s not the first time a school has done that to a conference. Not that long ago, SMU bought its way into the ACC, and it worked.
The cost? Nine years of ACC television revenue and 200 million dollars. Whether it’s a good move or not, I will let you be the judge of that.
According to a report from Yahoo! Sports’ Ross Dellenger, Memphis offered around 200 million to try and buy their way into the Big 12. The proposal would include millions of dollars in sponsorship money from Memphis’ corporate partners, such as FedEx, and the Tigers’ athletic department would forgo media rights revenue for five years upon entering the conference.
On3’s Brett McMurphy reported that the offer was closer to 250 million, but the Big 12 still said no. But the real question is, was it the right move for the Big 12 to turn down all that money?
Memphis is a school that has tried to join a power conference for years. Their Athletic Director, Ed Scott, said that it is the school’s top priority. Yet, for the last decade plus, the Tigers have been in the American Athletic Conference, which is now known as the American Conference.
Now the Big 12 is familiar with the old ACC. Just a few years ago, the Big 12 took Houston, UCF, and Cincinnati, who were all members of that conference. And what’s crazy about all this is that this isn’t even the first time Memphis tried to get an invite from the Big 12.
Two years ago, Memphis University President Bill Hardgrave emailed Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark and exchanged text messages with Baylor president Linda Livingstone. Unfortunately for the Tigers, things didn’t work out, and the Big 12 moved on.
However, with the shift in funding in college athletics, things have changed significantly since then. On July 1, college athletics entered a new era, in which schools can directly compensate athletes through a capped revenue-sharing system.
The Big 12 schools are already generating around $1 million from their sponsorship with PayPal. And Memphis could double that with additional sponsorship commitments from partners, such as those with a school that has ties to companies like FedEx, Lowe’s, and AutoZone.
Memphis has reportedly informed the Big 12 that it will pay the full $20.5 million in revenue sharing with athletes by next year. To move out of the American Conference, it would cost around $25 million, which is about what SMU paid to exit.
When I sit down and think about it, adding Memphis doesn’t excite me or move the needle. They are not viewed as a national power or a school that would compete at the top of the Big 12 right away.
However, Memphis hasn’t been a cellar dweller either. They have won at least ten games in four of their last eight years in the AAC. But in today’s world, money controls everything, and if you don’t believe me, just look at what is going on at Texas Tech. They are making national headlines everywhere.
There’s an old saying out there that says money talks and bullshit walks. Well, Memphis just put their money where their mouth is, and the Big 12 said no.
Maybe the offer wasn’t big enough for Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark. Who knows, maybe Memphis will make another in the near future. All I know is that is a lot of money to get a seat at the big boy table, and I just hope it doesn’t come back to bite the Big 12 in this new era of college athletics.
