re: Athletic Article on 8 vs 9 games and ESPN not paying

quote:

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TV execs are going to drive the biggest brands in college football into either the SEC or the Big 10 and it'll basically be like the NFC and AFC

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I’ve been having effectively the same fear for a while and it does suck. The only way I could see it being interesting is if a relegation system was introduced.

Quick point about the change of audience idea. I don’t think they are trying to change out the existing audience for a probably non existent new one, as so many things seem to be doing today. Rather, I think they want to add a new audience while retaining the existing one, banking on the idea that the existing audience is so addicted they won’t stop watching.

And they are probably right, to an extent. I am really turned off by the professionalization of CFB that has existed for a while and is now in overdrive. But it has not stopped me from watching, just as background noise if nothing else. But the trouble is that eventually all of us long time fans will die off. If the reasons that we fell in love with the sport are no longer there (the traditions, rivalries, maybe even uni affiliations) then the new audience will not be as devoted and possibly not as large.

But this is a long term potential problem and the decision makers are worried only about the comparatively short term. And for that reason, they will continue on this path until some future group of decision makers realize that they have finally reached an untenable situation.