How much are buyouts costing them? Do they need a $3m hoops coach?

whether this is a long term issue. Unless I'm reading it wrong, this red ink could very well be the result of an exit fee that will be recouped over X years with Big12 money.

Key questions:

How much is the loan?
How much more $ will they make every year?
How much of the red ink is from the payout?



Of course, WVU paying $20 million to exit from the Big East Conference was largely responsible for the huge deficit.

And there are loans still to be paid off.

That was needed to join in the Big 12 by June 30, 2012, so that conference would have a 10th school and deal with TV networks for billions in broadcasting revenues.

But WVU won’t receive a full share in yearly profit until the Big 12 is repaid for its significant loan.

and it doesn't bode well for a lot of the smaller, non-elite educational institutions. Many could be out of business completely in the next decade or two. The days of the brick and mortar "University" may be going the way of the video store!

Sperber had a line is his book that Notre Dame's nationwide appeal led to a profitable model that was historically unique, and that those who tried to emulate it produced "runners up and red ink".

The SEC is the "new" model, unfortunately, and I expect those who try to emulate it will continue to drown in red ink. It can't last ... these conferences are simply going to explode. All it will take is Texas going independent, or Penn State renewing their independent status. Or maybe just a gander at BYU's success as a newfound independent will give some of the engines that pull the various conferences an excuse to bolt.

I agree with one of the earlier post about basketball schools like IU, Duke, Kentucky and Kansas minimizing investment in football just to keep conference membership. As a result there may be more basketball-only leagues in the future. In fact the ACC could wind up becoming one.

-Matt

.....virtually every school loses money (maybe hoops at TN or UConn scratches out a small profit.

However, Title IX resulted in the elimination of some men's sports at most schools that were also losing money.

Football drives the train but also is almost always most responsible for the large deficits at some schools.

Until the incremental addition has no marginal benefits. The B10 will soon learn this with Maryland and Rutgers.

My guess is that in the next year or two Comcast/NBCU and Notre Dame will up the stakes on the football experience and more money will flow into ND's coffers. There will be a recognition on the part of the conferences that expanding out into new markets by bringing in inferior teams will result in less money per team. At some point Michigan, Ohio State, Alabama, LSU, Florida, Florida State, USC, etc will believe that they can get more money with a stand alone delivery mechanism than being part of a conference package. Once that happens the big conferences will break apart.

and before that point the teams at the bottom, esp basketball schools, like Kansas and IU will tank their football programs. It will be more cost effective for them to spend low to mid major money on football and finish at the bottom of the conference, than to try to compete with the big boys, and still finish at the bottom. The TV revenue sharing and bowl revenue sharing are the same either way. It'll be the old LA Clipper style model, where for 20 years they were awful, but never lost money.